
CEO Mark Brajer was part of a discussion in Aboriginal Business magazine alongside the CEO's of Det'on Cho Management LP & Denendeh Investments Inc. (Paul Gruner/Darrell Beaulieu)
The 3 sit together to discuss how indigenous businesses can thrive especially within the North and working with governments and bigger corporations
and excerpt from the discussion:
"Mark Brajer, CEO of the Tłıcho˛ Investment Corporation, says
First Nations shouldn’t be set up for failure by taking on big
challenging contracts alone. But, he argues, “How about getting
a piece of the action?” In his three years with Tłı˛cho˛, Brajer
says First Nations development corporations – whether
big or small – get painted with the same brush by purchasers,
who don’t always look at what their capacity really is."
" “It’s disturbing to me that we have the skills and the people,
but we get the short stick. That’s the challenge for us.” He
urges outside bidders to seek out local and Indigenous partners.
“It’s in their best interest to get local involvement, especially
now, with the COVID crisis… it’s hard to get outside
workers to come north.” Like Gruner, Handley and Beaulieu,
Brajer also promotes collaboration among First Nations. “We
can be talking about a lot of leverage” by supporting each
other, he says, citing the success of the joint venture between
the Denesoline of Lutsel K’e, the Tłı˛cho˛ Investment Corporation,
and Robinson Enterprises, which has built the southern
section of the winter road to the diamond mines since 2016."
To read the full article please visit:
https://inukshukpublishing.ca/sticky-dollars/