Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

EXPORT ADVISOR

New export advisor in Kamloops to help support Indigenous businesses

Oct 16, 2019 | 4:58 PM

KAMLOOPS — Indigenous entrepreneurs looking to expand their businesses now have a go-to advisor to help begin exporting their products.

B.C. Jobs Minister Bruce Ralston announced today that the export navigator program now has an advisor dedicated to Indigenous business guidance.

Daphane Nelson will be based in Kamloops out of the Community Futures Offices for Central Interior First Nations. The export navigator program has already helped more than 300 businesses since 2015.

With an advisor dedicated to Indigenous business growth now working out of Tk’emlups territory, several First Nations business owners are eager to start the exporting process.

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“It’s been a labour of love for me for quite a long time now. I’ve always been interested and had a passion for it,” says Steven Teed, owner of Green Future Industries.

Teed has been working hard to bring his hemp business, Green Future Industries, to the next level. Teed hopes that a dedicated Indigenous export advisor could help that process.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

“Our current focus is on hemp seed — organic hemp seed — we grow all organic,” Teed says. “We currently have a buyer but we’d like to take our seed to a bigger market, and maybe have our own branding in the near future. And that’s where working with Community Futures can really come in handy there, they can help us out.”

B.C. Jobs Minister Bruce Ralston announced today (Oct. 16) that Daphane Nelson will be working solely with Indigenous business ventures. Nelson joins eight other advisors as part of the province’s export navigator program.

“It gives people access to a very skilled and knowledgable person one-on-one, who will help them assess their company, build a program, and then take the steps that are necessary to be successful,” Ralston explains.

The local hire means Nelson will be working in Kamloops out of the Community Futures Development Corporation Offices for the Central Interior First Nations.

“I have reached out to a lot of different organizations and different businesses, and I have signed up about seven so far,” Nelson says. “That’s kept me quite busy, but I’m open for business, and would love to meet with whoever is interested in the program.”

The hope is the program will be able to grow the region’s Indigenous exports, ranging from technology, arts and culture, and agriculture. For local hemp growers, the support for Indigenous-led products and services brings optimism for the future.

“(It’s) kind of a product that has a lot of interest from all over the world,” Teed says. “I was just at the World Indigenous Business forum, and got a lot of good feedback from different countries from around the world that are all interested in growing hemp and seeing what possibilities can come.”