Mercer Once Again Serving in Leadership Role for His Indigenous Village In British Columbia

Bert Mercer is once again calling many of the shots for the Sii T’ax Development Corporation. Founded in 2002, Sii T’ax is the longest-operating development corporation in the Nisga’a Nation. Mercer initially served as the general manager and CEO for the corporation, which is the business arm of the Gitlaxt’aamiks (previously New Aiyansh) village government in British Columbia, from the summer of 2002 until early 2006. He resumed working for his village as their business manager this past December. However, it took a lot of work to reach this point. Mercer graduated from British Columbia’s Simon Fraser University’s community economic development program in 2011. Two years later, he took a course called Project Management for Professionals through the University of Northern British Columbia, a short but intensive 10-month program. “There was a really broad sector of people that took it, from different industries,” Mercer said. “It really helped me move forward in what I’m doing.” Mercer supplemented this academic knowledge with his extensive real-world experience. Besides helping launch the Sii T’ax Development Corporation, Mercer spent almost eight years during the 90s as Gitlaxt’aamiks’ economic development and employment officer, preparing funding proposals and acting as a business advisory liaison to entrepreneurs. He then spent two years as the village administrator overseeing corporate, economic, and community development, as well as capital and housing division budgets totaling more than 6.5 million dollars. During his time as village administrator, Mercer’s accomplishments included implementing and finalizing the construction of 65 residential lots, as well as paving the roads, parking lots, and residential driveways for the village. He also developed and implemented an on-reserve mortgage program. Finally, before becoming the CEO of Sii T’ax Development Corporation, Mercer also spent 18 months working as the project’s coordinator for his village. In between his Gitlaxt’aamiks stints, Mercer worked for the Nisga’a Lisims government as its economic development officer. Nisga’a Lisims contains the capital of Gitlaxt’aamiks and three other villages: Gingolx, Gitwinksihlkw, and Laxgalts’ap. “When I was working at the Nisga’a Lisims government, I really didn’t like it after a while because there’s too many silos,” Mercer said. “There were some internal roadblocks. I didn’t like that. So, at least working for my own village, I can actually start building now.” Indeed, Mercer is a happy camper these days, spearheading numerous business projects for his relatively small village (population 1,400). “It’s good,” he said of his current employment environment. “Everybody works together in the office.” And, thanks in large part to Mercer’s leadership, the Sii T’ax Development Corporation now has a real purpose. Its goals include: Mercer is also pleased to see that officials from his village are willing to spend money to advance its business initiatives. This past fall, his Nation hired an economic development officer, an economic development industry resource officer, and a business manager (the position Mercer currently holds). Mercer is confident that Gitlaxt’aamiks is now in a much better position to work on its initiatives. “They had a finance person before,” he noted. “But they didn’t have a business manager that could look outside for other projects.” Mercer now has numerous ambitious plans for his village—and not just within the community. For starters, the village will have a new mechanic’s shop that is expected to open in 2024 and a 20-room motel expected to be open for business by 2025. Mercer is pleased with the freedom he has over these projects. “The greatest satisfaction is that it allows me to open up areas where the village hasn’t opened up yet and start developing just within the village,” he said. “And the other part too that …