Atom-Jet Group

Leadership Through Innovation

Necessity has truly been the mother of invention and, ultimately, innovation for Atom-Jet Group of Brandon. Established in 1962 with humble beginnings as a home-based business designing and building a curious smattering of agricultural products, Atom-Jet has used its willingness to develop new and better products for its varied customer base and has leveraged the purchase of an established steel fabrication business to, more than 50 years later, stand as one of Brandon’s most innovative fabrication and manufacturing businesses serving both domestic and international clients.

The Atom-Jet name was borne from its origin company’s inaugural product, a water atomizer manufactured by Atom-Jet Industries for use as a humidifier in wood-burning houses. In the company’s early years, it was also known for building barbeques and manufacturing switches for farmyard power poles. But, as time went on and Brandon’s industrial business market began growing, Atom-Jet found itself being asked more and more for industrial machining and repair services – and the business grew from there. Acquired by its current ownership in 2002, Atom-Jet Industries later purchased the already-established Glendale Industries in 2011 and Atom-Jet Group has since been forged. With more than 50 years in business, Atom-Jet Group is well-known for its ability to research, design and build new and revolutionary products to meet the technological demands of today’s modern industries.

The Brandon facility is the company’s only full steel service centre location, purchasing a wide range of raw steel from across Canada, the United States, and Asia, which is then shipped in by rail directly to its facility. The steel comes into the facility in formidable sized coils, some weighing in at upwards of 50,000 pounds. Owning its own rail track and switch has proven very helpful to Cascadia’s success in Brandon, as it allows the company to work with Canadian National Railway and bring rail cars onto its property and right into its building. In fact, four full rail cars can fit into the company’s warehouse for direct unloading via crane.

The facility’s two “cut-to-length” lines can then flatten the steel and cut to any custom length, while Cascadia’s custom steel slitting line (the only such service available between Winnipeg and Calgary) can cut large coils of steel into long strips. After processing, the steel is delivered via company semitrucks to clients in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and even into parts of British Columbia to assist with product demand at the company’s Langley and Delta locations. Cascadia’s Brandon facility ships an average of 6,000 tonnes of steel every month. With a facility expansion in Ontario on the horizon in 2017, Cascadia’s goal is to be shipping steel product coast-tocoast in the near future. While the vast majority of their product is shipped to clients outside of the Brandon region, steel processed at Cascadia’s facility has been used by many Brandon steel fabrication companies, in the region’s agricultural manufacturing plants, in the local commercial construction industry, and even in the ongoing reconstruction of Brandon’s First Street Bridge. Regionally, Cascadia has many clients in Manitoba’s heating and ventilation construction sector, and also sells quite a bit of product to Manitoba-based Hutterite communities for use in their own manufacturing operations.

Cascadia Metals’ belief that no client is the same is certainly reflected in the vast array of products it provides. From steel beams and pipe to structural steel tubing to pre-painted roofing steel, Cascadia works directly with a client to determine need and can normally offer special orders with as little as 5 days turn-around.

This diversification has been key to Cascadia’s ability to weather the everchanging commodity price of steel and any slowdowns in the various markets it serves. For example, expanding its product line to offer pre-painted steel in a variety of colours and designs has proved very popular in the local commercial and residential construction market. Cascadia has also expanded its services it provides within its own company and has become a processor/supplier/distribution centre for its parent company’s locations in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, and Edmonton.

With an employee base of approximately 50 skilled labourers, Cascadia employs Class 1 drivers, mechanical engineers and operators, heavy duty mechanics, and a number of sales, management and administrative staff. The company looks for workers with a high mechanical aptitude, who are then trained on-site and go on to enjoy a challenging career with competitive wages. One of the company’s recent expansions included the establishment of a steel processing line which creates steel pipe for use in the chain link fence industry. The company brought in a skilled professional from England specifically to start up this sister company, and Cascadia has also become the employer of choice for several Canadian newcomers originally recruited to Brandon for work at Maple Leaf Foods.

With nearly 20 years of loyal employees and loyal customers on its side, Cascadia Metals is a full steel service centre like no other!