ATCO Sustainable Communities to Assist Blood Tribe With Housing Manufacturing Facility

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Oct. 23, 2014) - ATCO Sustainable Communities (ATCO) announced today that it has been engaged by Blood Tribe Housing to support the re-opening of a 20,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility, owned and operated by the Blood Tribe, that is used to build housing for community members.

ATCO will provide management and operations support to complete 24 townhouses for the community by March 2015. This initiative follows the successful completion of the Saipoyi Community School expansion by ATCO for the Blood Tribe in March 2014.

"We are pleased to support the Blood Tribe's initiative," said Boris Rassin, President, ATCO Sustainable Communities. "This is a wonderful opportunity to share ATCO's expertise with the Blood Tribe and assist with their development of an ongoing manufacturing facility that will benefit the community in many ways."

The re-opening of the manufacturing facility will provide up to 40 full-time positions in management and production for local community members who will work alongside ATCO personnel in a job-shadowing program. The long-term goal of this program is to encourage the professional growth and experience of community members.

"This collaborative effort with ATCO will help us meet some immediate housing needs for our members as well as create a number of employment opportunities," said Chief Charles Weasel Head. "The re-opening of this facility will also allow us to plan long-term housing projects for the community and offer our services to other clients who have shown an interest in our products."

ATCO Sustainable Communities combines ATCO's modern construction technologies with its long history of forming successful Aboriginal partnerships to build facilities that reflect a community's cultural values while offering shorter timelines and reduced costs. By offering a design-build solution, the company can economically provide any facility a community may need, ranging from offices, schools and daycare centres to residential housing, hockey arenas and gas stations.

ATCO Sustainable Communities is part of the ATCO Group of Companies. With more than 9,000 employees and assets of approximately $17 billion, ATCO is a diversified global corporation delivering service excellence and innovative business solutions through leading companies engaged in Structures & Logistics (manufacturing, logistics and noise abatement), Utilities (pipelines, natural gas and electricity transmission and distribution) and Energy (power generation and sales, industrial water infrastructure, natural gas gathering, processing, storage and liquids extraction). More information can be found at www.atco.com.