(Penticton, BC) – The BC Métis Federation attended the Aboriginal Business Match (ABM) West which concluded yesterday in Penticton. ABM West is one of the most powerful economic development conferences in British Columbia and BC Métis Federation President Mr. Keith Henry is co-chair of the ABM West Steering Committee with Penticton Indian Band Chief Johnathon Kruger and several other key partners who volunteered time to provide advice and guidance into setting up this year’s ABM West conference.

ABM West is a conference which incorporates a format which is based on 20 minute appointments over a 2 day period in an effort to match Aboriginal and non Aboriginal partners secure new business opportunities in a variety of sectors. This past week there was approximately 300 ABM West delegates in attendance from across British Columbia, Alberta, and United States.

BC Métis Federation President Henry stated, “I was proud to be a part of the ABM West steering committee representing Métis business interests. Our objective was to seek new partners who shared our vision towards self sufficiency and sustainability for our organization. We want to be able to support our partner communities, Métis businesses, members, and cultural needs without government handouts. We had approximately 20 meetings with several important partners who understood our vision to support self sufficiency.”

BC Métis Federation President Henry added; “There will be a number of new initiatives and we will be following up with a few of the Métis small businesses as we showcased our latest BC Métis Federation Business Directory.”

BC Métis Federation President Henry concluded, “Thank you to Penticton Indian Band Chief Kruger for our work between First Nations and Métis leaders to guide this conference. I also thank Raven Events and their team led by Katrin Harry who ensured a well planned conference as the event planner. This was a very successful conference and our objectives were met and now we will be following up several new partnership opportunities. To have First Nation and Métis leaders and businesses working together was a powerful message for delegates. In business partners are critical and we need to push our Aboriginal communities and non Aboriginal partners to work together now more than ever.”

For more information about the BC Métis Federation also be sure to view our website at www.bcmetis.com.

Media Inquiries: 

Keith Henry, President 

BC Métis Federation 

#300-3665 Kingsway 

You can now follow BC Métis Federation President Keith Henry on twitter@keithhenrymetis

You can follow the BC Métis Federation on twitter @bcmetis

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