Since setting up operations in Brantford in 2023, Broadway Manufacturing has quickly established itself as one of the fastest-growing manufacturing businesses in the area.
The director, Devinder Cheba, who co-founded the organization with his business partner Tejasvir Singh, has skillfully steered the fledgling enterprise. by utilizing his experience during his lengthy career.
“I started my career at a very young age…I was working part-time at my uncle’s shop while I was going to school. I came to Canada in the mid-1990s and went to a technical school for my education. Right after that, I started working professionally…becoming a CNC machinist…I ended up getting a lot of opportunities when other workers left [during projects] or weren’t that experienced. That’s how I got more chances to grow as a professional,” he said.
However, Cheba would then establish BC Machines in 2006; steadily growing its operations until 2019 when he joined Rivers Manufacturing, based in Brampton, Ontario as a director for four years.
“I took on more senior positions [and] started doing [machine] programming for other manufacturing businesses. That’s when I decided that it was time to start my own business…I started with only two machines [and] eventually grew operations to 17 machines…I had to move into a bigger unit that was close to 8,000 square feet to support more projects coming in,” explained Cheba. “Then at Rivers, I helped bring in] a lot of business…working mainly with the United States government. I also helped bring in a lot of good people to work for us [through] the contacts I made [during my career.]”
In 2023, Cheba co-founded Broadway Manufacturing. He did a lot of research of various areas to set-up operations in.
“We looked at a lot of cities including some across the GTA, but we chose Brantford as this was a growing industrial city with a lot of potential as we really wanted to grow with it…so that’s what we were looking for. We also knew that we weren’t going to have any issues with finding employees [and strategically] we are still very close to the GTA [as] we have suppliers [and other stakeholders] there,” Cheba explained.
Under Cheba’s guidance, Broadway Manufacturing has delivered an array of services including surface grinding, and precision milling.
“We mainly manufacture new components, but we also do repair [and] maintenance work. We have customers in the United States [and] locally [which include] automation companies and food machine manufacturers just to name a few,” said Cheba. “Brantford has been great for us, [as we have] a lot of great customers here that keep us going, especially in our first year [where] we weren’t short of work.”
Along with building the business in the area, Cheba has also been focused on fostering ties with initiatives as well as groups including the local cricket club. Recently, Cheba and his team created a special coin set to showcase its design work and its commitment to building community relationships.
“Rajesh [Prasad of the Panthers Cricket Club] was using an app on his phone to do the coin tosses at their games…I suggested that they should start doing tosses with an actual [and I had the idea] to design and make a special coin for them to use,” he said. “We created it in house [and we are] still working on modifying it a bit more like having it gold-plated. This coin will be used for a future tournament in 2025, with the winner being awarded the coin as a souvenir.”
However, while Cheba has contributed to promoting initiatives such as cricket in the area, he is looking for opportunities to work with other organizations to build a better community.
“We would love to work with an organization that helps children in the community…. sometimes there are children that aren’t being taken care of properly for whatever reason …[and] we want to do our part in helping them and their families in some way,” he said.
Nevertheless, Cheba is excited about the growth happening in Brantford.
“The city is great [and] I see a lot of potential here, not only for businesses [but for] people who want to move here looking for opportunities in skilled and unskilled labour….I also see a lot of companies looking for skilled workers especially in automation,” said Cheba. “Brantford has been very welcoming to us and for so many other businesses…giving all of us incentives and benefits to grow together.”
