NORTH BATTLEFORD - Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head Lean Man Economic Development has become a minority investor in the local Comfort Inn and Suites Hotel in North Battleford.
The deal was made official with a signing ceremony at the hotel Monday afternoon. Chief Tanya Stone of MGBHLM First Nation signed the documents, as witnessed by council members and board members of MGBHLM Economic Development.
With the deal MGBHLM obtains 640,000 of the 5.3 million shares, making it the second-largest investor in the hotel behind Terracap, owners of Frontier Centre.
The deal is part of the economic development efforts of the Mosquito First Nation over the past couple of years. They launched their economic development section two years ago and have been active in developing The Ridge, where the former Government House was located, into a venue for potential tourism and economic opportunities.
Mosquito purchased the Ridge site in 2020 from the Oblates. Their plans for the site include launching an art gallery/museum and interpretive centre there, as well as a COVID-19 wellness centre and a training centre.
In connection with those plans, Mosquito had been looking at possibly purchasing a hotel to accommodate tourists coming to the area. After COVID-19 hit, those plans shifted towards taking an investment role in an existing hotel. They approached Comfort Inn and Suites, and negotiations took place over the past year before the Mosquito offer was accepted.
“It’s absolutely incredible the amount of work that has been done within our Nation right from day one,” said Chief Stone.
“This partnership with Comfort Inn, and working with our leaders — it was not a definite yes at the beginning, it was a lot of negotiating and discussing back-and-forth the benefits to our people. And that’s the outcome, the benefits to our people in training and employment, in promoting tourism, in promoting our history as Nakota people and inviting people to come learn about our people and Nakota history, and the Canadian (history) with The Ridge.”
“It’s a very exciting time for our Nation to be in partnership with Comfort Inn,” said Grant Beaudry, CEO of Mosquito Economic Development. “It just goes hand-in-hand with our tourism project at The Ridge — our interpretive cultural art gallery. Also, it will allow us to do further training programs in the hospitality industry, guest services, interpretive guide training. Also, there will be different opportunities for different businesses to expand within economic development.”
“We want to tell a story up at The Ridge, and part of that story is having tourists come there” said MGBHLM Board director Chris Odishaw.
“My hope and vision for our Economic Development group going forward is that we show the example of how partnerships can change the world.”
“It’s been a year of working with Grant and the economic development corporation,” said Darin Manegre, sales and business relationship manager with Comfort Inn in North Battleford. “The opportunities going forward are endless, with staff training and development and working with (The Ridge), the cultural centre. We’re very excited.”
