From a management and operational perspective, the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory applauds the facilitation and support networks provided by the IGNITE Infrastructure Association in the development and implementation of our LED Lighting retrofit project.  The business case development and financing structures that Wiikwemkoong accepted and approved for our major lighting project were professionally developed by our IGNITE partners and were seamlessly interacted with our First Nation administrative systems. Bottom line, our programs and departments are benefiting from reduced operational costs from a reduction in electricity usage and maintenance costs.  By reducing our operating costs, our various departments have more resources for programming. We look forward to expanding our retrofit program to include upgrades to our HVACs and building envelopes, hence further reducing operating costs and ensuring long term use of our key facilities.

I am excited to be part of what IGNITE is doing and I was particularly excited to see the first project actually followed through and completed. For a project of this size, the amount of issues we had were nil to insignificant. I have seen projects a fraction of this size with many more issues on just one site. On the Wiikwemkoong project, we had zero logistics issues. This project was flawless and was awesome throughout. For a project that was 600 km from our branch, to go off as smoothly as it did, is unparalleled. From a Nedco head office perspective, the efficiency of the financial aspect of the project was almost unheard of for a project of this size.

Recently, IGNITE finished the construction of phase one of a multi-phase, multi-year project at Wiikwemkoong First Nation. Owner Laird Lee of South Bay Electric, the electrical contractor for this phase, says: “If I had to sum up the project, I would say it went really smoothly.” IGNITE values this endorsement because South Bay Electric, an experienced electrical contracting team from Manitoulin Island, worked on this project literally full-time for eleven months. To ensure proper communication during the construction phase, IGNITE invited South Bay Electric to attend all project team meetings at the community, which occurred about once every three weeks. Laird says, “It was helpful to the project team for me to clarify any outstanding electrical issues in laymen’s terms. Once explained, generally everyone was satisfied and we moved on.” Laird went on to say, “From my observation, larger projects of this type don’t normally get off the ground because they are too much work for the community. Most communities just don’t have the people or time to champion these projects to completion. The IGNITE process really worked well for us at South Bay because IGNITE took care of the paperwork and procurement, which allowed us to focus our attention on what we do best, which is electrical installation.” The synergy developed between IGNITE and South Bay Electric was a key reason why phase one of Wiikwemkoong’s multi-phase, multi-year IGNITE project was completed under budget and on schedule.  

The Wiki project provided our team at BJ Take, a unique opportunity to showcase our rapid development process for custom fixtures with the BLWB wide footprint wrap fixture. IGNITE contacted us and asked for a wider footprint LED wrap fixture to save on installation costs and avoid unnecessary painting costs. We were able to develop and certify a new fixture in six weeks, which allowed us to meet the project requirements. We have been grateful for the opportunity and were glad to be able to meet the project's needs.

The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory is proud to be a part of the IGNITE First Nations Sustainable Communities program. Our community can and should decide where and how investments should be made to best address our needs. Through this program, Wiikwemkoong is transforming the way we plan, fund and build the projects we need, to create growth and equip our community for a more sustainable and productive future. We are pleased that Phase One has been completed and look forward to further implementation of infrastructure upgrades for Wiikwemkoong. Our community members have expressed sincere appreciation for the upgrades to the facilities and are very impressed with the quality of lighting, especially in the arena, schools and the streetlights. Community pride in our facilities is at the highest its been in years, thanks to IGNITE and the lighting project.