The 2025 Red River Métis Business Excellence Awards was an unforgettable evening celebrating the strength, innovation, and resilience of Métis entrepreneurs and businesses across our community.

Trystan Goertzen
True Stain & Paint
Award Recipient

True Stain & Paint Ltd. specializes in high-quality wood coatings and custom finishes, built on years of hands-on training with industry experts and a commitment to precision craftsmanship. Now expanding into a dedicated 1,900 sq. ft. facility in Winnipeg, the company delivers premium finishing services for cabinetry and millwork using industry-leading equipment and techniques.

Seth Puddicombe
BTB Basketball Training
Finalist

BTB Basketball Training, founded in 2024 in Portage la Prairie, develops young athletes through accessible, high-quality basketball training that builds confidence, skill, and leadership on and off the court.

Alex Hupé
Shortline Moving Solutions
Award Recipient

Shortline Moving Solutions Ltd., founded in 2015 by Alex Hupe, has grown from a single-truck operation into a 75-employee moving and logistics company handling over 6,500 moves a year across Manitoba, including household relocations, government contracts, office moves, and remote northern deliveries.

Troy McLennan
Hub Technologies
Finalist

HUB Technology Solutions is a 100% Indigenous-owned IT firm founded in 1991, providing managed IT services, cybersecurity, strategic consulting, and project implementation through a Manitoba-based team committed to simplifying technology for businesses.

Oliver Boulette
Award Recipient

The Manitoba Métis Federation President's Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to a Red River Métis citizen with exemplary contributions as a businessperson and/or to someone who enhances business opportunities and is dedicated to a lifetime of promoting Red River Métis community success.

The recipient of the Manitoba Métis Federation President's Lifetime Achievement Award has walked a remarkable path - one shaped by the proud spirit of the Red River Métis and a lifelong dedication to community, culture, and country.

Born and raised in the small Red River Métis community of Manigotogan, Manitoba, the story of this year's President's Lifetime Achievement Award recipient is one deeply rooted in the strength, resilience, and cultural pride of the Red River Métis. As a young boy, he attended residential school in Cranberry Portage, an experience that shaped both his character and his lifelong commitment to uplifting Red River Métis and northern communities. After completing studies in Political Science at the University of Manitoba, he began a remarkable career in public service.

His early work took him into the heart of northern Manitoba, where he served as a community coordinator, building trust, listening to local leadership, and helping communities navigate government systems. His skill in community development, negotiation, and partnership-building quickly set him apart. Through nearly two decades of work with the Manitoba Government, he rose steadily through positions of increasing responsibility - from Field Worker and Regional Director, to Assistant Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs, and later Deputy Minister for both Energy and Mines and Northern Affairs. In these roles, he helped guide programs in education, training, mining, and infrastructure development, often succeeding by partnering with communities and stretching limited resources to create real impact. Before his distinguished public-service career, he also gained extensive private-sector experience managing a retail co-op, overseeing a pulpwood operation, supervising up to 150 employees, and even managing a 30-mile hydro line project in his home region. These early experiences shaped his practical leadership style and grounding in community realities.

Following his provincial service, he returned his energy to his own people - the Red River Métis - where he served for six years as Executive Director of the Manitoba Métis Federation before retiring in 2010. His leadership helped strengthen organizational capacity, foster cultural renewal, and support Red River Métis governance during a period of significant growth. Today, he continues to give back through fundraising initiatives, community work, and cultural advocacy.

And at the end of the day, he often returns to one of his greatest passions: Music. As an avid fiddler and proud community ambassador of the Red River Métis, he shares his gift in schools, senior homes, and cultural events across our Homeland, keeping alive a musical tradition that carries generations of Red River Métis stories and spirit.