Taking a leap of faith during a global recession might seem risky, but the move to a new 21,000-square-foot facility has rewarded Sudbury's Nortrax with quadrupled sales and a bright outlook for the future.
The move more than doubles the John Deere subsidiary's former 10,000-square-foot location on Pioneer Road where the heavy equipment dealer had been for more than 50 years under various names and owners.
The building was completed this spring, and sales have already increased by leaps and bounds as a result of the four-laning of Highway 69 and the flurry of road-building and infrastructure projects underway throughout the Sudbury region.
"We were just bursting at the seams, and to be able to take things to the next levels, which is what we're doing right now right off the hop, we had to do this," says Eric Rennie, general manager. "It wasn't that it'd be nice to move, it was a necessity. Forget what you hear out there, things are going well."
Built in a T-shape, the facility has been designed with an eye for future expansion, with room and zoning for second-floor offices and 10 more bays to complement the existing 10 bays. These additions are expected to be introduced within the next five years.
The shop space has also doubled, meaning clients' machines can be worked on inside rather than outdoors, as was the case at the previous location.
The prior site's five-ton cranes have been replaced with two 10-ton cranes, and 14-foot doors have given way to 18-foot roll-up doors, which have been installed to accommodate heavy-duty mining equipment.
The building is already being billed as the John Deere flagship and main stocking centre for Northern Ontario, helping to serve existing Nortrax facilities in Hearst, Timmins, North Bay and Thunder Bay.
Indeed, the larger space has allowed for the parts inventory to grow by 40 per cent, an important element for the company's goals to be able to have every part in a customer's order 85 per cent of the time.
"Everything we've done, we've built bigger, and maybe not for today, but down the road."
Rennie says the move helps to make the company more appealing to customers who are looking for another big-league competitor to Toromont, located just a stone's throw from Nortrax.
Prior to the economic meltdown last October, NorTrax had begun to expand beyond its construction roots into the realm of mining, with more and more equipment being sold to Vale Inco and Xstrata Nickel.
After Xstrata requested a custom-made grater which required the team to cut it apart and engineer it for specific underground mining applications, company officials began to realize the local demand and the value of moving beyond just construction and forestry.
While no pieces have been sold since the downturn began, Rennie anticipates spending "serious money" on expanding the facility's focus on fabricating a tailor-made product line for the mining industry once the economy begins to pick back up.
However, for all Rennie's optimism, he admits to approaching the economy with increasing caution.
Up until a month ago, the company was looking to expand its staff of 25 even further, purchasing an additional lube truck and field service truck in anticipation. While a new service manager is being hired to handle the additional materials, the two additional staff won't likely be brought in until the economy begins to improve.
"You can't stick your head in the sand and think this isn't affect everybody, because it really does."
Although the building may open up additional opportunities and a new scope of business for Nortrax, Rennie says it's the staff that make the difference. While this may be a familiar refrain in the business community, Rennie says that employees have responded to the new facility with renewed vigor and service, which several contractors have already begun to comment upon.
"You take the right people and give them something they can really be proud of, and that takes their level of enthusiasm and service up, and that takes everybody's game up."
www.nortrax.com
