Nishnawbe Aski development fund: non-profit marking 30 years of supporting Indigenous prosperity.

• Author: Strong, Graham
• Position: Best Indigenous Businesses

It is fitting for the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund (NADF) to be featured as one of the Best Indigenous Businesses in Northern Ontario. After all, NADF has played a key role in the growth and development of Indigenous-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, Metis 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 First Nation 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...