Celebrating 30 Years!
A legacy of excellence. A future of innovation.
For 30 years, Acden has provided diverse, specialized services to industrial companies that demand the highest standards.
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Acden’s story began with a courageous team of trailblazers and a united vision of economic development for purpose-driven profit. Three decades later, Acden has achieved remarkable growth and will surpass 20 companies and 1900 employees in 2024 – a true reflection of economic reconciliation in action.
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Allan Adam, Chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and Chairperson of Acden's Board of Directors, shares his pride for three decades of collective success and shared prosperity.
Our story
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"In 1994, Tony Mercredi was Chief of ACFN. During that time, Syncrude and Suncor were gearing up to expand their oil sands operations by 20%. This accelerated the growth of economic opportunity for Indigenous communities in the region. Chief Mercredi realized the opportunity for the Nation to develop a business arm to achieve financial independence. Working together with Syncrude, Chief Mercredi established our founding company that year, Denesoline Environment. The company started with one truck and 10 employees performing waste management services on-site. One opportunity led to another and ACFN Business Group was formed as the business arm of the Nation, eventually rebranding in 2012 as Acden.
Since 1994, the corporation has worked to meet the same goals: to ensure a strong, sustainable future for ACFN and to achieve service excellence. With the guidance of ACFN Chief and Council, the administrative team at Acden keeps the vision of Chief Mercredi alive while adapting to an ever-changing economy, industry and region.”
- ACFN Chief Allan Adam
Acden is in the early stages of a strategic evolution to plan for the next 30 years. We will continue to invest in innovation, expand our partnerships and grow into new geographic markets. Our experience, expertise and service excellence – developed for the largest energy projects in the country – will support and enhance different industries and communities across Canada.
As we look ahead to the future, we will build on our momentum by investing in our team and delivering for our clients – the way we always have.
About the anniversary logo
Acden is honoured to release a special 30-year anniversary logo commemorating this significant milestone. The final concept was truly a collaborative effort and we are very grateful to everyone who helped shape it.
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Vanessa Cardinal, former Acden Marketing Assistant and ACFN member, led the vision for the logo which represents both Acden and ACFN in one meaningful design. Vanessa’s idea to add a beaded medallion around the zero was to recognize the professional milestone with an important symbol of tradition, identity, and connection to ancestral heritage. The medallion’s purple beads represent Acden’s brand colours and the blue, yellow, and orange beads represent ACFN. The colours coming together within the circle symbolizes the connection between the two.
Through further collaboration with Acden’s Executive and Board of Directors, the ACFN logo was added to the centre of the zero. This is a very special and meaningful design that we are excited to mark the milestone with.
Celebrating with our teams
"Acden's success is a result of the hard work and commitment of everyone in our organization
and this milestone is a celebration of our shared achievements."
- Garry Flett, President and CEO
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