Gladue runs 'business of the year'

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Businessman Archie Gladue was in Edmonton Feb. 11 to receive an award from Alberta Indian Investment Corporation for operating the Indian Business of the Year.

Gladue, who owns Lasso Contracting with Terry Hanlon, received the Honourable Ralph Steinhauer Award for his business.

Gladue has been with Lasso Contracting since its inception nine years ago. The company contracts in the construction and oil industries. About 50 per cent of his work comes from Indian reserves and communities in northern Alberta. "They are a major part of our success," he says.

The Alberta Indian Investment Corporation is an offshoot of the Indian Equity Foundation and is the latest organization to be opened in an evolution of Alberta Indian Economic development organizations.

Its primary function is to provide loans to Indian businesses in Alberta considered viable and, in some cases, to invest in new and existing businesses.

The Honorable Ralph Steinhauer Award is presented in memory of the former Alberta Lieutenant Governor, the first Native to hold such a position in Canada.