Economic Development & Opportunity Integration
Identifying, structuring, and moving opportunities to closure.
What brings clients to this pillar.
Many First Nations communities and organizations have opportunities sitting in front of them — partnership offers, procurement openings, joint venture proposals, funding programs — that do not move forward because there is not capacity to evaluate them, structure them, or push them to closure. Other communities know there are opportunities they are not seeing because no one is scanning the landscape on their behalf. Both situations leave value on the table.
How Willow-ICS approaches this work.
We identify opportunities, evaluate them against community priorities, structure them properly — joint venture, limited partnership, equity participation, procurement contract, funding application — and help move them to closure. When opportunities do not yet exist, we develop them: sourcing partners, structuring relationships, and building the case for why the deal works. We also handle the sales and marketing work required to bring those opportunities to market. The work is hands-on and delivery-oriented, not advisory-only.
Services within this pillar
- —Opportunity scanning and identification
- —Joint venture structuring with industry partners
- —Limited Partnership formation and equity participation strategy
- —Procurement readiness and supplier diversity strategy
- —Business case and feasibility study development
- —Funding pathway mapping (federal, provincial, industry, philanthropic)
- —Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies
- —Market assessments
- —Sales and marketing for Indigenous-owned ventures
Situations that suggest this is the right fit.
A partnership offer or joint venture proposal is on the table and you do not have the internal capacity to evaluate or structure it.
A procurement opportunity exists but your organization is not yet positioned to compete for it.
You know there are opportunities in your territory or sector that you are not seeing — and you need someone to scan the landscape.
A business case needs to be developed to move a project from concept to decision.
A funding application is required and your team does not have the bandwidth to develop it.
You have an Indigenous-owned venture that needs sales and marketing support to reach its market.
Deliverables and outcomes.
Engagements are scoped to the specific situation. The deliverables below are representative of what clients typically receive through this pillar.
How engagements are funded and structured.
Engagements in this pillar are structured based on the specific opportunity, the funding pathway available, and the client's direction. Many economic development engagements are eligible for federal or provincial program funding — including through Indigenous Services Canada, FedNor, the Skills and Partnership Fund, and provincial economic development programs. Engagements may also be structured as partner-funded (where an industry partner contributes to the cost of engagement) or fee-for-service. Every engagement is scoped individually.
Pricing is not published. Engagements are scoped and priced based on the specific need, the funding pathway, and the client's direction. A discovery call is the right place to discuss budget and scope.
Ready to move forward?
A discovery call costs nothing and takes thirty minutes. We will help you identify whether this pillar is the right fit, scope the engagement, and determine the funding pathway.