Gitmaxmak'ay Nisga'a Economic Development Corporation

The Gitmaxmak‘ay Nisga’a Economic Development Corporation (GNEDC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society (GNS), a non-profit organization responsible for delivering language and culture revitalization programs for the approximately 1600 Nisga’a citizens living in Prince Rupert. GNEDC operates a portfolio of businesses including a garden centre, floral studio, fish & chips food truck, convenience store and has plans to open a café and a commercial salmon smokehouse. Since its creation in 2013, the GNEDC has grown from four employees to thirty-two and from just under $200,000 in annual revenue to more than $1.2 million. In Fall 2020, the GNEDC began operations of a state-of-the-art hydroponics greenhouse, offering a fresh greens subscription box to the community and donating the surplus harvest to Nisga’a elders on a weekly basis. GNEDC considers itself to be a quadruple bottom line business, meaning performance is judged not by just the financial outcomes, but also the social, environmental, and cultural dimensions.