By Derek Cornet

Athabasca Catering opens Air Ronge office with plans to expand

Nov 14, 2018 | 3:49 PM

Staff with Athabasca Catering Limited Partnership were in Air Ronge throughout the day Nov.14 celebrating the grand opening of a new company office.

Managing Director Alan Cole said the new space, located along Highway 2, will be used to support the company’s expansion in northern Saskatchewan. Emily Ross was hired Nov. 1 as the northern manager for Athabasca Catering and Cole stated her job will be to support business opportunities in the North, as well as handle various training programs which will be offered.

“Ultimately, we are a northern company and we never had an office in the North,” he said, adding the main office is in Saskatoon. “A lot of our people in the North are unemployed right now. Doing it from Saskatoon was just not the right way to do it, so we invested in this building that was previous Kitsaki Projects.”

While the company has been operating in the North for more than 25 years, Cole noted revenue has declined in recent years as the uranium mines were shut down. He stated, however; Athabasca Catering remains profitable and is looking to diversify to meet the needs of changing markets. For the first time last year, the business began operating outside of Saskatchewan when it agreed to do some work in Alberta.

Cole expects the uranium mines to reopen at some point and he said the company will look to keep people trained and qualified to return to work in the mean time. He also mentioned there are franchise and retail opportunities management is exploring to keep people employed.

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“We’re a people business and, if we don’t have any people, we can’t make any money,” Cole said.

Athabasca Catering is a First Nations-owned company with investments from Black Lake First Nation, English River First Nation, Fond-du-Lac Denesuline First Nation, Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. The business is involved in catering, housekeeping, janitorial services and more.

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno