When former prime minister Paul Martin spoke at the Startup Canada awards in Toronto last week, he called for a national prize to recognize entrepreneurship among First Nations people.

Martin told the audience of business innovators that aboriginal people have a strong history of entrepreneurship, which is not always recognized by the wider population.

Gov. Gen. David Johnston recently hailed Cape Breton’s Membertou First Nation as a community that has developed the leadership and innovation vital for success.

Eileen Paul, manager of the Membertou Entrepreneur Centre, is pleased by the high-profile praise.

“I think Paul Martin’s idea is a good one,” she said.

“Across the country, there is a lot of First Nations entrepreneurship, but it needs to be recognized and encouraged.

“First Nations people thrive as entrepreneurs, but I don’t think we would even have recognized the word, we’ve been doing entrepreneurship so long.”

Paul said entrepreneurship is especially strong in Membertou because Chief Terrance Paul and the council have made it a focus.

Many First Nations communities have economic development offices, but Paul believes Membertou is the only band in Atlantic Canada to have its own entrepreneurship centre.

The centre was started in 2005. The business plaza now includes a business incubator, which focuses on the rapid development of six ventures. Eight others work out of the entrepreneurship centre.

Paul has also spearheaded the development of a group for aboriginal women in business called Balance.

The entrepreneurship centre was started with the help of the Cape Breton YMCA. The group trained and mentored Paul, who until then had worked with high school students, to run the centre.

She has continued with her own studies and will soon complete her business degree.

The Membertou Entrepreneur Certificate Program offers participants seven courses in subjects such as business planning, bookkeeping and customer service.

Paul mentors entrepreneurs until they have formed their business plan, then sets them up with people who can help them with other aspects of business and financing.

“These include the Ulnooweg Development Group and Aboriginal Business Canada. Ulnooweg provides loans, while Aboriginal Business Canada offers grants.”

She said many of the businesses she assists are retail outlets and ventures that focus on traditional crafts. However, more modern ventures are coming.

“People are realizing they can do more. We are seeing people working in computers, catering, conferencing — things we never had before.”

Interest in entrepreneurship is growing, and Paul said about 10 per cent of Membertou’s population, which totals around 1,300, are business owners.

Business growth is enabled by the community’s location within Sydney, she said.

Clients include the local population and visitors, some of whom stay at the award-winning Hampton Inn developed by the community. The hotel abuts the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre and other businesses.

“We encourage entrepreneurship in schools through the E-Spirit Youth Entrepreneur Program, which is funded federally by the Business Development Corporation.”

Paul’s other community involvements include sitting on the executive board for Native Women of Nova Scotia. She has participated in the National Status of Women roundtable and received the Impact Award for Women in Business.

This year, her work with local women was profiled at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

She said she is motivated by the success of the community.

“I love to see people becoming independent and self-sufficient. When people do well, it brings a sense of pride. When kids see the success of their parents, when standards of living rise, everyone becomes successful.”