Building a sustainable economic future was the theme of a two-day Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council workshop in Parksville in late September.

“The workshop's main goal was to help move our nations’ economic development plans forward in this period of apparent economic recovery,” said NmTC’s chief executive officer Keith Wilson. “We have had many requests from our members to provide a workshop that offered hands-on tools and strategies for them to deal with businsess development issues they face on a regular basis.”

Among the topics under discussion were:

• How to incorporate economic opportunities into your planning;
• Strategies for bringing communities up to speed on economic development;
• How to set up a successful economic development corporation;
• How to read financial documents; and
• How to create an entrepreneurial spirit in communities.

More specific discussions centred around land designations, governance for development corporations and the variety of agreements that surround successful joint ventures and partnerships.

A group-buying proposal as a First Nations’ housing solution also came under discussion at the workshop as well as revisiting NmTC's continuing role in economic development for its member nations.