ProPartners Financial (PPF) supports U.S. Agriculture with convenient crop input financing. As indicated on their website, PPF is the “largest provider of credit programs for the direct sellers of crop inputs (fertilizers) and seed in the United States.” Their existing office space was underutilized and inefficient for their work, so they were terminating their lease in an agreement with the building owner. Unispace was engaged to help them select and design their new office to better serve their business and represent their brand. During the process of interviewing the leadership team and space committee we learned they had occupied their existing office as a sublease. It was designed and furnished for another business and they had simply moved in. They discovered quickly the space did not serve them well. There were too many large private offices and not enough meeting and collaboration spaces. The meeting spaces they had did not support the kind of collaboration they needed to accelerate their growth. They wanted to foster sharing and learning by osmosis, so the open office space was also presenting a problem because of the high paneled workstations which limited interaction and allowed some people to “hide,” which was affecting productivity. With everything we learned about how their current space did not work for them, we helped develop a program, vision and strategy the team agreed would elevate their organization.
The next step was to find the right location. Working with their brokers we provided preliminary analysis and fit planning services for 5 potential buildings. We helped them weight the pros and cons for each property and provided preliminary construction pricing. This was the unique offering of Unispace as a design-build general contractor. My team worked with our construction estimator to provide a solid rough order of magnitude budget to help better inform site selections. In the end they chose Town Square Tower in downtown St. Paul based upon the cost projections, easy use of the space and the elevation of the suite on the 17th floor. The scenes of the city were a real draw to the property particularly for Tom Levasseur, President of ProPartners, who appreciated having an amazing view of the state capital building to the Northwest every day.
The look and feel of the interior were also especially important to the team. They wanted to provide their staff with a space that celebrated their culture, brought teams together, and identified with their market sector of Agriculture. The old place had no spirit for them and said nothing of their culture, plus the small windows brough in little natural light. They wanted to create an environment that not only represented the brand, but also brighten their days. In the new location we utilized the full height glass windows to provide expansive views, with large spans of perimeter glass at the open office area to the West and the break/collaboration space to the East. With these two sides open, and a full-length line of sight from one end to the other, the office feels extremely spacious. The environment we created is truly light and airy, while the finish pallet and adornments provide a nod to their agricultural basis of their company. We implemented earthy tones and reflections of water with our use of color. Rustic wood floors and a couple of plaid fabrics harken to the farmstead, while a dark green wall behind a central conference room pays homage to John Deere tractors. Even the accent light fixtures were selected and placed to give salute to farm implements and the planting process, which is the lifeblood of their business. The result is an office that breaths the brand and elevates the people that work there.
