Brett Cain

We appreciate being nominated with some pretty high profile companies in Saskatchewan," said Brett Cain, creator of North Fringe Industrial Technologies Inc.

Brett Cain is company president and owner. His parents Dave and Leanne Cain have sold their successful automotive business of 22 years, Cain's Automotive, and have joined forces with Brett.
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Brett Cain has been nominated for three Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce ABEX Awards in categories of New Saskatchewan Product, New Venture, and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. (Saskatoon Star Phoenix, October 25, 2007)

On October 27th North Fringe Resources Inc. won two of the three ABEX Awards in which they were finalists. Brett Cain won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the company won the $10,000 New Saskatchewan Product Award. (Nipawin Journal, October 31, 2007)
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Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Brett Cain, North Fringe Resources Inc., Nipawin

The night of Oct. 27 is a one that Brett Cain and his employees at North Fringe Resources Inc. will not soon forget.

Wednesday October 31, 2007

ABEX Entrepreneur of the Year - Award winner Brett Cain started the business North Fringe Resources Inc. last year.His company also won the TIA New Saskatchewan Product award.Journal photo.

Brett wins ABEX awardThe night of Oct. 27 is a one that Brett Cain and his employees at North Fringe Resources Inc. will not soon forget.
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"It was like the awards you see on TV," Brett said."You go behind the stage curtain and you come out for your nominations.Before that they say ‘these are the finalists, this is what they do' and they show a film clip of what you do.And it's not two seconds, it actually gets into what you do.It was very well done."Brett won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, a honour designated to an entrepreneur between the ages of 18 and 29 who has achieved success in the start-up and operation of a new or existing business. Last year, after researching his ideas, Brett created North Fringe Resources Inc. in Nipawin.They custom build portable, self-contained refuge stations that are being marketed to mining companies around the world.

The company also won the $10,000 TIA New Saskatchewan Product award for demonstrating exceptional performance in launching a new, original Saskatchewan-made product, technology or service.The TIA was the first award presented for the night and being new to this, Brett had to think fast on his feet when he gave his acceptance speech to the 600 people in attendance."I didn't think we would win any awards but I was thinking that if by chance we do win one, if I got to watch somebody accept one first then I would have an idea of how it went down.But it was the first award and we won the it, so I was a little lost for words but I tried the best I could," he laughed.Brett is proud of his team and says they all contribute to the success of the business.This is what makes winning the award so exciting. "We worked extremely hard as a team over the past year.Everybody has their own role in our company and contributes to the success we have had.So it is truly an honour to receive the recognition of those awards.For all of us that are involved here it feels like it is a big pat on the back."Despite winning the awards, Brett said that they still have a long way to go.He is not one to let the success go to his head but instead feels that it is a stepping stone to what the company will become as it grows."We experienced several growing pains, just with the demand of product and trying to meet deadlines," Brett said of his first year in business.He is now in the process of setting up a distribution network and office in Venezuela and he and his engineer are always looking at ways to make advances in research and development. They have recently made minor changes to the design of the station."We have changed the structure so it has increased strength on the roof and does not allow water to sit on top," he said.Having made about 100 quotes for refuge stations, they have orders that will keep them busy well into next summer.Brett is prepared to hire more subcontractors, if necessary, to keep up to the demand. The good news for northeast Saskatchewan is, he plans to keep his business here. >

Brett Cain, President of North Fringe Resources Inc., is a finalist for the SaskWater Award for Young Entrepreneur of the Year for his motivation to take his idea for a business and turn it into a reality.

Brett Cain, president of North Fringe (left) shakes hands with Lyle Moffatt, president of Canadian On-Site to officially seal the deal of amalgamation between the two companies on May 30 at North Fringe headquarters.
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I think it will really expand on North Fringe's training aspect of training on-site at portable refuge stations," said Brett Cain, president of North Fringe.

About three years ago, while Brett Cain was working on a project at a potash mine in Saskatchewan, he asked the question a lot of people might ask.
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Brett Cain, President of North Fringe Resources Inc. and Nipawin native saw a problem with the mine safety rescue equipment and decided to do something about it.Photo courtesy of Brett Cain
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About three years ago, while Brett Cain was working on a project at a potash mine in Saskatchewan, he asked the question a lot of people might ask."What would happen in the case of an emergency, if there was ever smoke, fire, gas, or anything like that?" Cain, a 24 year old Nipawin native who is a graduate of the University of Regina's business administration program, was told that there was something in place but it did not really fit the need.When he was shown an old seed container like you see on the back of a semi he agreed, but unlike most people, he put his mind to work to think of something better.The result is the Nipawin based company North Fringe Resources Inc. who make a portable refuge station for mines.Once he got the idea that there might be a need for better mine safety rescue equipment, Cain contacted the mine rescue co-ordinate for Saskatchewan, who confirmed there was definitely a need for it. After doing some research about both underground mining and portable refuge chambers he discovered a great need for them all over the world.Cain contacted the National Research Council (NRC) who were very interested in his idea for the project and encouraged him to apply to them for funding.At the same time Brett and his father David, along with about 120 other applicants, applied to a business competition in Regina.

Things went uphill from there.Cain was approved for funding from the NRC and they were one of three finalists in the competition.With the financial end of the project taken care of, Cain still had to design his idea.He bought a computer-aided design (CAD) program, hired an engineer, and together they came up the design they now use."I had the drawing of what I was looking for put roughly together and both myself and the engineer threw ideas off of each other until we came up with this design," explains Cain.At the same time, Cain's dad sold his autobody shop and got involved which, in Cain's eyes, brought something priceless to the company."Having my dad sell his business and come on board brings some experience to the table that you can't put a dollar figure on," said Cain.
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"Some of the world's largest mining companies have bought them and they are on the approved venues list now so we can sell anywhere in the world to these guys because they don't just buy from anybody, they have to be approved and it's a long process," explains Cain.Cain is truly an innovative entrepreneur, who has the ability to see a need for something and expand on it.Although North Fringe started with the idea of saving lives in mines, they have expanded to design and manufacture units for the oil/gas and forestry sectors as well as others.Each sector has unique needs that are looked at and addressed in the design of the unit.For example, in mining, they need to withstand gas, smoke and fire, but in the oil/gas sector, they need to withstand explosions as well.And some are made for places you might not even think of.They just finished one that was headed to New York City to be used in the subway system."It has been pretty interesting," notes Cain of his experiences, "you get to deal around the world and see lots of different places and cultures and whatnot."

Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Brett Cain of North Fringe Resources Inc., Nipawin; Tareina Hunt of Nut-Nae Art Websites & Graphics, Estevan; Nadia Williamson of NWL Contemporary Dresses for Special Occasions, Regina; Rhonda Levesque of P.A. Fast Print Inc., Prince Albert; and Virgil Reed of Reed Security Group, Saskatoon.

Brett CainPresidentNorth Fringe Resources Inc.P: 1-306-862-5900C: 1-306-862-6566

Brett Cain, North Fringe Resources Inc., Nipawin