A Hobbema financial institution has been awarded a 2013 Alberta Business Award of Distinction.
Niwihcihaw Acceptance Ltd. was presented with the Eagle Feather Business Award of Distinction Friday evening in Edmonton.
That award goes to a First Nation-owned business with “outstanding achievement in business” and which has “incorporated entrepreneurial and cultural concepts into its operation.”
Niwihcihaw Acceptance provides personal consumer loans to members of Ermineskin Cree Nation and other First Nation communities and agencies. Its name means “helping hands” in Cree.
A release issued by the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, which organizes the annual awards, said Niwihcihaw Acceptance’s mandate is to promote economic growth and self-sufficiency.
It’s also involved in a number of community activities.
There were 11 Alberta Business Awards of Distinction presented, with the categories consisting of Aboriginal Woman Entrepreneur, Diversity Leadership, Employer of Persons with Disabilities, Employer of Youth, Small Business, Aboriginal Relations, Marketing, Youth Entrepreneur, Export and the Premier’s Award of Distinction.