If you’ve ever partnered with Valley Design, there’s a good chance your product passed through Building 1. As our first facility, it remains a vital part of daily operations. As we celebrate 39 years in the table base manufacturing industry, we’re looking back at the building where it all began.
One Building, Many Roles
When Valley Design first opened its doors, everything happened in our modest, 2,000 sq. ft. building (formerly an auto body shop) from our batch powder coating setup and packaging area to the shipping dock, maintenance department, and even our first office space. As demand grew, so did the building. We transitioned from a batch oven to a conveyor paint line, helping us improve through-put and better serve our early powder coating customers.
A Shift in Production
Around our tenth year in business, Building 1 (aptly named for its status as the first building) had become the primary paint line for several contracted powder coating customers. Each partnership brought unique product requirements, and our team worked closely with clients to deliver consistent, high-quality finishes.
At the same time, the building began supporting more of our own in-house production. What started as a space focused on external work gradually became a core part of meeting internal needs, coating more of our own table base components than contracted items.
The Building 1 of Today
Fast forward to the 39th year of Valley Design, our facility now spans five buildings and 113,000 square feet of manufacturing space. While we’ve phased out contracted powder coating services, Building 1 is still vital to our operations. Our packaging processes have become more sophisticated over the years, and Building 1 has adapted with them. It’s now a well-oiled hub that supports product flow and plays a key role in getting our high quality bases out the door efficiently and on time.
Still Essential, Still Evolving
Building 1 has seen a lot since 1986, from small-batch coating runs to shipping truckloads of Minnesota-manufactured table bases across the country. Its purpose has changed, but its importance hasn’t. As we continue to evolve in the manufacturing industry, we’re excited to see what the next chapter holds for the building that’s been with us from the beginning.