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Cover: The Benefits of Energy
Photo by Crystal Mercredi.
THE BENEFITS OF ENERGY CHIEF MEL GRANDJAMB ON THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE FORT MCKAY FIRST NATION
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by Melanie Darbyshire
As one of Canada’s wealthiest First Athabasca River - sets it squarely in oilsands Nations, the Fort McKay First Nation territory and FMFN has, since the1970s, been a (FMFN) derives much of its prosperity keen participant in the sector. from involvement in and partnerships with the Chief Mel Grandjamb. energy industry. Its location - 60 kilometres Today, 11 FMFN owned companies generate 65 north of Fort McMurray, along the banks of the per cent of the nation’s yearly income ($47.9
Melanie Darbyshire | The Benefits of Energy
million in 2018/19), providing critical programs and services to its 840 members. These companies produce in excess of $200 million annually in salary and wages and over $70 million in taxes, CPP and EI to the federal government.
Beginning in 1986 with a single janitorial contract, the Fort McKay Group of Companies (FMGOC) and Nation owned businesses have evolved over time and now span a range of sectors, predominantly in or associated with the energy industry. They serve corporate clients in northeastern Alberta in the oilsands, pipeline, forestry and public sectors.
“Our members reap the rewards of positive industry growth,” FMFN Chief Mel Grandjamb says proudly. “We provide business per capita distributions to every member, including minors (in trust). This is after we’ve reinvested back into programming and infrastructure for the community.” These distributions accumulate such that members regularly receive $100,000 cash when they turn 18. “When the youth turn 18 they are required to take a fiscal responsibility course,” Grandjamb adds.
Grandjamb, who is also FMFN Fire Chief, grew up on the Nation. Prior to becoming Chief he gained 30 years’ construction and industry experience and a designation in Building Construction Engineering Technology and Project Management from NAIT. He has held roles within FMFN, with Frog Lake First Nation and at Syncrude Canada.
He highlights the good relationships FMFN enjoys with industry players like Syncrude, in the form of long-term sustainability agreements. “We’ve benefited over $150 million in the last 10 years,” Grandjamb explains. “And we’ve secured funding for the next 40 to 50 years. These are from sound, sustainable agreements negotiated between our Nation and the oilsands players which address environmental, health, safety and socioeconomic impacts.”
“Every company in the area is involved in the community,” he continues. “They participate in treaty days and different events. As much as we know there is disruption to the land, we have to ensure positive working relationships.”
The land has been home to FMFN since 1820, and coincides with the placement of the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) trading post in the area. The community was named after Dr. William Morrison MacKay, Alberta’s first resident doctor and first President of the Northern Alberta Medical Association, in 1912. FMFN is signatory to Treaty 8 and also has reserves 174A at Gardiner (Moose) Lake and 174B at Namur (Buffalo) Lake, approximately 65 kilometres northwest of FMFN.
“Our people were a nomadic people, following the game,” Grandjamb explains. “After the HBC trading post was established, we got into the fur trade. Then in the 1970s the exploration for oil began. The fur trade was declining and so the community decided to partake in the oilsands. It was a bold move, because we were changing lifestyles. But Fort McKay learned to be adaptive and grew up very fast in the 1970s and 1980s.”
Today, there are four separate companies under the FMGOC banner: Fort McKay
Strategic Services (FMSS), Fort McKay Logistics (FML), Rising Sun Services and Birch Mountain Enterprises. This is in addition to the seven companies in which the Nation has ownership.
In all, FMFN companies employ 2,000 direct employees, including 400 band members. “Our community is small, we have a membership of 840,” Grandjamb reflects. “I keep telling this to our young generation, that it’s a positive thing. We’ve got enough jobs to employ every one of our people if we wanted!”
FMSS is a medium to heavy civil contractor. With 100 pieces of heavy equipment and an experienced labour force year round, it provides civil and mining services to long and short term oil sands projects. “Of all the nations we’re the only one that self-performs work. Meaning there’s no joint venture, no partnership, it’s strictly self-performing.”
FML is a limited partnership which originated in 1997 as a mail delivery and shuttle service at Syncrude Canada. Today it accepts and transports material worldwide, with 174 pieces of equipment and 355 employees.
Rising Sun is a joint venture Aboriginal business majority owned by the FMGOC and minority owned by Kaizen Automotive Group. Located in the Fort McKay Industrial Park, it has the only GM Warranty approved automotive service centre in the area. Birch Mountain, a successful hydrovac services operation, is the latest addition to the FMGOC group of companies.
The seven other companies in which FMFN is an owner in are: • Poplar Point Catering: a remote lodging service company;
• Soogadin (“powerfully built” in Cree) Services LP: provides green and brown-field projects, shutdown/turnaround work, and specialized long-term facility maintenance;
• First North Catering: a high quality camp facilities and operator;
• Dene Koe LP: provides remote lodging services, business cooperation and community engagement;
• Caribou Energy Park: an industrial park located 54 kilometres north of Fort McMurray and supporting commercial industries supplying the oilsands;
• First Nations ETF LP: owns and operates a bitumen cooling, blending and storage facility;
• Hammerstone Corporation: owns and operates the Muskeg Valley Quarry, covering 3,600 acres with over 750 million tonnes of limestone and gravel reserves;
“Our business interests have evolved over time as we’ve continued to realign ourselves with the economic opportunities that we can execute well,” Grandjamb offers. “In today’s market you’ve got to have high service delivery, and of course maintain a good bottom line, otherwise you’re not viable. Over the years we’ve found that self-performing medium to heavy civil is good for returns. Logistics was a nice long term five-year contract. So those were good fits.”
“At the same time we’ve got to think about our human resources, our people,” he continues. “We have to create a plan so that every one of our members should run these group of companies. Our members should be the heavy equipment operator, should be doing logistics, moving freight. And then down the road our members should be the CEO, the CFO. So we’re always looking at the community and our human inventories.”
The Benefits of Energy
To this end, the Nation has a directive that every FMFN employee has a career plan. There is also an internship program to allow young members to try out different jobs in order to pick their best fit.
The economic benefits realized by FMFN have translated into an extensive list of community facilities. These include a band office and health centre, a daycare, an elder’s drop-in centre, two separate youth centres (one for elementary aged kids, one for teenagers), an arena, a business centre, a fitness centre and the Riverside Continuing Care centre for elders. A new school for kindergarten through grade nine students is currently under construction.
Given the lower price of oil over the last few years, FMFN has worked to diversify its business interests. “There are a number of initiatives we’re currently undertaking that are a bit high level,” Grandjamb explains. “We’re looking at putting a refinery on one of our reserves to support one of the oilsands plants. We’re also actively engaged in commercial property in Edmonton and we’re looking at some solar projects.”
One important future project however is in the oilsands. Fort McKay Oilsands Development LLP is a newly incorporated band-owned company, currently in the exploration and planning stage examining how to responsibly develop two leases in the heart of the oilsands region. These lands are adjacent to various open pit oilsands leases currently held by Suncor and CNRL.
“We are gathering all our data to assess the value of the potential bitumen reserves,” Grandjamb says. “The numbers that we’re hearing are phenomenal. We’re talking 400 to 500 million barrels.”
The development currently being considered is open pit mining and bitumen extraction with a responsible development approach using most advanced technology possible. “We’re going to identify and determine what the reserves are and have a lot of community sessions to decide on how to proceed, because this is big. We’ve got to outline all scenarios, pros and cons. Preliminarily, without having full blown community voting, it’s being received very well.”
The opportunity is a game-changer for FMFN. “The revenue we will receive from these oil sand
plants will put Fort McKay in a position where we will never have to depend on funding from any one,” Grandjamb marvels. “That is our plan.” B E O
ABOVE: TIPI AND FORT MCKAY FIRST NATION BAND HALL, THE NEW ELSIE FABIAN SCHOOL IN FORT MCKAY, DUE FOR COMPETITION IN 2022 (RENDERING), MOOSE LAKE AND THE RIVERSIDE CONTINUING CARE CENTRE FOR ELDERS.
Trevor Kearnes, Neil Gunderman, Jana McDonald and Trevor Skippen Photo by Courtney Lovgren.
TNT Engineering Celebrates a Decade of Service
by Rennay Craats
The three principals at TNT Engineering may have different skillsets and experiences in the industry but they share a sense of pride in doing the job well for their valued clients. That’s exactly what made them ideal partners to form a unique engineering firm. In 2010, Neil Gunderman, Trevor Kearnes and Trevor Skippen came together to create an innovative EPCM oil and gas services company that has served the Canadian and international markets ever since. move for them to leave their firms and start this up with me,” says Gunderman.
It was a great decision. They started as a firm of three, each wearing every necessary hat to get the company off the ground. Within a year they hired engineers, draftspeople and administrators to bring the employee total to 10, and three years in they had reached their goal of 40.
Kearnes and Skippen worked at a different engineering firm and Gunderman spent his career in the field doing project management and construction supervision. The three crossed paths on various projects and not only worked well together but genuinely enjoyed each other’s company.
“I was looking for a change and the three of us got together and we decided that it would be a good
Since the beginning, the principals were selective about who they added to their team, seeking only those professionals who mirrored the founders’ dedication to high-quality standards and a positive culture. The result is a complement of skilled staff experienced in all areas of the business that is leading the company into its second decade and establishing TNT as a trusted partner for oil and gas companies.
Montney multi-well pad.
Rendering of an oil battery we completed and designed by TNT Engineering. Start of engineering to commissioning was completed in less than 6 months.
“As an Engineering Procurement Construction and Management company, we do it all. We do the detailed engineering, design, drafting for electrical, mechanical, process, and civil,” says Gunderman. “The field experience is something that really sets us apart—having not only the technical side but the practical knowledge.”
TNT unites field expertise and engineering to deliver well-designed solutions to complex challenges, on time and on budget. By offering the advantage of single-source efficiency, the firm supports the entire project from the engineering, automation, and management to inspection, regulatory and operations support. Over the years, TNT Engineering has diversified its offerings across Western Canada, northern United States, Latin America and the Middle East. It provides expertise in such areas as pipeline modelling, compressor stations, day-to-day operations, optimization of oil and gas facilities, and design and evaluation of water injection systems. It also excels in installation and expansion of oil batteries and design and construction management of upstream oil and gas projects.
There is little the TNT team can’t do, from offering an extra set of eyes on a design up to $250-million projects and everything in between. As a small firm, TNT Engineering is nimble and can provide quick turnaround for clients. The team can make and implement decisions quickly, which allows the company to adapt and navigate a wider range of sectors for its clients than its larger competition.
“We have the efficiency of a small company but we can handle jobs like we’re much larger,” says Gunderman.
“We make ourselves available 24/7 for our clients, and we are fast to respond to client issues,” adds Skippen.
TNT is the best of both worlds. Clients enjoy the individual attention and tailored solutions the small firm provides while benefiting from big-firm quality standards that come with the vast experience attached to the high-calibre project teams. TNT also boasts a unique mix of field and engineering not found in many firms. Gunderman’s field focus and expertise allows TNT to see things from both sides and ensures both are represented. They pride themselves on effective communication with contractors and tradespeople in the field and by speaking the same language, the job gets done right and done well.
TNT Engineering has spent the last 10 years exceeding clients’ expectations with its creative designs and solutions. While project managers work within an increasingly diverse portfolio, they have built a solid reputation in the Montney play.
“We’ve been doing a lot in northeastern BC with highvolume gas wells. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort making these efficient,” says Trevor Kearnes. “We’re on the leading edge of design for multi-well pads.”
The work they have done there fits with their mission to provide quality services that are also environmental, cost-effective and efficient for clients. The founders all have a great foundation in Montney projects and worked together on some before they even formed their firm. They carried that expertise into TNT where they continue to engineer well tie-ins, compression stations, gathering systems, and sales pipelines for several clients in the area.
TNT also completed engineering and design for three well tie-ins along with an expansion to an oil CPF in Iraq. TNT performed a 3D scan of an existing central processing facility that was increasing throughput from 10,000 to 35,000 barrels a day, and prepared a 3D model of all-new piping and equipment with accuracy to within a couple millimetres. Off-site fabrication was necessary and everything was modularized, fitting perfectly. Customers can count on quality domestically and
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internationally, that’s what keeps them coming back; clients are loyal and TNT’s approach helps them retain their clients, as well as their staff, long term.
TNT treats staff like family and the culture is one of collaboration, support and respect. It is also one
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Congratulations to TNT Engineering Ltd. on your 10 year Anniversary!
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Congratulations on your first 10 years! It’s always a pleasure working with TNT Engineering Ltd.
From our work family to yours, CONGRATULATIONS on 10 years!
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of community. The company is involved in various community groups including the Mustard Seed, Calgary Stampede, and the Drop-In Centre and the team supports causes close to their hearts, from helping veterans to single mothers to troubled youth.
The principals are invested in the team’s success, are hands-on, involved with projects and mentor project managers, all without micromanaging the very capable team.
“They started an engineering firm because they knew they could do it better than anybody else. They only pick people who are cut from the same cloth—and none of us is going anywhere. It’s a strong company culture and the people who are here want to be here through thick and thin,” says Jana McDonald, director of business development and client relations.
Through thick and thin, the good times and these challenging ones, TNT Engineering has established an enduring reputation for excellence that will carry it into its next 10 years.
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