About Wealth That Stays
Wealth That Stays is about Indigenous business, ownership and lasting economic power.
Too much economic development is measured by activity: contracts awarded, jobs created, projects announced and capital spent.
Those things matter. But the more important question is what remains after the project, funding program or resource cycle ends.
Who owns the businesses?
Who controls the capital?
Which institutions have become stronger?
What capabilities have been built locally?
And how much of the wealth created actually stays?
Wealth That Stays explores those questions through essays on Indigenous enterprise, development corporations, ownership, finance, governance, capital, northern economic development and the institutions that shape long-term prosperity.
About me
I’m David Stokes, CPA.
I have spent more than fifteen years working with indigenous organizations finances including as a CFO, and now operate ProfitPath CFO Solutions Inc.
My work sits at the intersection of finance and economic development: helping Indigenous corporations and privately owned Indigenous businesses build the financial systems, management capacity and decision-making discipline required to grow durable enterprises.
This publication is where I explore the broader ideas behind that work.
What I write about
You can expect writing on:
Indigenous ownership and economic participation
Development corporations and operating businesses
Capital, financing and investment decisions
Northern economic development
Governance and institutional capacity
Business strategy and new ventures
Financial management inside growing Indigenous organizations
The difference between short-term economic activity and lasting wealth
Some essays will be practical. Others will examine history, public policy, business structures or major development projects.
The common question is simple:
What are we building that will still matter twenty years from now?
The Diamond Curse
The publication begins with The Diamond Curse, an essay examining what northern Canada’s diamond boom created, what it failed to create, and what that experience can teach us about ownership, economic development and the next generation of major projects.
It is not an argument against development.
It is an argument for asking more demanding questions about what Indigenous communities and northern economies should retain from it.
My work
Through ProfitPath CFO Solutions Inc, I work with Indigenous development corporations and privately owned Indigenous businesses that need stronger financial infrastructure and senior financial leadership.
That work includes:
Catch-up and clean-up bookkeeping
Audit preparation
Building and improving finance departments
Financial reporting and forecasting
Cash-flow planning
Evaluating new business opportunities
Business structures and financing
CFO and controller-level advisory
My role is practical: help organizations get control of the numbers, build stronger internal capability and make better business decisions.
Who this is for
Wealth That Stays is written for people involved in Indigenous business and economic development, including executives, board members, entrepreneurs, advisors, investors and others interested in how ownership and enterprise can create lasting economic power.
If those questions matter to you, subscribe.
