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Strong growth for First Nations company created in response to pandemic
Born out of a need to provide critical supplies at a time they weren’t available anywhere else, a First Nation-owned cleaning product company is now filling orders from across the province with no signs of slowing down.
In March 2020, as Saskatchewan and much of the world went into lockdown and shelves emptied of hand sanitizer, bleach and other essential items, Battleford Agency of Tribal Chiefs (BATC) began looking for ways to provide their membership with the life-saving products.
Working with a manufacturer just outside Saskatoon, BATC started producing kits of cleaning supplies and sending them to their seven member First Nations.
“And then from there the idea came, ‘okay, well, what if there was a First Nation’s brand of cleaning supplies and we could change some of the scents and some of the formulas to create something kind of for ourselves,” Kendra Rink, general manager of nîkihk, told paNOW.