Brockville-based power cable manufacturer Northern Cables is setting itself up for the next few years of growth with an 80,000-square-foot expansion of one of its plants.
With two manufacturing plants in Brockville and one in Prescott, Northern Cables invests in plant expansions every few years, said president Todd Stafford. The latest expansion, which aims to increase manufacturing capacity at the original Brockville plant at 50 California Ave., will accommodate future plans for two additional production lines and “incremental” growth each year.
“That plant has been expanded twice now. By adding to that building space, we can add equipment and processes every year and add two, three, even four years of growth,” explained Stafford. “It won’t be much of a production increase immediately, it might help us five or 10 per cent in industrial growth, but now we have the space for more and more equipment.
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“So, over the next few years we can have up to a 40-per-cent increase in industrial products.”
The added equipment represents an investment of over $1 million.
The company continues to add new processes and equipment to its other Brockville facility, which was expanded in 2019.
There are currently 280 employees company-wide, 150 of which work at the California Avenue facility. This latest expansion will add more positions, Stafford said, as the equipment must be managed 24/7 and will require engineers to oversee operations.
The company’s six principals had worked previously for BICC Phillips Cables, which closed its Brockville plant in 1996. At Phillips, Stafford worked as a unit manager and process engineer.
“(BICC Phillips Cables) had been around for 90 years, and we really had to start from scratch with no equipment from old plants, and our head office was in an old Coca-Cola factory,” Stafford said. “The first five years was about persistence to get our business off the ground, and then the next 10 was to keep stable.
“The last 10 years have been about growth.”
Stafford said there are plans for continued expansions at the existing plants and to add a fourth facility in the region in the next few years, bringing more jobs and manufacturing to Eastern Ontario.
“We always have an insatiable need for employees and are (competitive) with other businesses growing in our area,” said Stafford. “We’re actively planning and looking at future growth. Whatever people say, manufacturing is not a dying industry.”
