As the designated business entity, the development corporation priorities are wealth creation, employment opportunities, and community development while committing to the stewardship of resources in a manner that provides lasting value for future generations.
As a team, every member of the LNIBDC is committed to:
Mutual collaboration: Creating economic wealth for our people with the support of strong Joint Venture partners
A progressive organization: Committed to learning and growth, built on a proud heritage
Extraordinary leadership: A Lower Nicola Band that’s not only forward looking, but seeks out advisors and partners to ensure continuous improvement.
A foundational heritage: We’re building a sustainable future while never forgetting the proud history that got us here.
A workforce you can count on: Skilled, trained, we’ve developed a workforce that LNIB and our JV partners can always rely on.
Encouraging investors: Diverse, committed to growth, a strong workforce – those are the incentives we offer potential investors.
Partnering with LNIBDC Corp has given us a strategic advantage that has let us bid more aggressively on contracts and secure substantial business growth, even through tough economic times.
Nate Schick, Boost2Business Marketing
Boost2Business.ca
One of LNIBDC’s major goals is the creation of ongoing wealth for the LNIB First Nation. We are well aware that to achieve it, we must work with Joint Venture partners to bring it to reality. At the same time we will ensure that any partnership respects the values of sustainability and environmental protection that are fundamental to the way we live and our honoring of the land.
Major Business
LNIBDC is proud to be partners with the following companies:
Teck’s Highland Valley Copper Mine (HVC)
An agreement between Teck, the BC Government and LNIB ensures that LNIB shares part of the profits from HVC. HVC will also create annual and long term employment and plans to have more band members working at the mine. The company will also pay into a training fund, administered by LNIB, to support employment and training initiatives for band members, and create a preferential hiring process to guarantee job interviews for qualified LNIB members.
Trans Mountain Pipelines
LNIB members are employed by Trans Mountain in maintenance of the pipeline through LNIB territory. Although the LNIB band has major concerns about the expansion of the current pipeline, should Trans Mountain receive approval, the
company will ensure employment opportunities, as well as job and safety training for LNIB band members.
Infracon
The Lower Nicola Indian Band has been involved in numerous joint venture projects with Infracon since 2012. For example, joint venture partnering on two projects with BC Hydro – Merritt Area Transmission (MAT) Project – resulted in the employment of local First Nations sub-contractors and employees as well as the use of LNIBDC owned equipment.
Valard
Valard is a utility contractor that LNIBDC is a joint venture partner in the construction of the Kingsvale Transmission Line. This partnership allows LNIBDC to have the capacity to be the majority owner of the Kingsvale Transmission line. The construction and maintenance of the transmission line will provide jobs and training for LNIB members.
LNIB is at the junction of the Coquihalla Highway (Hwy 5) and 97C to the Okanagan. Almost all traffic destined for Vancouver, Kelowna, Northern BC and the Prairie Provinces passes through this hub at Merritt. Traffic volume, and therefore visits to the Nicola Valley have seen marked increases. Attractive opportunities for development exist in hotel/motel operations, gas bars, restaurants and RV parks.
Proximity to major markets in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland mean that manufacturers who set up business in the hub area have cost effective transit links to their customers.
Quality of work. As a forestry and civil/construction service provider, we strive for excellence in the quality of work that we provide to our customers.
Lower Nicola Indian Band has partnered with Valard Construction to build, operate and maintain a new power line that will cross some of the LNIB lands, running from the Trans Mountain pumping station to Aspen Grove, where it will connect to the existing BC Hydro system. The hydro line, a 138-kilovolt line that will run roughly 24kms, it is needed to supply additional power to the Kingsvale pumping station when the Trans Mountain pipeline is twinned.
Shulus Electricity Transmission LP is 55-percent owned by LNIB Development Corp. and 45-percent owned by Valard Construction. The Kingsvale project is unique in that it is the first instance in Canada of a power line being constructed, owned, operated and maintained by a First Nations community.
SFE is well respected by its customers and stakeholders for consistently delivering a safe, high-quality work product. Our high profile customer list includes Aspen Planers, Weyerhaeuser, West Fraser Timber, Trans Mountain Pipelines, Teck/HVC and Enbridge. Quality of work is a key SFE value, as it ensures that our business will continue to grow and thrive based on our strong reputation in the industry.
Shulus Farms Ltd., wholly owned by the LNIB Development Corporation, is comprised of 2,250 acres of sunny, fertile fee simple land in the Nicola Valley. The land is comprised entirely of fee simple property. In the spring of 2017 most of the farm property was leased to two tenants under a single lease, for a period of 10 years. The lease includes a range tenure and five water licenses. Both tenants are using the land for hay cultivation.
To date the portfolio for LNIB Ventures of signed or pending agreements exceeds twenty, and the list includes pipeline work (surveying, blasting, earthworks, camps, bridge work, equipment supply, environmental remediation), mining support (electrical contractors, industrial plumbing,
scaffolding) and tire and steel recycling.
LNIB Development corp. is the corporate entity of the LNIB, or the Nlaka’pamux. Our goals is to create wealth and prosperity for bands members as well as the local economy businesses. Through partnerships and joint ventures, LNIB DC is changing the future of our people in a positive way.