Decade of pride in custom power products

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.

“I am proud of all our products,” says Driedger, who has worked in the industry for 39 years. “It is fulfilling to see a vision turn into a fully built product.”

One of Strong Electric’s most popular products is something you can find all over the place but that you probably won’t notice unless you’re looking for it.

Custom service termination enclosures are the points where utility lines connect to the buildings they’re powering. They’re those metal boxes you see at the edge of the property at places like fast food restaurants, gas stations and malls.

Strong Electric manufactures and sells at least 700 of them annually.

It’s just one of the products the company offers along with other standard utility products, customized transfer switches, medium-voltage switchgear, lighting panels and customized distribution.

“Our ability to design and build products to the customer’s specifications makes us unique,” Driedger says. “We’re not a box manufacturer, where all you can get is standard boxes. We have an experienced design department and we have experienced builders here that can create anything that meets the standards developed by the Canadian Standards Association.”

It’s an electrical business powered by friendship.

About a decade ago, SCT founder and owner Raj Kulathungam saw an opportunity to start Strong Electric. He recruited Driedger to join him.

SCT was building metal enclosures for clients in the electrical industry, but once the enclosures were done, those clients still had to wait five or six weeks for another company to build and install the internal components.

Kulathungam, who died in 2022, following a two-year battle with stomach cancer, figured it would be advantageous to start a business that could take care of the internal components so clients only had to make one stop.

“My dad always had the vision of quality and getting things done quickly for customers,” says Trisha Kulathungam, chief branding officer at SCT and the third of Raj’s four children.

“We at SCT specialize in metal trades, but it’s a whole different skillset or takes a whole different team to do that internal component building. It just made sense to have two sister companies that work side-by-side. Because of the way our shop is set up, we can expedite the delivery time compared to a lot of our competitors or other people in the industry.”

Driedger was a longtime SCT customer who developed a friendship with Raj over the years. That made him a natural choice to lead Strong Electric.

At the time, Driedger was working for a company that did similar work. He was 53 years old, and says he was hesitant to “begin a new journey” at that stage in his career.

Ultimately, he was inspired by his friend’s vision and knew they both shared similar values: treat the client well, build quality products and be fearless when it comes to trying new ideas.

“I’ve never been one to tell the client we can’t do something and Raj was the same way,” Driedger says. “It’s never going to be a ‘no.’ We always listen to the clients’ needs and find a solution to their problem.”

Strong Electric opened its doors in January 2016. Kulathungam financed the company and empowered Driedger to run it.

Today, the company employs 10 people and grosses more than $6 million annually.

Strong Electric does most of its business in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and northwestern Ontario, but in the last year-and-a-half also started doing business with an oil company in the United States. As a result, Strong Electric products can be found in California, Nebraska, Missouri, Texas and Tennessee.

In addition to the manufacturing it does, Strong Electric has a fully equipped service van ready to lead or assist in major emergency power restoration 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We not only build enclosures quickly but we get to the service calls just as quick in order to make sure we can speed up that process and make sure the client can get the job done as quickly as possible,” Trisha Kulathungam says.

She praises Driedger help in making the company what it is today.

“Darrell has always been a great motivator and inspired my dad to reach these new heights when it comes to Strong Electric,” she says. “It is very hard to find someone that is such an industry expert like Darrell. He has brought such a wealth of knowledge (and) he also cares about the company and the values my dad instilled.”

Kulathungam adds, like SCT, Strong Electric believes in providing quality jobs.

“We want to support local … and that’s something that’s always been our goal: bringing more opportunities to the Manitoba economy (and) also to Manitoba workers,” she says.

Looking ahead, Driedger’s goals include finding more work in Eastern Canada and the United States.

“That’s what I’m working on now — trying to expand our business into those areas,” he says.

“Strong Electric has become a well-known, trusted solutions provider to the electrical industry. I’m proud of what myself and my team has accomplished these past 10 years.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca