A policy allowing workers with government-owned businesses to be elected to the SCC’s board of directors is designed to attract Indigenous entrepreneurs.
The move attempts to attract members from organizations that are wholly or partially owned by First Nations communities in the province.
“Certainly the companies that we’ve done work with in the past, like File Hills Economic Development (and) Athabasca Basin, are great companies with really good, solid CEOs. This change is trying to bring them into the potential to have a board seat should they choose,” said SCC CEO, Steve McLellan.
“Quite frankly, a large part of the Saskatchewan workforce is the Aboriginal community, and we need to make sure that the entire business community both have knowledge of and access to and reciprocal access to that workforce, so there are wins all the way around.”
The SCC is a non-profit that works to present the interests of Saskatchewan companies to elected officials at all levels of government.
McLellan encouraged any First Nations entrepreneurs who are interested in joining the SCC to contact the organization.
“We’d welcome any Aboriginal businessperson, either an owner, operator or any staff person that wanted to get more engaged with us, to either pick up the phone or go online or send me an email,” said McLellan.
Over 700 businesses and 10,000 people in the province are members of the SCC. Thirteen members sit on the chamber of commerce’s board of directors.
(PHOTO: SCC CEO, Steve McLellan. Photo courtesy of GTH Saskatchewan, YouTube.)