An organization that promotes economic activity in the francophone community of the NWT now has a representative in Hay River.

That person is Mila Benoit, an economic development officer with the Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (CDETNO).

"It's a big step for the organization," Benoit said of being the organization's first-ever representative based in Hay River, where she will also serve the rest of the South Slave. "And I'm really proud to be part of that movement and to make it easier for people to get our services."

As of Dec. 2, CDETNO has an office at the Association franco-culturelle de Hay River, which is located in the Godwin Mall.

Benoit noted she has lived in Hay River for a year, and worked for CDETNO in the past.

"So when they wanted to explore the South Slave, they called me," she said.

Benoit noted she will be working in Hay River fulltime, except for going to Yellowknife once a month to meet with others on the CDETNO team.

"It's the first time that we are here," she said. "Usually we were coming from Yellowknife and spending like maybe one week or two weeks per year in the South Slave region trying to make connections. And it has been successful, but not as successful as having an employee here to make those connections and those good relationships."

Francois Afane, the executive director of CDETNO in Yellowknife, said it's very important for the organization to open a Hay River office.

"We are very, very proud to do that because CDETNO has a territorial mandate and for years we have always been trying to make sure that we have a presence," he said.

The new office will enable CDETNO to be closer to the people it serves, he added. "So it is with pleasure and joy that we are actually opening an office in Hay River and actually providing service to the South Slave."

Afane noted that Hay River is a special case for CDETNO because of the size of the francophone community in the town.

"Our hope is to continue to be as close as possible to the people, the community we serve," he said." We serve mostly the francophone community, but in the larger view we serve everybody, the business community, because we promote the Northwest Territories to the French market. So that means it can be anybody."

CDETNO is a non-profit, independent organization that promotes, stimulates and supports economic development and employability of francophones and francophiles in the NWT.

Its services cover a wide variety of areas, including recruitment, employment, immigration, entrepreneurship, investment and tourism.

CDETNO can trace its origins back to 2001 with a group of francophones interested in expanding opportunities in French in the NWT. Its founding meeting was held in 2003.

Benoit said she can assist with business development in a number of ways.

"Me, I'm the economic development officer," she said. "So my job is to help entrepreneurs to start their businesses, but I'm also there to help business right now with their strategic plans, communication plans or making connection with other people to develop kind of the circular economy."

Benoit noted CDETNO has a mandate specific for francophones.

"So we have to offer services to French people," she said. "We need to speak French to work at CDETNO, but we work with anglophones and French and everyone."

For example, she explained she can help any business which might be seeking to hire bilingual employees.

Benoit said she believes Hay River is happy to have CDETNO services offered in the community and the rest of the South Slave.