b'MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENTExamples ofCourage & Collaboration Tabatha Bull A s I sit down to write this message,Im proud to say that Indigenous businesses have it has been exactly one year sincebeen doing an amazing job of steering their the COVID-19 virus was declared acompanies through an unprecedented event. global pandemic by the World HealthExamples of courage, collaboration, struggle, President and CEO Organization. Im sure that for manyand resilience can all be found in spades in our people, including myself, 2020 was quite surreal.spring edition of the Aboriginal Business Report. We certainly could not have planned for the challenges that came with an unprecedentedCCAB members and Indigenous businesses share @ccab_national global pandemic.their remarkable stories with us, be it about diver- @Canadian Council for sity within supply chains, praiseworthy progress onAboriginal Business Yet by the time we realized this was not a short- Indigenous business inclusion, economic recovery@Canadian Council forlived, flu-like contagion, we were well on our waymodels for 2021 or reflections on the damageAboriginal Business to adapting how we work and communicate withcaused by COVID-19.www.ccab.com each other and the rest of the world. In our piece on business recovery, we show@ccab_national The past year has been a constant reminder of thehow a Cree Nation in Saskatchewan started to fragility of life. Each day we face new, disturbingthink outside the box when the pandemic hit numbers, whether those who tested positive forand broadened their online presence by part-COVID or those who, tragically, succumbed tonering with others across the country. In another the disease. To date, 22,482 Canadians havepiece, Linda Hartford, CIBCs executive director died from COVID-19. of Indigenous Trust, discusses how low lending rates have helped a number of new projects get off the groundparticularly in Albertas energy sector through the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation. Im proud to say that IndigenousIn our piece on Supply Chain, we touch on the groundwork that had been established pre-businesses have been doingCOVID to boost Indigenous involvement and how this has been impacted by repeated lock-an amazing job of steeringdowns. As Sam Damm, president of FoxWise Technologies, explains, we would be in a much their companies through anbetter position if others could learn from the best practices of companies that are proactively unprecedented event reaching out to Indigenous companies to advise them of available opportunities.We also have two inspiring articles focused on the construction sector, where partnerships and Indigenous communities were hit particularlyinfrastructure spending are helping with business hard. As infections continued to rise in commu- recovery. We look at First Nation bands partnering nities, some took action against the pandemic bywith an established construction firm to create implementing voluntary isolation and completelynew jobs and opportunities; we also look at the new normal in construction as workers pivot to sealing off their communities. Today many haveentirely new conditions.already received their first vaccine dose as the country focuses on the long-awaited rollout ofFinally, you can brush up on the benefits of virtual its vaccination program. While we are that muchwork, e-commerce models and online events, closer to regaining a sense of normalcy, we arewhile learning to cope with the accompanying equally aware that we must continue to adapt toanxiety, connectivity issues and capacity needs. the changes that COVID has bestowed upon us.Many of us working from home have found ways 6A CCAB PUBLICATION2021'