Made in Manitoba

Craft market organizers celebrate 30 years of ‘spectacular’ crowds, vendor loyalty

Emily Schwartz and her mother run a market for Manitoba makers, but when she envisions what she wants the business to be, she doesn’t look to other craft sales. Instead, she takes inspiration from a snack food company in Southern Ontario.

Winnipeg-based Engagify’s trade show engagement services network gets employer’s message out, brings in leads

From neuro-linguistic programming to nutrition optimization to the life of illusionist Harry Houdini, the many books in Anders Boulanger’s Osborne Village office cover an array of topics. Most, however, have to do with some aspect of business.

The 48-year-old Winnipeg entrepreneur dips into fiction every now and then, but says he chooses much of what he reads with an eye toward learning things that might benefit his company, Engagify.

Boulanger drew on his background as a magician to create the business, which offers trade show engagement services to tech companies so they can get more booth traffic, more leads and a better return on their investment at trade shows.

“That’s how entrepreneurs are,” Boulanger says of his penchant for reading non-fiction. “They’re kind of always trying to use their downtime to (improve). It’s hard to unplug as entrepreneurs.”

Custom metal fabrication firm NJ Industries Inc. builds reputation on customer loyalty

Dirk Hollar and his colleagues don’t give out awards to the businesses they work with, but if they did, the “No. 1 Vendor” award would go to NJ Industries Inc.

Hollar is the operations manager at Freedom Concepts Inc., a Winnipeg company that creates bicycles for individuals with limited mobility. When Hollar needed a small order of sprockets made a few years ago, someone suggested he check out NJ Industries, a custom metal fabrication facility headquartered in the CentrePort Canada development on the northwest edge of Winnipeg.

Hollar drove to the company and introduced himself to owner Nagarajah Jayaranjan — better known to his customers and friends as Jay. Jayaranjan took Hollar’s order and showed him around the facility. By the time the tour was over, the sprockets were ready. Jayaranjan handed them to Hollar, free of charge.

That gesture led to ongoing business between the two companies.

WPG Local Cleaners started as way to support founder’s education, now supports flexible work opportunities for others

For Kayla Curtis, a clean break led to a clean slate that resulted in a cleaning business.

The Winnipegger was a few months into her first year of medical school when she called off her engagement and lost her only source of financial support. She had no income and nowhere to live — and she was determined to continue her education without interference.

Starting a business seemed like the best solution. It had to be something that fit her demanding schedule, had virtually no startup costs and could turn a profit almost immediately. Cleaning people’s homes was the answer.

Curtis posted an ad on Facebook and started booking clients for her new venture, WPG Local Cleaners Inc. The response was so great, soon she needed to hire help. Before she knew it, the company was a year old and doing six figures in sales.

‘As we grow, our roots only grow deeper’: Red River Mutual insurance company celebrates 150 years

If Red River Mutual was an ice cream flavour, it would be rhubarb.

Scratch that. Red River Mutual has an ice cream flavour — and it is rhubarb.

Earlier this year, the mutual insurance company — which is headquartered in Altona and has a regional office in Winnipeg — partnered with Chaeban Ice Cream to create a special, limited edition flavour. Red River Mutual Rhubarb includes fresh pieces of the titular vegetable along with crisp clusters made using rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, butter and almonds.

The collaboration is part of Red River Mutual’s ongoing 150th anniversary celebrations, and the rhubarb is a nod to the company’s roots in southern Manitoba’s Pembina Valley.

400+ brands in 5+ years: Winnipeg-based digital marketing firm Mad Social Agency continues to evolve

Maddie Thompson was on a beach when she decided to drop out of school.

It was February 2022 and she was studying architecture at the University of Manitoba. While maintaining her spot on the dean’s honour list, Thompson was also running Mad Social Agency Ltd., the digital marketing firm she’d started two years earlier. She had enough business by that point she was hiring friends to help manage accounts.

Sitting on Locarno Beach in Vancouver, she realized it made sense to drop out and pursue the business full-time.

“My thought process was: I’m going to take a one-year leave of absence and see if I can make this work,” says Thompson, 23. “And I just never went back.”

CentrePort Canada-based ClearSecure Manufacturing & Distribution pitches protection premier product RockGlass

RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF ROSSER — It’s not unusual for staff at ClearSecure Manufacturing & Distribution to encourage people to take a baseball bat or sledgehammer to the company’s signature product.

As far as visuals go, it’s a striking one. The company manufactures and distributes crystal clear security panels for windows and doors known as RockGlass.

“We’re a solution for broken glass,” says Colleen Munro, the company’s founder and president. “That’s kind of our catchphrase.”

People who visit the company, located just north of Winnipeg in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, can don protective gear and swing a sledgehammer at a door-sized panel to see if they — like the legend of Arthur removing Excalibur from the stone — might be the first to successfully reduce RockGlass to pieces.

Family-run Friends Funeral Service marks 20 years of dependable compassion on Main Street

Jotham Koslowsky worked at a drugstore for 10 years, followed by a decade-long stint at an IT company, but it wasn’t until he entered the family business that he found fulfilling work.

Koslowsky joined the staff at Friends Funeral Service Inc. in Winnipeg in 2017. Today, he and his cousin, Danielle Froese, own the business and serve as two of its funeral directors.

“I always wanted to have a career where I can make a difference in people’s lives,” Koslowsky says. “My other two jobs just (weren’t) that fit. But now I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

Headquartered on north Main Street near Kildonan Park, the staff at Friends organize between 220 and 240 funerals annually. The business established itself serving the city’s Mennonite community, but today has customers from a variety of backgrounds.

Winkler-based telecom infrastructure company Valley Fiber opens global doors via cutting-edge fibre optic network

WINKLER — By the time he was a teenager, Hank Wall had built his own computer using components he found at a thrift store. When he was in high school and there weren’t enough teachers available, he taught computer classes to his peers.

At the age of 16, he started a computer repair and IT business called Constellation Computers he ran for more than a decade.

“I love technology,” says Wall, 40. “I love knowledge (and) I love learning.”

But when he was running Constellation Computers, Wall continually ran into a problem that impacted not just his business but rural Manitobans everywhere.

Winnipeg-based global platform video service VidDay finds millions of reasons to celebrate

When Lisa Chalker wanted to create a special gift for her husband Rob, she turned to VidDay.

The online service makes it easy to collect video messages from friends and family, plus photos and other media, and compile them into a professional-quality video gift. No editing skills are required.

A retired event planner, Chalker collected 19 videos and 89 photos to create a 20-minute video she presented to her husband last year on his 60th birthday. The total cost was US$24.

“My husband is not a mushy guy, but he was crying,” recalls Chalker, who lives in Port Orange, Fla. “Where else can you just reach in and grab somebody’s heart for $24?”

Transcona Roofing raises focus on staff leadership skills, professional development

The physicality, challenge, changing scenery — there’s a lot Reg Woitowicz likes about roofing.

The 51-year-old’s career has taken him all over Manitoba, including working atop the legislative building and Esplanade Riel in Winnipeg.

“It’s amazing to see different areas of the province, as well as different areas of the city,” Woitowicz says. “We’re never in one place (for) long periods of time.”

In September 2021, Woitowicz joined Transcona Roofing Ltd. People he knew at the Winnipeg company had told him good things about the business and owner Rich Marchetti. After he was hired, he found those things were true.

Decade of pride in custom power products for Strong Electric

If there’s one thing Darrell Driedger likes, it’s a challenge.

“I’m a custom guy all the way,” he says of his interest in creating unique products. “I’m in my glory when I get a set of plans from a client, can offer suggestions on the design and build and then figure out how we can make it work.”

Driedger is the chief operating officer at Strong Electric Manufacturing Inc., a Winnipeg business that provides standard and custom engineered solutions for the electrical industry.

Located at 906 King Edward St., beside its sister company, SCT Welding, Laser & Manufacturing Co., Strong Electric focuses on electrical distribution products of up to 25,000 volts for the commercial, industrial, utility and mining markets.

‘Determined to prove that we could punch above our weight’: Precursor Productions to mark quarter-century in Winnipeg

There’s a building in Winnipeg’s St. Boniface neighbourhood that celebrities such as Hilary Swank, Liam Neeson and Mark Hamill have all visited for work. But if you’re not looking for it carefully, there’s a good chance you’ll miss it.

Located on Marion Street between a dental office and strip mall — and mostly hidden from view by a massive spruce tree — is Precursor Productions.

Friends Andrew Yankiwski and Chris Wiebe started the recording studio as a dedicated space to work on their own music projects. Since then, it’s become a hub for audio post-production (the phase that occurs after the initial capturing of sound) for film and TV projects.

The business has worked with many of the world’s biggest entertainment brands, including Marvel Studios, HBO and World Wrestling Entertainment.

Winnipeg-based Big Deal Custom Cases pushes 50 years of building quality protection for all manner of items

If you need something transported safely, get Gary Dealey on the case.

Dealey is the founder of Big Deal Custom Cases, a Winnipeg company that builds reusable shipping containers. Since opening its doors in 1976, the company has developed a reputation for quality products, quick service and reasonable prices.

Big Deal has taken on a variety of projects over the years, including wardrobe cases for Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, laptop cases for Microsoft Corp. and instrument cases for the Royal Canadian Air Force Band.

Firearms, tattoo machines, cameras — the company will build a durable container for any kind of equipment customers need to move around.

Vision for customer interaction powers North American success story Floform Countertops

Positive reviews get attention at Floform Countertops, but negative feedback might get even more.

The Winnipeg company has received around 500 Google reviews with an average of 4.8 out of five stars. Words like “fabulous,” “professional,” “courteous” and “fantastic” mean a lot to Floform employees, but if a customer has had a bad experience, they want to get to the bottom of it.

Such was the case one Thursday afternoon late last month, when three staff members — a branch manager, a retail sales manager and the company’s marketing manager — were working together to respond to a consumer who had left a one-star review online.

It’s part of majority owner and chief executive officer Ted Sherritt’s vision to provide customers with the best countertop purchasing experience available. “They spent money — they trusted you and wrote you a cheque — so make them happy,” he says. “Just do what’s right.”

Peg City Car Co-op revs up growing fleet with hybrids, EVs

American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan generated controversy when he started recording and performing with electric instruments in 1965, but it’s unlikely Peg City Car Co-op will face any backlash as it goes electric.

Winnipeg-based natural health company Innotech Nutrition keeps wellness at heart of mission

Many people start businesses because they’ve identified a problem they want to solve. For Wayne Friesen, he wanted to offer a solution to the lack of time some have available to pay attention to their health.

Eph Apparel celebrates 15 years with revamped downtown showroom

Andrew Parkes is turning 40 this month. As he takes stock of his first four decades, he credits Eph Apparel, the custom suit company he and two friends started in Winnipeg, with playing a big role in making him the man he is today.

“It’s been my baby, it’s been my education — every major lesson I’ve learned in business has been a result of doing it,” he says.

Before his milestone birthday, Parkes has another party to attend. On Saturday, he and business partners Alex Ethans and Maciek Hunek will host the grand reopening of Eph Apparel’s newly renovated showroom at 190 Smith St.

The celebration coincides with the brand’s 15th anniversary.

Winnipeg-based Anne Mulaire clothing company passes two decades in culture, comfort

Like many Winnipeggers before her, there was a time when Andréanne (Anne) Mulaire Dandeneau thought she had to live in a bigger city to run a business.

After studying fashion design at LaSalle College in Montreal, Dandeneau moved to Toronto with the intention of starting a clothing line. A conversation with a veteran of Manitoba’s garment manufacturing industry inspired her to change course.

Come back home, they advised her. You can save money by living with your parents while you get your business off the ground and you’ll have the support of your home community.

“That was the best advice anyone has ever given me,” Dandeneau says.

Decades of experience, dedication drive Fort Garry Fire Trucks

One of the benefits of growing up with a parent who owns a company that makes fire trucks? Being ferried around in a pumper.

Lisa Suche has fond childhood memories of her father, Rick Suche, dropping her and her older brother off at school every now and then in a vehicle made by his company, Fort Garry Fire Trucks.

“We thought it was so cool,” Suche recalls, smiling at the memory.

Last year, Rick marked 45 years with the company. Meanwhile, the younger Suche has worked at FGFT for more than 20 years, currently in the roles of purchasing manager and quality systems manager.

Creativity, positivity, variety warms hearts of Wonderful World of Sheepskin, Lambskin Specialties leadership

The Wonderful World of Sheepskin has been open for more than 50 years — but it’s not unusual for someone to walk in and tell co-owners Myron Schultz and Melvyn Pollins they’ve just found out about the Winnipeg store.

“We invariably get the question, ‘Why don’t you advertise?’” Schultz says. “And I’m thinking, oh my God, I’ve advertised so much.”

But for all those people just discovering the store, there are also third-generation customers. They include former Winnipeggers, who, when they’re in town visiting family, make a special point of visiting the North End store to buy high-quality sheepskin products.

Those products include footwear, outerwear, plush toys and automotive items like steering wheel covers, as well as personal care and comfort items. The products are made on site under the company’s manufacturing trade name, Lambskin Specialties.

Three Pines Organizing’s custom work seeks to clear away stress, vulnerability

Starting a home organizing business in 2019 gave Sara Verwymeren such a sense of purpose that when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer a few months later, she didn’t want to stop working.

The Wilkes South resident remembers taking her laptop to chemo treatments so she could keep Three Pines Organizing going. Her husband and a medical professional urged her to stop working and focus on her health.

“Absolutely not,” Verwymeren recalls her response. “This is what’s keeping me alive … I had something to work towards while I was going through these rounds of chemo.”

Verwymeren’s experience with cancer — it’s been in remission since spring 2020 — informs the company’s work today.

Bison Fire Protection has been growing for more than two decades

There’s no toilet, sink, mirror or towels in the powder room at Bison Fire Protection, but there are a lot of fire extinguishers.

Dry chemical extinguishers are filled with powder that smothers fires by forming a barrier between burning materials and the source of oxygen. “The powder room” is where staff refill between 700 and 800 extinguishers each month.

There are fire extinguishers everywhere in the warehouse space of Bison’s office at the eastern edge of Winnipeg.

“Us running out of fire extinguishers is like McDonald’s running out of hamburgers,” says Rob Read, founder and CEO. “It just doesn’t happen.”

Eascan Automation thrives on challenge, support of custom-built machines for manufacturing sector

When he was a teenager feeling a need for more speed than his bicycle could offer, Phil Bernardin could have saved up and bought a moped. Instead, he took a chainsaw engine and turned his bike into a motorcycle.

He drew the initial plans on a napkin and headed to the library to read about engines. He figured out the gear ratio he needed and created a motorized vehicle that could travel 50 km/h at top speed.

Suddenly, getting to his part-time job at McDonald’s was a lot more fun.

“I’ve always been kind of mechanically curious,” Bernardin says. “I just love the physical world and seeing how it operates and being part of that.”

Cunningham Business Interiors celebrates 60 years as office furniture provider, community pillar

When Paul Penner calls Cunningham Business Interiors for service, it’s not unusual for company president Rob Cunningham to show up.

“You typically get sales reps, but it’s Rob that comes on site that day or the next day to assess what we need,” said Penner, chief operations officer at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. “It’s quite interesting when the owner of the business pops in every single time to make sure you’re happy with what you get.”

Penner also praises the Winnipeg company’s installation team.

“There are a lot of confidential items that are in the offices and every time he sends staff here, they’re incredibly professional and they really do understand the environment they’re walking into,” he said. “I’ve been very impressed.”

From its West End roots, Tower Engineering builds out into Western Canada

Tower Engineering might be headquartered in Linden Woods, but in many ways its roots are in the West End.

That’s where Jack Abiusi and Mike Houvardas, two of the Winnipeg firm’s founding partners, met when they were teenagers. The sons of Italian and Greek immigrants, respectively, Abiusi and Houvardas bonded over, among other things, their shared interests in math and science.

At the time, they didn’t imagine they would both become mechanical engineers, much less they would run an engineering firm together. But more than 45 years later, that’s exactly the case.

When they started Tower with two colleagues in 1997, Abiusi remembers someone suggesting it would be great if the company was like a children’s soccer team: different people coming together to achieve a common goal.

Customer service is key for Gateway Group: Winnipeg company nears 60 years

Quality products and outstanding customer service are key ingredients in the Gateway Group’s recipe for success.

In a short history of the company he published before his death in 2000, founder William DesJarlais wrote about how Gateway’s valued employees understand most business problems can be handled or avoided by honesty and good service.

“I firmly believe that any success we have gained at Gateway is the result of the application of this policy in all our dealings with customers and suppliers,” DesJarlais wrote. “We are proud that most of our customers come to us as strangers and come back time after time to do business with us as friends.”

Founded as a publisher specializing in cookbook fundraising projects for community clubs, churches and other organizations, Gateway Group has since grown into a company made up of six units:

Winnipeg firm Tripwire Media Group seeks to ‘make any kind of change at any level’

Once upon a time, at Red River College Polytechnic, Doug Darling fell in love. The bass player enrolled in the college’s creative communications program after realizing life as a professional musician wasn’t for him. He figured he would pursue a career in public relations, but making a three-minute video for a class assignment with his fellow student and good friend, Denise, took him in another direction. Darling wasn’t taking the assignment completely seriously at first, but that changed in the edit suite. Something about cutting footage together spoke to him. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Tripwire Media Group co-founder, CEO […]

Three decades of growth gives southern Manitoba pork producer HyLife global reach

STEINBACH — It’s 13,000 kilometres to Steinbach from Bangkok, but even at that distance, the southern Manitoba city’s “It’s worth the trip” slogan rings true for Karan Sangfai.

Sangfai, who was born and raised in the Thai capital, moved to Steinbach with his wife and son in July 2022, after he accepted a role as chief strategy officer at HyLife Ltd., the billion-dollar pork manufacturer based in the keystone province’s automobile city.

“I love Steinbach very much,” Sangfai says, adding he and his family felt at home after just a few weeks. “We found some commonality between the culture here and even the Asian culture: family oriented, respectful.

“The only thing that we actually had to adjust to is winter,” he adds with a smile. “We’re actually still adjusting to that.”

Johnston Group puts giving at heart of its growth as group benefit plan third-party administrator

The sculpture is heavy but it depicts weightlessness.

At its base is a carving of a smiling young boy who holds a book and looks up, daydreaming. Above him, the sculpture portrays what he’s imagining: wearing aviator goggles and a blanket for a cape, the boy rides a paper airplane as it ascends into the sky.

Created by American artist Gary Lee Price and titled Journeys of the Imagination, the sculpture sits in the Johnston Group’s King Edward Street headquarters.

David Johnston, founder and chief executive officer of the group benefit plan administrator, first saw it when he was visiting Palm Desert, Calif., with his wife, Diane.

Near-death experience reframes intersection of family, business for Danny’s Whole Hog founder

If things had gone differently this spring, Danny Kleinsasser would be dead. The founder of Stony Mountain-based barbecue catering company Danny’s Whole Hog was driving his truck the morning of March 21, when he entered the intersection of Highway 7 and 74 Road North — a crossing he drives through almost every day. Kleinsasser missed an oncoming semi-truck and his vehicle was struck. He managed to get out of his totalled truck before it went up in flames. BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS Danny Kleinsasser, 62, (left) of Danny’s Whole Hog Barbecue & Smokehouse with his son Isaiah, daughter-in-law Kaeziah […]

Winnipeg-based consulting firm finds conversation ‘powerful way to transform conflict’

Describing what the team at Narratives does takes more than a few snappy sentences. “I have said in the past that we struggle with our elevator pitch — and that’s sort of our elevator pitch,” says Conor Smith, senior partner and senior planner. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Winnipeg’s Exchange District, the environmental consulting firm offers a variety of services. The company works to create spaces where clients can share their stories and engage in respectful dialogue so they can make informed decisions that align with their values. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Narratives Inc. partners Desirée Thériault (left), […]

Joy of framing, love of big ideas

You may have heard about the joy of cooking, but when Ted Geddert speaks, he describes a different bliss.

“It was for the joy of framing,” he says. “We just loved framing.”

The Winnipeg business owner is thinking back to his early 20s, when he formed a construction company with a friend. Their crew worked hard, with the stereo cranked, seeing results every day.

Geddert carries that joy with him today as president of Holz Constructors, a company he started in 1997, after parting ways with his previous business partner. Located in a 20,000-square-foot building in northeast Winnipeg with a group of employees the size of “a football team or two,” Holz makes prefabricated homes.

Fourth generation family firm forges ahead

When Kayla and younger brother Dylan Bobrowski were children, Imperial Steel Products Ltd. was their playground — a place to sneak treats and have fun.

“I was in the back, dipping into the 7up cans,” Kayla recalls.

“I would just come here and ride grandpa’s scooters from the backroom, up and down the hallway,” Dylan adds with a grin.

Twenty years after those shenanigans, the siblings and cousin Mathew Bobrowski are junior executives at the Winnipeg-based steel tube manufacturer.

Pollard Banknote transformation, success helps power philanthropic endeavours

The story of Pollard Banknote is one of transformation.

Eight years ago, 100 per cent of the Winnipeg company’s business came from printing instant-win tickets for lotteries and charitable organizations around the world. Today, printing makes up just half; the digital offerings and solutions it provides its customers make up the rest.

“It is a very different company today in 2024 than it was in 2016,” says Doug Pollard, who serves as co-chief executive officer, alongside older brother John.

To get a sense of Pollard Banknote’s success, one need look no further than the numbers.

Coghlan’s carries on longtime mission of helping make memories

For Jeff Stevens, it’s the smoky aroma of a mosquito coil. For younger sister Jill Stevens, it’s the zip of a tent flap.

Those sense memories take them back to childhood — to Blue Lake Provincial Park in northwestern Ontario, where they spent a week every summer camping with their parents.

When the siblings woke up each morning, they were ready to go wherever the day might take them. These were carefree days filled with swimming, exploring, cooking and entertaining around the fire.

“The biggest thing that I value from our time camping is the connection with (my) family,” Jill says. “With so little distractions, you had nothing. You had to get along with your brother because he was the only person you had with you, and I think that that served us well over the years.”

Winnipeg-based Duha Group fourth-generation business focused on culture

It feels silly to ask a grown man what his favourite colour is, but when colour is that man’s business, it feels even sillier not to.

Emeric (Rick) Duha XI, chief business officer at Duha Group, a Winnipeg-based manufacturer of colour marketing tools, doesn’t hesitate when faced with the query: his favourite is Santorini blue, a shade he saw on the rooftops of the Greek island he visited with his girlfriend seven years ago.

He proposed to her on that trip and the couple celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary last weekend.

“That’s just a very memorable moment for me,” Duha says, seated in a meeting room at his company’s Bradford Street headquarters. “The image of looking out over the ocean, with the white-and-blue buildings in the background, is something that’s always sort of ingrained in my memory.”