Membertou Welcomes the World

NOTE: The following feature story was written for the Nova Scotia Come to life initiative and celebrates Mi'kmaq History Month in Nova Scotia.

Once again, the Membertou Mi'kmaw community has shown itself as a leader in business development, benefiting the local Mi'kmaw and non-Mi'kmaw business community of Cape Breton.

In June, the band broke ground for the Membertou Business Centre, a 33,000-square-foot mall, located on the site of a future connector road through Membertou, which will link the Sydney Harbour area to Hwy. 125.

The centre is described as an incubator mall. In addition to space for established commercial and professional offices, it will have smaller units geared toward fledgling entrepreneurs.

"The 1,000-square-foot incubator units are perfect for new businesses that want to get started in a professional environment, or home-based entrepreneurs who are ready to grow," says Bill Bonnar, manager of special projects and commercial real estate for the Membertou Band.

"It's great for Membertou because it will draw people to the area, and it's great for the community because it provides a new kind of business centre space," says Bonnar.

Each unit has a store front and drive-up customer parking. This appealed to potential tenants, says Bonnar, and made it easy to fill the space.

Right now, about 80 per cent of the commercial space is rented," he says. "On the small-business side, a Mi'kmaw craft shop and a hair salon have each booked a unit.

"The chief is always saying 'See a need and fill it'. That's what we did here." The mall is part of an overall development plan for a business park in Membertou.

Chief Terrance Paul, in his 25th year as leader of the 1,200-member band, has worked with its council and residents to make Membertou not only a self-sustaining community, but also a vital part of the greater Sydney area. The results seen today are rooted in work done years ago.

In the 1990s, the band developed a plan to get Membertou on solid footing. They ensured transparency and accountability, and, in 2002, became the first Aboriginal community in the world to achieve International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification. They opened an entertainment centre that brought in a new revenue stream and welcomed talented people from across the country to the community, as business investors and partners, clients, customers, employees and visitors.

Chief Paul says attaining the internationally recognized ISO certification was a big help in securing outside investors.

"That increased our credibility," the chief says. "Companies know that to achieve this certification, you really have to have your administration and management processes in place."

And, he says, the benefits were realized quickly.

"Right after we got our certification, we had an aerospace company express interest in partnering with us in a bid for a manufacturing contract."

Even though that particular bid was not successful, Chief Paul says it still raised the profile of Nova Scotia, and Membertou continues to pursue partnerships with both local and international connections. Last year, the community hosted a wind turbine manufacturing group from Spain.

"We are exploring partnerships," says Chief Paul, "and the Basque people are at the forefront of manufacturing."

In 2004, the band completed the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre, one of its most visible achievements. At 47,000-square feet, it's the largest convention centre in Nova Scotia outside of Halifax.

This culturally unique centre, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, Mi'kmaw cultural display, Great Hall which seats up to 900, and range of meeting spaces, is not only a conference venue, says the chief, but a place worth visiting just for the experience or a nice meal in the restaurant.

"We have a beautiful building here. It's been a focal point for all of Cape Breton," says Chief Paul.

The trade and convention centre is an ideal venue for special events, and has featured performers like Tommy Hunter, Bachman Cummings and Gordon Lightfoot.

"We are also the centre people think of first when it comes to comedy," says general manager Donald Davis, who books more than 10 Yuk Yuks comedy shows each year.

For special events, one of the centre's biggest competitive advantages is its half-million-dollar sound system.

"It's a state-of-the-art facility," says Davis. "When a band comes in, they don't have to transport a lot of equipment with them. And we have the technical expertise on-site to run it.

"The catering kitchen is also high-tech. We invested close to $1 million about a year ago to install two Rational-brand ovens and upgrade our catering."

These professional ovens hold up to 80 plates each on metal racks that are close to six-feet tall. Using the Rational system, the chef and staff are able to prepare portions of meals in advance. Food is cooked and quickly chilled, then arranged on plates, ready to be heated just moments before serving.

"When we're catering big events, timing is everything," says Davis. "We can easily serve 600 to 800 meals at one sitting."

Over the past two years, the trade and convention centre has achieved 20 per cent to 30 per cent revenue growth. The key, says Davis, is diversification.

"Catering is our bread and butter," he says with a smile, adding that it's the combination of services -- meetings spaces, catering, restaurant, gift shop and special events -- that make the operation a success.

Chief Paul says the trade and convention centre welcomes over 900 groups a year and is a model for business development in Membertou.

"It's helped Membertou be recognized by the outside world as a very progressive community," he says proudly. "It shows that whatever job we are asked to do, we get it done, and done right."