The Feb. 21 to 23 Future is Here Conference on Industrial Hemp, organized by the Alberta Hemp Alliance saw the future unfold for a unique alliance between Frog Lake First Nations (FLFN), the Town of Elk Point, Natural Fiber Technology and an integrated hemp company, ALLIVE.
Town of Elk Point CAO Ken Gwozdz said at the Feb. 26 Town council meeting that the announcement of the hemp alliance had been made on Feb. 23, “And council did a good job of their presentation. I was also very impressed with Clifton Cross and Natural Fiber Technology. None of this would have happened in Elk Point without our mayor and his close ties with Frog Lake First Nations. Mayor Tung, thank you for your leadership and vision.”
The Nikawiy Askiy Micisowin Project is a partnership that could in time expand to other First Nations and Métis settlements, according to information received by the Town of Elk Point following the conference. The information states that the collaboration of the parties is dedicated to the development of a supply chain based on the birth of an industrial hemp industry in the region. The partnership has evolved over several years of research and is forecast to be a major boost to the region’s economy.
Located in the Town of Elk Point’s industrial park, facilities for processing and manufacturing industrial hemp products will be developed, thanks to the Town’s establishment of a unique corporate structure that aim to create jobs and strengthen the region’s economy.
The first part of the project involves hemp building blocks.
The Town of Elk Point has now completed setting up two Municipal Controlled Corporations (MCCs) in the Town’s Diversity Industrial Park, Elk Point Investment Incorporated and Green Building Corporation.
Askiy Asiniy LP Ltd., which is now in the process of officially changing its name to Asinikahtamwak LP Ltd., was incorporated on Sept. 23 of last year and is a community-oriented company formed with the partnership between FLFN, the Town of Elk Point and Natural Fibre Technology (NFT), with the mission of delivering the most advanced natural fibre cement products, including cladding, highway sound barriers and walls, using hemp and other lignocellulosic materials as aggregates in place of the traditional sand and gravel.
On Feb. 5, Asinikahtamwak took possession of the 7.5-acre property with a 13,000 square foot building, the former STRAD Building, and this past week, held a private Indigenous pipe ceremony with the previous landowner when the keys were handed over.
They will be moving equipment into the facility over the next month, and have hired a plant manager who will be relocating to Elk Point. They hope to start their pilot production this April, with approximately 250 blocks per day to be used mainly for certification and pre-commercialization, with their commercial plant starting up in the fall of 2025.
The next step is into hemp food production, with the Town joining FLFN and Allive to the farming side, and two more companies yet to be named in the processing side of a new hemp food company, Nikawiy Askiy Micisowin. The Town of Elk Point is setting up a new MCC representing 10 per cent in the farming side and 10 per cent in the distribution and processing facility side of Nikawiy Askiy Micisowin.
Gwozdz says that the entities for the MCC on the farming side will be Ferma Incorporated and Super Food Incorporated, and Diversity Industries Incorporated and Natural Health Incorporated on the processing side. The Town has hired a consultant to prepare both business plans, and a public hearing will probably be held in May, to meet the requirements of the Municipal Government Act.
Hemp to feed both the block plant and the food processing will be grown on land never exposed to chemicals and therefore deemed organic, such as that found on First Nations and Métis settlements, with this part of the project generating numerous jobs for residents.