This paid piece is sponsored by Interstate Office Products.

As the city of Sioux Falls grows, so does the number of people required to support city services.

It means shifting workspaces, adding staff and trying to optimize public funds as much as possible to accommodate the demands of growth.

“We have a lot of moving pieces, and we just said it makes no sense to have a lot of different suppliers,” said Scott Rust, the city’s purchasing manager. “As we move around and reconfigure, if we stay with the same color and design, we can reuse these parts and pieces.”

For decades, the city has worked with Interstate Office Products as its provider of office furnishings for everything from height-adjustable desks to movable glass walls.

“We have a commitment to ergonomics in the workplace, and Interstate came forward with a product we really liked, and the more we used the office systems we saw how long it lasted,” Rust said. “Some of it will last 20 years, and it’s timeless.”

Quality office furniture is a strategic investment, agreed James Gaspar, vice president of Interstate Office Products.

“We always want to encourage our clients to embrace the latest trends with new products, but there’s a lot we can accomplish with high-quality, timeless pieces. When our clients can reuse and reconfigure their existing install base, we value the opportunity to help them integrate those existing pieces with modern design principles that maximize their investment,” he said.

“It allows businesses to optimize their resources while still being assured their teams are going to be working with extremely high-quality, durable furniture.”

That has been the experience for Vance Thompson Vision, which has grown steadily during the time it has worked with Interstate Office Products.

“We appreciate the versatility of the quality products and services we’ve received from Interstate Office Products,” chief operations officer Wade Opland said.

“The team has worked with us to move and repurpose what we have as we’ve shifted around and created different workspaces to accommodate our growth. The team is amazing to work with and always willing to go the extra mile.”

Avera Health finds repeatedly utilizing its Interstate Office Products furnishings reflects many of its core values.

“It’s important for us at Avera to have high-quality products that last, hold up and serve us well,” vice president of facilities Garrett Peters said. “Quality is a huge part of what we do, and we want the products we use to help reflect that.”

With intentional care of its furniture, “we have been able to realize great longevity and move or reenvision the furniture as our needs change,” he added.

For instance, as more employees moved to remote work from office settings, their furniture has been used in clinical spaces Avera has added because of growth. Rather than purchasing all new, the furniture helped outfit the new Avera Medical Group Family Health Center – Dawley Farm – and the new Avera Gregory facility.

“Stewardship is so important at Avera, and by smart use of this furniture, we can reallocate those funds to do more in other areas of these projects,” Peters said. “And for sustainability, we are ensuring these products are being put to good use and not prematurely entering a landfill.”

At Interstate Office Products, “our interior designers work closely with our customers to understand their organizations and help them invest in furniture selections that grow with them and adapt to their needs,” president and CEO Sheila Casiello said.

“Many of our product lines blend together to offer a nice aesthetic to provide a consistent look, so customers can expand and reconfigure with a smaller investment, enjoying significant longevity no matter which teams are using it.”

The goal “is to help the organizations we work with fulfill their missions of caring for their customers, employees and the environment,” she continued. “The ability to reuse and repurpose furniture throughout its life cycle helps them achieve these goals. Not only does it save the organization money in the long run, it also helps achieve sustainability goals.”

For the city of Sioux Falls, IOP has been “a good partner, helping with our vision of what we wanted and helping us get there,” Rust said.

“That’s key. We had an idea, and they helped us run with it. For an organization that has a lot of buildings, staying with one furniture supplier will save a lot of money because you can reconfigure as needed and get the full life out of the furniture.”

Now, going forward, “we have a road map for what furniture we’ll be replacing every year, and we’ve arrived at standardized products that serve us very well,” he continued.

“It’s saved us a lot of dollars over the years as we know when we have parts or pieces in our inventory that we don’t have to buy. We have storage, our IOP interior designer is aware of what we have available and helps us configure space as needed. If a new director or manager wants to reconfigure how a team sits, we have a lot of inventory to make it happen without a large expense.”

The glass walls have allowed for added flexibility, he said.

“They’re an investment upfront, but we save time and money not having to tear down sheet rock walls,” Rust said. “We’ve torn down a lot of walls in the past. Now we’re removing walls and replacing with glass, knowing the building isn’t going anywhere and the city continues to grow, and you have to reimagine how you’re going to utilize space.”

As recent years have shown, the workplace can evolve quickly – and the right investment and furniture partner sets up a business to adjust accordingly.

“We consistently work to build long-term relationships with our customers, and it’s rewarding for us as well as the client to see how the investments they made sometimes years ago continue to play a key role in supporting their workplace needs,” Casiello said. “It proves over and over why our furniture and partnerships are made to last.”

To learn more about how IOP can support your workplace vision, visit i-o-p.com, or call 605-339-0300.