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Best Indigenous Businesses: Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund

The Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund has been assisting Indigenous businesses with financial and business support for 30 years.
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Brian Davey leads the Nishnawbe Aski Development fund, which has provided $38 million in financing to assist approximately 600 business startups and expansions across Northern Ontario since 1987.

It is fitting for the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund (NADF) to be featured as one of the Best Aboriginal Businesses in Northern Ontario. After all, NADF has played a key role in the growth and development of Aboriginal business in Northern Ontario. Established in 1987, the NADF is a non-profit organization that has been providing financial and business services to support Indigenous business and economic development for 30 years.

“We’ve helped create a lot of jobs and a lot of businesses,” said Brian Davey, executive director of the NADF. “Small business is the key to our economic success.”

The NADF initially operated as an Aboriginal Capital Corporation (ACC). This network of 26 Aboriginally owned and controlled business lending organizations were established across Canada to provide business services and support to Aboriginal entrepreneurs and businesses. Initially, the NADF offered these services to the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (Treaty #9 and Ontario Portion of Treaty #5). 

Since 1987, the NADF has provided $38 million in financing to assist approximately 600 business startups and expansions across Northern Ontario. Today, eligible applicants include individuals of Aboriginal heritage (status, non-status, Métis and Inuit) and majority-owned Aboriginal businesses, associations and other legal entities operating within the territories of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Robinson-Superior 1850 Treaty, and Treaty #3, on or off reserve. The average loan size is $62,000 — a number that is expected to increase, due at least in part to the growing number of new First Nation partnerships that are developing across the region. Projects have been evenly distributed between on-reserve and off-reserve in recent years, Davey said.

Most remarkably, its loan loss provision is around 10 per cent, which is quite low for a developmental fund.

“The biggest reason for that is our aftercare,” Davey said. “We don’t just give our clients a loan. We continue to visit the client to make sure things are going well for them. If they run into some trouble, we can readjust their payment schedule as needed.”

As the word “developmental” suggests, the primary goal of the NADF is to support the establishment of new Aboriginal businesses. However, Davey said, the NADF serves clients who are in all stages of business development.

“Companies reach the point where they could easily qualify for a commercial bank loan but many don’t go to the banks. They prefer to stay with us because they like our service and the relationship we have developed with them over the years. That says something about how we do things,” Davey said.

The NADF also offers a number of business support services including bookkeeping services and training, appraisal services, youth entrepreneurship programs, and workshops. The organization also hosts a number of events throughout the year that promote and support business development, including the Aboriginal Forum on June 1, being held in partnership with the Northern Ontario Mining Expo in Timmins. In October, it will host the 27th annual NADF Business Awards — Canada’s longest running Aboriginal business awards — to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Aboriginal business. To date, 161 awards have been presented and nominations are now open for this year’s event.

The NADF is always looking to improve client services and recently introduced matching interest rates and extended loan terms; qualifying applicants may apply for commercial mortgages and non-commercial loans. More recently, NADF has also begun exploring online lending.

“I am personally very excited about online lending. People can go to their phone or their computer or their tablet and apply online. You can get your answer within hours,” Davey said. He added that this is an especially useful service for people living in remote areas of the region. “I hope to roll that out by the end of 2017.”

The NADF is the natural partner for a number of governmental programs as well. For example, the NADF administers a number of federal and provincial grant programs, including the Aboriginal Business Contribution Program, Equity Assistance Grant and Community Initiatives Grants, and manages the Community Comprehensive Planning (CCP) development program for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). 

“We have been very fortunate to be a large part of community development across Northern Ontario.”