Recognizing Indigenous businesses that are generating economic development opportunities, creating partnerships and shaping communities is one of the key goals of the Indigenous Business Award (IBA) program. For the past 13 years, over 200 outstanding Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs have been celebrated, their stories shared, and their achievements continue to inspire change. It is the inspiration which defines another goal of the IBA program – as these business success stories lead the way for others to follow.
BC Achievement is privileged to share these stories and elevate Indigenous business throughout the province. A film archive dedicated to the IBA program speaks to the ongoing and developing importance of Indigenous business in BC’s economy. The archive serves as a resource and learning tool accessible to all through BC Achievement’s YouTube channel. We are indebted to the program’s sponsorship family who share our collective goals to elevate excellence, share success and, in doing so, inspire change.
Since 2010, Teck has been a committed supporter of the IBA program contributing financial resources and amplifying the important stories of Indigenous business success. Teck’s annual investment helps develop BC Achievement’s vision to offer awardees and their supporters an authentic space to showcase their achievements, build bridges between BC’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous economies, and celebrate success, diversity and inclusion.
In the Fall of 2021, Teck once again demonstrated its commitment to the IBA program entering into a three-year agreement as the program’s presentation sponsor. We salute Teck for its generousity. It is a valued partner in the program’s delivery, and we are grateful to Teck for its foresight in offering three years of funding to support the IBA program cycle through the nomination, selection and recognition phases. We are excited to work toward the June 1 launch of the 2022 IBA program and anticipate another strong campaign to #nominatenowbc!
Thanks to Teck’s multi-year support, the IBA program will continue to raise the voices of Indigenous entrepreneurs and businesses who are building significant socio-economic opportunities and generating cultural resurgence across the province; facilitate increased Indigenous representation in the business sector; and create a platform for sharing stories of resilience and ingenuity to help ‘shift the narrative and deficit that are often at the forefront of news stories’.
More information about Teck’s Indigenous Peoples Policy can be found here.
BC Achievement: Elevate Excellence. Share Success. Inspire Change.