BUILDING UP
BRANDON
By Shayna Wiwierski
The successes, the challenges, and the stories from Brandon’s immigrant business owners
O
ver the past 10 years, Brandon has welcomed close to 6,400 newcomers to the city, accord ing to Economic Development Brandon. Of those 6,400, many
of them were new Canadians.
permanent residency he moved to Win nipeg and worked for a number of Indian restaurants there before managing the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) at St. Vital Mall for three years. “I worked [at KFC], and because I started
Brandon is home to a large immigrant
[The Chilli Chutney] in Brandon, I always
population, many of whom own business
missed Brandon,” says Negi, who also has
es in the city. Laxman Negi, director of The
experience in Italian, Chinese, and Thai
Chilli Chutney, is originally from India and
cuisine. “The small city, the people are
came to Canada initially in 2005. Landing
very nice and friendly, as well as reliable
in Edmonton with a background in culi
as long as you are serving good food to
nary arts, he started working for The Chilli
them. My previous boss couldn’t run the
Chutney out there, and after talking with
place so he wanted to sell it. I called him
his boss, moved to Brandon shortly after.
and took over.”
Negi started up The Chilli Chutney in
Negi moved back to Brandon in 2011 and
Brandon and then once he obtained his
transformed The Chilli Chutney into what
Manitoba is home to a large immigrant population, many of whom own businesses in the city. 40
••• Brandon Business Review ••• 2021
it is today. He says there were a number of challenges to overcome in running a busi ness, one of which is learning the culture. Additionally, he mentions that having good credit is extremely important since that’s the key to secure financing and a mortgage from the bank. Negi says that since he had been in Canada for a few years before taking it over, he already had good credit and was able to finance the restaurant purchase and obtain a credit line. Also, because he was the one who started the restaurant initially, his custom ers knew the business and were happy to support him once he moved back to the city. Having good credit is just one of the ob stacles involved in starting a business in a new country, something that many immi grants don’t have right away when mov ing to Canada. “When you land in Canada, you have no credit record at all,” says Martie Kruger,
