The Little Shuswap Lake Band is hoping to reap the benefits of a new partnership with Steel River Group.

Founder and CEO of the Calgary based group, Trent Fequet, says it has had success working with other first nation groups and it looks forward to doing that again here. “We came in and listened to the needs and wants of the nation and were able to put together a plan. The plan was centred around maximizing employment for the member base. We were able to diversify the services.”

Fequet says when it comes to pipelines, there are ongoing projects here in the Kamloops area that are needed right now and will be sustainable. “Especially for, when I know the Kamloops region there’s obviously a project or two that are on the horizon that’s going to benefit everybody in the region and they’re not a negative thing. We appreciate that moving forward we’re going to have to adjust to the times when it comes to our energy sources, but the reality is that’s not here today.”

Fequet says the goal is to work with winning regions and help them grow. “Some pretty aggressive and major infrastructure plans throughout that region. And you know for our client base, we bring probably a swath of, and a pool of, clients and partners that we know have plans for expansion in the region in the coming years. So our partnership will be focused around those avenues.”