ERDN, PBCN join forces as part of new welding partnership
- Fraser Needham | February 02, 2016
Two northern Saskatchewan First Nations have teamed up with a Saskatoon welding company as part of a new major multimillion-dollar partnership.
The partnership includes the English River Dene Nation, Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation and JNE Welding.
The company brings together combined revenues of $296 million, a payroll of $54 million and 1,000 employees.
As part of the agreement, English River and PBCN will each hold a 30 per cent share in the new company with JNE retaining the remaining 40 per cent.
JNE Welding founder and CEO Jim Nowakowski, who recently turned 60-years-old, says he is starting to think about succession planning.
He says he has worked with English River on projects in the past, through their subsidiary Des Nedhe Development, and approached them about 20 months ago about a potential partnership.
Des Nedhe CEO Gary Merasty, who is a PBCN member, played a key role in bringing Peter Ballantyne on board.
Aside from wanting to ensure his company remains in good hands after he retires, Nowakowski says he wants to make sure as many avenues possible for economic development and job creation are open to the province’s Indigenous population.
“I’ve recognized for a very long time that our First Nations people need a leg up, they need some help from time to time to access new opportunities,” he says. “And I’ve been active with different First Nations communities over a period of time because I want to see them do better. I felt that was very, very important and I felt that I have gained some business experience and if I can share some lessons with them and help them perhaps make better decisions then we would all be better off, we would all benefit.”
Des Nedhe Development CEO Gary Merasty says even though the Saskatchewan economy is currently experiencing a slight downturn with the fall of oil and potash prices, they believe the partnership is a good long-term investment.
“I think there is a tremendous amount of opportunity,” he says. “We’re going through a bit of a slowdown in the economy right now but I think with being able to package together the full suite of services – being a full service company – our construction company Tron working with JNE can offer fabrication and installation services for a lot of these types of projects not only in Saskatchewan but across Canada or even North America.”
Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Chief Peter Beatty agrees the new partnership provides a good investment opportunity.
“Basically it means we’re diversifying our portfolio in our investment arm,” he says. “We’re involved in a number of different areas including hospitality, trucking, our petrocan stations. This is a new area that we’re glad to get into – steel fabrication. So it’s a new thing for us and we’re glad for that opportunity.”
JNE Welding has been in operation since 1980.