Boozhoo Nindinawemaaginadook. Amy Comegan nindizhinikaaz, Anishinaabe kwe nindow. Naongashiing nindonjibaa. It is an honor to serve as your Executive Director. I am looking forward to visiting all the communities that Bimose serves and obtaining a good understanding of how Bimose can better meet the needs of each community.
Collectively, Bimose Tribal Council, Kakina Economic Development Group, Kiizhik Education Corporation and Makwa have experienced growth over the past year. As a whole, Bimose and its related entities, continue to seek out new revenue streams and as well look for ways to enhance services provided to the communities. This is evidenced by the new Daycare which will serve children and families of member communities starting in February 2020. The new Daycare will provide culturally appropriate child-care and a needed safe place for children while their parents are working.
Makwa Builders LP began operations this past year and has steadily grown its business. Its first major project building the new Daycare is well underway and Makwa continues to attract new business opportunities in the city of Kenora and also within the communities. A new worker has been hired to continue to meet the growing demand for construction projects. In the long-term, Makwa will explore larger scale projects to bid on which will provide employment opportunities and economic and infrastructure growth for the surrounding communities.
Bimose Tribal Council continues to provide much needed advisory services to the communities. The Technical Services Department assists communities in capital project submissions, preparing FNIIP reports and other O&M reports to ISC, housing inspections, and fire protection services. Providing safe drinking water continues to be a major priority for communities across the country. To address shortages in water treatment plant coverage and to build capacity for our people, the HUB program will be offering an internship program in partnership with Water First. The program will focus on certifying new Water Treatment Operators within the communities and training is slated to being in January 2020. Informational sessions will be provided in December 2019.
In the area of Education, Kiizhik School continues to see a growing enrolment at both Kiizhik School and the high school. The need for culturally appropriate education with curriculum in Anishinaabemowin is high and it is encouraging to see the number of students continue to increase. This increased enrolment will require expansion of the school in the very near future. Part of this expansion is contained within the plans to develop Kiizhik Academy. The intentions for Kiizhik Academy are to house the expanded school and will also provide post-secondary training and capacity development. One of the main areas of planned post-secondary education includes water plant operator training as well as business courses. These are areas in which communities have experienced shortages of skilled and trained employees. The training that is planned to be offered would be open to all members of the Treaty 3 area and is intended to be a central location for post-secondary capacity development.