Restaurant opens at Kikino

Page 4

A new community-owned restaurant and expanded convenience store has opened in the Kikino Metis Settlement, 180 km northeast of Edmonton.

The business is owned by the Kikino Wildlife Ranch Association, a non-profit organization owned by the members of the Kikino Metis Settlement and governed by an elected board of directors. The association is independent from the settlement council, and returns profits from its operations to the community through donations and special projects.

The association has operated a buffalo and elk ranch on the settlement for 22 years, and expanded into the convenience store business in 1996 when it bought the store and gas bar built by Floyd Thompson six years earlier.

An ambitious expansion project was begun in the fall of 2000, adding 2,400 square feet to the original 1,600 square foot building. Half of the new area is used by the 40-seat restaurant and half by the convenience store. The original building is used for storage and food preparation.

The new restaurant has created seven full-time jobs, and has reached or exceeded financial projections since it opened in May. "The community received it pretty positively," said Wildlife Ranch vice president Ron Whitford. "It's holding its own."

The creation of jobs and providing services within the Settlement were the top priorities for the Wildlife Ranch Association directors when they decided to purchase the convenience store and gas bar in the hamlet, Whitford said. "It has proved to be one of the best investments the association has made."

The new restaurant and expanded Ranch Store is the fulfillment of the vision of the five founding members of the Wildlife Ranch Association 22 years ago, Whitford said at the grand opening of the $190,000 project. "I think we can all be proud of the development over the years."

He added that the project would not have been possible without the support and financing of the Lac La Biche branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

The Wildlife Ranch Association now provides 15 full time jobs on the settlement, seven at the new restaurant, four at the store, and four at the buffalo and elk ranch; plus numerous part-time and seasonal jobs. The building project also created economic opportunities in the settlement as most of the work was done by Kikino residents.