‘Wide enough for two adults holding hands’ may not be a standard architectural design term. But it accurately describes the staircase width Geof Gray wanted leading from Salford Group’s 11,000-square-foot corporate head office expansion’s public entrance to its second floor.
“That was the joke,” explained the Linamar Agriculture VP Manufacturing, former President of Salford Group, initially taken aback by a less generous passage he likened to a fire escape. “It didn’t match what I saw in my head,” continued Gray, who envisioned space to jointly ascend, face to face, ‘and talk the whole way.’ “It cost us money, but I’m glad we spent it.”
The attention to productive detail required to both sustain and grow a leading agri-business is evident throughout. Think a bright, modern space filled with natural light where form meets function. Professional, quality, thematically consistent with the company’s rural foundation. “But no marble floors wasting farmers’ money.”
The Salford Group’s origins reach back to an Allis-Chalmers dealership at the 364018 McBeth Road property, transitioned into cultivation equipment construction by Jake Rozendall in 1984. Today, staged growth has seen the site’s original 60-by-90-foot structure expand to 135,000-square-feet of manufacturing space. Production from around 150 employees is split roughly between tillage equipment and dry fertilizer spreaders. An associated facility in Norwich employs an additional 110 produce mostly chassis-mounted fertilizer spreaders. Another factory in Cornelia, Georgia makes pull-type spinner spreaders.
A majority of the group’s sales are in North America. Ukraine is the primary player in a list of global market destinations the company is currently working at expanding, with recent incursions in, among other locations, Australia. “More growth, more growth,” Gray summed up succinctly, of the company’s future goals.
The McBeth Road expansion houses around 100 employees in divisions including customer service, purchasing, marketing, IT, HR, engineering and accounting. It also replaces what colloquially was known as ‘The House’, the property’s original residence where the engineering team worked.
A large array of windows is evident from Highway 19 to the west, bathing meeting rooms and workspaces in natural light. “We want a nice environment for our employees,” said Gray, who by design, placed executive offices along the back wall. “No corner offices allowed.” Natural light does filter through to the higher echelons. “But the preferred seating goes to employees without offices. It’s just something I believe in.”
Other choices of note include an open concept, where duct work and cable trays – black on black, or alternatively grey on grey depending – are incorporated as design elements, individual rather than group washroom facilities, and a food production/consumption space whose appointments and varied seating options are more reminiscent of cafe or a popular Canadian coffee and donuts franchise than cafeteria.
The goal was building a home away from home for employees said Gray, reflecting how much time people spend at work. “That’s what a work environment should be, a place where friends hang out, do cool stuff and get paid to do it.”
In short, the Salford Group is ‘fielding its best’ through an 11,000-square-foot expansion designed as aesthetically-pleasing, functional space encouraging collaboration and community building, viewed as investment over expense. “It’s the team that builds a company, right?” said Gray. “A healthy team means a healthy company.”
The Salford Group was acquired by Linamar Agriculture in 2022, a publicly-traded entity based in Guelph. It also owns MacDon, a combine header manufacturer based in Winnipeg, and the large air-seeder company Bourgault in Saskatchewan.
The expansion also emphasizes Linamar Agriculture’s commitment to Oxford County, a decision solidifying significant employment opportunities across a wide range of skillsets.
“They are investing in Salford,” Gray concluded.