b'ABORIGINAL BUSINESS REPORTSTORYTHE OF AMAGAZINEBy Nikita Weiss DayI n s i g h t i n t o A b o ri g i n a l B u s i n e s s R e p o r t f r o m t h e p e o p l e w h o h e l p e d b u i l d t h e m a g a z i n eI n2015,CanadianCouncilforAboriginal Business Report was theonAboriginal Business Reportgot Aboriginal Business (CCAB) tookbrainchild of publisher Maurice LaBordeunderway. The cover of the inaugural a new step in championing the(with MediaEdge Publishing) and Andreissue featured Murray Koffler, Ron Indigenous economy in Canada:Morriseau, the then awards and commu- Jamieson and JP Gladuthree men itlauncheditsownmagazine,nications director for CCAB. The twowho had played a pivotal role in the AboriginalBusinessReport(ABR).understood its incredible potential and Thepublicationwasafirstfortheits importance as a communication toolcreation and growth of CCAB. organization, focusing exclusively onfor the organization. With a magazine the world of Indigenous business.Since its launch, Aboriginal Business in hand, CCAB could share its messageReport has grown exponentially and It had all started with an idea and awith a broader Canadian public, raisehas continued to build on its strength. passionate group of people intent onawareness for Indigenous business, and seeing it through. They understoodhelp incentivize, support and inspireToday, it is one of the largest Indigenous that Indigenous businesses in CanadaIndigenous people to embrace theirmagazines in Canada. We reached out were growing in number at an aston- own business future.to some of the people who played a ishing rate, and there were many storieskey role in its creation and ongoing to tellstories that were rarely beingCCABbegancollaboratingwithsuccess and asked them to share their shared anywhere else. MediaEdge Publishing, and productionpersonal experiences. WHAT IS THE STORYABR: KEY PLAYERS BEHIND THE CREATION OF ?ABORIGINAL BUSINESS REPORTMAURICE P. LABORDEI realized there was no large national FOLLOWING ARE THE PEOPLE WE SPOKE TO ABOUTIndigenous communication piece out THE STORY BEHIND ABORIGINAL BUSINESS REPORT. there dealing with Indigenous business and I felt that was a real shame. I knew that Indigenous business was thriving and growing across the country, contrib-MAURICE P. LABORDE: National Director of Publishing, MediaEdge Publishing uting billions of dollars to the economy, so there was a strong disconnect. I sawANDRE MORRISEAU: Former CCAB Awards & Communications Directorthe incredible opportunity this presented and wanted to fill that space.JP GLADU:Former CCAB President & CEO I turned to Andre Morriseau, CCABsSANDY GENE: Former CCAB VP, Marketing, Communications & Eventscommunications director at the time,about collaborating on a new businessSHANNON SUTHERLAND: CCAB VP Marketing, Communications & Events magazine. He was on board from theget-go and took the idea to the orga-nizations senior management, where it 66A CCAB PUBLICATIONSpring 2024'