Helping Indigenous Businesses Sell Goods and Services to Government
Come to an overview of tools, strategies, and best practices that empower Economic Development Officers working with local indigenous businesses that want to sell goods and services to government. The federal government purchases over 15 billion dollars of goods and services each year. Participating in these opportunities can help build local capacity, community readiness, and collaborative partnership opportunities. The overview will include information on the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Businesses (PSAB). PASB allows for federal contracts to be set aside for competition between only indigenous businesses and understanding this process is a valuable tool for EDOs.
Presented by, Kevin Turner, Office of Small & Medium Enterprises, Public Services & Procurement Canada and Dolores Coelho, Crown-Indigenous Relations & Northern Affairs
Kevin Turner is the Regional Director, Office of Small & Medium Enterprises (OSME) of Public Services & Procurement Canada. The office’s role is to help companies learn what products & services the Government of Canada buys and how the procurement processes work. OSME is also responsible for the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP) which helps companies to bridge the pre-commercialization gap by procuring and testing late stage innovative goods and services within the federal government before taking them to market. Kevin is based in Edmonton, Alberta and is responsible for the Prairies, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
Dolores Coelho joined Crown-Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) in 1999 after a career of 15 years with Investors Group Financial Services where, she held the position of Regional Coordinator for the Administration Unit, dealing with clients, administrative staff and management. Since September 2000, Dolores has been a Program Officer in the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal (PSAB) unit. She has brought a great deal of knowledge and experience dealing with both the Procurement Community, as well as Aboriginal Businesses. In her current positions, Dolores provides training to the public and private sector on the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business policy initiative. She promotes PSAB and the Indigenous Business Directory through the development and implementation of communication strategies for the Directorate and Branch. She is also responsible for policy development through the review, analysis and enhancement of existing policies to increase the reach and impact of Indigenous procurement. Finally, she’s involved in major procurement projects leveraging PSAB to create opportunities for Indigenous people.
