Small Business Loans
Loans Program
The small business loan program promotes and facilitates entrepreneurship within the Nak’azdli community.
The Small Business Loans Program assists eligible small businesses to access capital. The program relies on funds acquired by Nak’azdli LNG through the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline project. Businesses that employ less than twenty people on a full-time, seasonal, or part-time basis are considered small businesses.
Through the small loans program, we partner with Aboriginal Business Development in Prince George to help applicants create a business plan. A business plan is required for all program participants.
Eligibility
Is your business eligible for the Small Loans Program? Review our checklist:
- The business must be at least 50% Nak’azdli owned.
- A small business is one that employs less than twenty people on a full-time, seasonal, or part-time basis.
- The loan must be used to develop the economy by assisting entrepreneurs to create new businesses or to stabilize or expand an existing business.
- Financial assistance will only be provided by NDC to Nak’azdli Whut’en band members that, in the judgment of NDC, have the necessary skills and experience to carry out the plan, and will have a reasonable expectation of economic viability.
- Have a recent business plan and/or needs assessment based on the economic environment they are buying into.
- Have an existing loan in good standing and/or have repaid a recent NDC investment loan.
- The responsibility for assessing and approving investment applications will rest with the NDC’s Board of Directors and or/any committee delegating the authority.
- Applicants must enter into a reasonable repayment agreement. The first payment will be due 90 days after the grant is released.
- Maximum payments will be made over ten years.
Do you meet the criteria for the small business loan? Please download the application form and submit the completed form to ndcpayroll@nakdc.ca.
Success Stories
We’re proud to share success stories from the Small Business Loans Program. Meet entrepreneurs who’ve received support from NDC!
Mur-Lin Trucking
Murray Prince, a former logging truck driver for Nak’al Koh Logging, purchased a truck from the company’s fleet after it closed in 2022. With an approved small business loan, he successfully launched his own business.
Nak’azdli Mechanical
Through the small business loan program, Montana Turgeon was able to start Nak’azdli Mechanical. Montana has grown his business which focuses on industrial maintenance and equipment rentals, providing full time jobs in the community.