Five Lessons From Fero

Sabrina Fiorellino knows how to manufacture success

In September 2023, Fero International completed their purchase of an operating manufacturing plant along the South Service Road in Stoney Creek. Less than a year later, the modular building manufacturer was recognized by the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce as the community’s Best Large Business of 2024.

That’s a meteoric appearance on the scene for anybody, but Sabrina Fiorellino – the co-founder and CEO of Fero International – knows that there’s nothing surprising about her company’s recognition. To hear her speak of it, she saw a gigantic gap in the market and carved out her own place in it.

1. Look abroad for inspiration

In the wake of a global pandemic, followed by a nationwide housing crisis, Fiorellino says it’s obvious that the North American construction industry has to evolve. “Our ability to respond to these issues is just not there,” she emphatically says. It simply takes too long to build critical infrastructure to respond to growing catastrophes. Fiorellino points to modular building as an answer. When bringing modular building to North America – where it only has a 3% market share – Fiorellino looked abroad for inspiration and guidance. “In some countries in Europe and Asia, there’s up to 80% market penetration for modular,” she points out.

“Modular is a really well developed industry in Europe and Asia, and not so well developed in North America.”

Looking at how other countries are solving similar problems is what allowed Fiorellino to build Fero to such successful heights so quickly.

2. Pick a niche to start

Fiorellino says that the idea for Fero came to her in the midst of the pandemic. “I saw all this news about overcrowded hospitals, and I thought that I had to do something,” she tells us. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Fero started primarily producing modular buildings for the healthcare industry. Fero has completed projects for hospitals in Manitoba and Ontario, with upcoming new projects in other provinces. All of the buildings are constructed in their Hamilton plant before being shipped nation-wide. “Healthcare was our first in, and healthcare will remain a core focus going forward,” Fiorellino says. “But since then, we’ve expanded.” Fero’s track record empowered the company to diversify into three different directions: industrial/commercial, educational, and, increasingly, residential construction. Each of these have incredible promise for growth, but chasing too many leads – and their associated regulations – at first would have swamped the fledgling company.

3. Look for opportunities to scale

Fero’s first big win was a relationship with the University Health Network in Toronto, Fiorellino says. But after that proof-of-concept, Fero had a problem: they were too reliant on third-party manufacturers, which was impacting their ability to scale.

Fortunately, Fiorellino found out that one of those manufacturers was thinking about selling their plant. After attracting investment, she was able to purchase their assets and retain the majority of their employees.

It was a golden opportunity, but one that only occurred because Fiorellino was actively looking for it. All of that preparation paid off when the perfect opportunity presented itself, suddenly transforming Fero from a small manufacturer with limited internal capacity into the single largest modular manufacturing plant under one roof in Canada.

4. Go where the workers are

Yes, the 300,000 square foot manufacturing facility was a main focus of Fero’s 2023 acquisition, but Fiorellino knew the plant was special for more than just its space. “The existing operation had probably 70 employees, and we were able to maintain 95% of the labor force going forward,” she beams.

Hamilton was attractive primarily because of the existing culture and labour pool of the city, Fiorellino says. “You have the schools around here,” she notes, pointing to engineering and manufacturing programs at Mohawk and Niagara colleges, as well as McMaster University. “Hamilton has a really robust community.”

For Fero, looking to quickly scale into a new facility and a major workforce expansion was always going to be a challenge. But it was a challenge mitigated in part by the experience of the existing employees who joined Fero in the acquisition. “We’re talking decades of manufacturing experience,” Fiorellino says. Along with a strong culture of manufacturing industry throughout the city, Hamilton made sense for Fero to make its mark.

5. Choose Hamilton!

But there were other benefits to the Stoney Creek plant, besides capacity, and labour pool. “The transportation routes were really important for us,” Fiorellino shares. Hamilton is particularly well-connected, with the largest freight airport in the province as well as easy access through road and rail infrastructure to major markets in Toronto and the United States.

It’s a community that Fiorellino is excited to be a part of. “We have plans to grow, of course,” she says.