Crafting extended family

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.

“We’re not business partners, but it really feels like it’s been a partnership since the first day we met them,” Hollar says.

NJ Industries has bigger customers, but to Hollar, it always seems like they prioritize Freedom Concepts.

“They’ve always made us feel like the most important customer they have,” he says.

It’s possible all of NJ Industries’ customers would say something similar. The company has built its reputation by going above and beyond.

“That’s the pride of the business,” says Nish Jayaranjan, the eldest of Jay’s two children. “If someone has a problem, we try to figure out a solution with them.”

Years of expertise in laser cutting, bending and welding allow the Jayaranjans and their 15 employees to offer a quick turnaround on high-quality parts for a variety of industries — primarily agriculture and automotive.

The company’s facility includes four laser cutters, four CNC brakes and two welding stations. The Jayaranjans recently built a $1.5 million addition to the facility, bringing its total footprint to 22,500 square feet. That addition has given the company space to house its newest machine: a HSG TS2 tube laser.

NJ Industries has come a long way since Jay and his wife, Bawani, established the business 18 years ago. But to understand the company’s story, you need to go back another 23 years.

Jay and Bawani moved to Winnipeg in 1984 to escape the civil war in their native Sri Lanka. They had just $100 when they arrived. Nish was 11 months old at the time; another son, Nirusan, was born nine years later.

Jay took a variety of jobs, eventually landing at Brunswick Filing Systems. Over the next 14 years, he was introduced to manufacturing and realized the many opportunities available to businesses offering custom metal fabrication.

A health scare in 1998 inspired Jay to start his business.

Jay was 40 at the time and broke his leg playing soccer. A few days after getting his cast, he felt unwell. He suspected a serving of bad fish was the culprit but drove to Grace Hospital just to be sure it wasn’t anything more serious.

Following a series of tests, doctors concluded he’d suffered a heart attack after his damaged leg sent a blood clot to his heart.

It caused Jay to re-evaluate what his family would be left with if he were to die.

“I needed to do something else,” Jay says. “So I gambled (on) it.”

To ensure a more financially secure future, he and Bawani saved their money for nine years until they had enough to start NJ Industries in 2007 — a company they named using Jay’s initials.

In the meantime, they encouraged their sons to pursue careers in health care, knowing that if they did, they would have job security and access to well-paying positions. Nish became an advanced care paramedic and instructor at Red River College Polytechnic, and Nirusan is an advanced practice respiratory therapist with Shared Health’s Child Health Transport Team.

NJ Industries initially served as a middle man between businesses and custom metal fabricators. Jay and Bawani ran the company out of their bungalow on Ferry Road, weighing their hatchback down with fabricated parts and delivering them all over the city.

Eventually, Jay’s friend, an accountant named Barry Phillips, encouraged him to start doing the fabricating himself. He knew Jay had the necessary skills.

Jayaranjan bought equipment and leased a 5,000-sq.-ft. space on Saulteaux Crescent. He poured all of the family’s savings into the endeavour and then started having second thoughts. Unsure of his abilities, he considered turning around, selling everything and going back to working for someone else.

“Barry said, ‘No, you can do this. We’re going to try this,’” Nish says. “And the rest is history.”

In 2019, Jay purchased five acres of land at CentrePort and developed two of those acres for the company’s headquarters. He received the keys to the building the week the COVID-19 pandemic reached Manitoba.

The sense of loyalty Jay has to his customers extends to his employees. He and Bawani refused to lay off staff during the pandemic and gave up their salaries for a year to make that possible.

“I don’t like letting people go,” says Jay, adding the company has never fired anyone.

The Jayaranjans are proud to have built a successful company on integrity, relationships and word-of-mouth referrals. Occasionally, they rely on verbal agreements and handshake deals, ensuring things get done even if the usual paperwork isn’t involved.

In recent years, Nish and Nirusan have been increasing their involvement in the business so that they can take it over one day.

“They really are an amazing family,” says Hollar, adding he once gave the Jayaranjans a photo of the employees at Freedom Concepts to keep at NJ Industries. “I think I’ve even joked with Nish, ‘We’re your second family’ … because that’s how we’ve felt over the last few years.”

For Jay, the best part of running the business — aside from being his own boss — is tending those relationships with customers and delivering what they ask for, no matter how big or small the order is.

“If anybody comes in with anything, we’ll make (even just) one or two,” he says. “Bring it in. We’ll cut it.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca