Fisher River Economic Development Corporation

​The Ochekwi-Sipi Economic Development Corporation (OSEDC) was incorporated on March 19, 1990. The Chief and Council have since restructured the program and a new board of Directors has officially take over the business development portfolio for the Fisher River Cree Nation as of April 1, 2013. The new corporation is now called “Fisher River Economic Development Corporation” (FRED Corp.)

FRED Corp. is a community-controlled process of local revitalization. It is a perspective, which makes the community the foremost player in its growth or renewal.

FRED Corp. focuses on the economic, social, cultural, environmental and educational needs of the individual and the community as a whole, for all must be addressed if the community is to develop and still maintain its quality of life.

FRED Corp. emphasizes that the people of a community should be directly involved in pursuing and managing their own economic development. It recognizes that different regions have different needs and opportunities and all economic development must be charged with local community-led planning and implementation.

FRED Corp. is driven by a community-based bottom-up approach to economic development.

Mandate

The guiding principles are as follows:

  • To gain full corporate responsibility with less politics.
  • To move forward having its own source revenue with less dependence on federal government support.
  • To economically sufficient and develop the drivers for employment and community growth

The Fisher River Economic Development Corporation will be an arms length corporation whose goal is to flow “dividends” to the Fisher River Trust for community investment.

Objectives

  • Diversifying the local environment
  • Reducing economic vulnerability
  • Making the community more competitive
  • Improving existing infrastructure
  • Replacing declining business and industry   sectors
  • Reducing the out migration of youth by providing job opportunities in the community
  • Enhancing the investment and entrepreneurial environment
  • Building capacity within the community by developing people and organizations capable of managing positive change