New business venture promises jobs, prosperity

There’s a sweet smell permeating the Naicatchewenin First Nation on Northwest Bay these days.
Actually there are two.
One is the scent of western red cedar, which thanks to the initiative of people like Tony Marinaro, has also brought in another—the smell of success.
Marinaro is the director of operations for a company called Kish Gon Dug Canada—a First Nation-owned and operated company that turns out high-quality, hand-crafted lawn furniture, which is rapidly finding a market in the United States.
On Aug. 25, Kish Gon Dug formally signed a contract with NJ Supply Ltd. of St. Louis, Mo., which has opened up the huge American market for the band’s product. And Marinaro couldn’t be happier.
“This is our first big score,” he said. “We’ve spent two years making a consistent, quality product and now we’ll probably have to double our production within a year,” he predicted.
Kish Gon Dug currently employees 10 band members on a full-time basis in its 3,000 square foot factory/warehouse located on the reserve, about 27 kilometres north of Devlin. The raw materials are shipped in from British Columbia and stored on site.
Marinaro says all of the wood used is “environmentally harvested” from blow downs and trees that have been leveled by other natural causes—not human activity. That, he says, is a major selling point to his customers—particulary those in the southern and western U.S. states, which is where he expects to find his major market because of the mild climate and longer outdoor season.
That is also what attracted NJ Supply Ltd. President Nancy Wilkes.
“I like the fact it’s all environmentally-healthy,” said Wilkes. “I also like the quality construction, and so will my customers.”
Wilkes’ customers are primarily from a Philadelphia-based shopping channel called the QVC Network. She started out selling imported gardening pots from Australia, but when she was asked to source a furniture supplier, she began looking around.
Wilkes met Marinaro at a trade show in Chicago in July, and it wasn’t long before the supplier and the distributor realized there was a tremendous business opportunity for both.
Within weeks, the trucks were heading south, and on Monday, the formal contract was signed on the reserve, complete with a drum ceremony and feast.
Wilkes said she intends to expand her distribution system from a TV network to include mail-order catalogues and small, independent chain stores to accommodate the anticipated increase in business as a result of the deal.
She is also taking her stock to more trade shows.
“We’re going back to Chicago in September,” Wilkes said. “After that, we’re going to the Texas State Fair.”
The Texas State Fair is a huge annual affair that runs for three weeks in September and October and is comparable to the Canadian National Exhibition in size and scope. Wilkes says it draws over one million people every year.
Because of the new exposure, Wilkes says Kish Gon Dug is going to be very busy over the next few months.
Marinaro says he has no problem with that.
“We feel we’ll be up to 600 pieces a month by next spring, and taking in $1.5 million by a year from now,” he said.
Wilkes said she was so impressed by the way the operation on Northwest Bay is being conducted, she has offered the band a special deal.
“I feel privileged to be selling your furniture,” she told the audience gathered for the signing ceremony.
“I have seen how you value your ways and after speaking with your chief and elders, I have decided that for the next year, a portion of everything we sell in the U.S. will be donated back to this community to support your youth groups.”
Naicatchewenin Chief Wayne Smith closed the official ceremony by personally thanking Wilkes and reminding those present the company came to be as the result of funding from various sources, some of whom had representatives present.
Those agencies included FedNor, Industry Canada, INAC and Casino Rama.
Kish Gon Dug products are marketed locally at the Northern Do-It Center in Fort Frances. The company can also be contacted directly by phone at (807) 486-3407 or by e-mail at: nwbhouse@ff.lakeheadu.ca.