CTB Breaks Ground on Expansion Project
Published: Friday, October 8, 2021
The town of Milford (pop. 1,562) may not seem like a destination location for most world travelers, but it is for those connected to the grain bin industry.
The northern gateway to Kosciusko County is where the components for those ubiquitous, silver-gray, round, Brock storage containers are manufactured by CTB Inc., which last Wednesday held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $20 million renovation and expansion project at its campus on the east side of S.R. 15.
The renovation of the existing 38,000-square-foot Chore-Time structure will provide enhancements for CTB's current administrative and manufacturing workforce. The new conference and training center will accommodate events for 400 people and will serve as a cutting-edge front porch for the company's world headquarters.
"We build the best grain storage facilities that are used around the world and you can see them up and down the street here," Don Sjolin, vice president and general manager of Brock Grain Systems told the gathering. "That equipment and those facilities are built in one of our seven manufacturing facilities across the Midwest, but there there's no doubt that Milford is the epicenter."
And when customers and dealers around the world refer to the grain bin capital, they don't say it's in northern Indiana, Sjolin explained. They specifically "always say 'Milford, Milford, Milford,' so we've got that going for us."
As much as the expansion will enhance CTB's daily operation, it will also provide an upgrade in branding and marketing, much like other iconic corporate buildings do symbolically in all corners of America and the globe.
"We do a lot of training here, and we bring a lot of customers and a lot of our dealer-partners in, and this is really going to be an appreciated expansion for us because as a premium brand it's going to be nice to be able to show them a state-of-the art facility," Sjolin told the goup. "It really reinforces the brand-promise that we bring to the industry."
The project was in the planning phase for three years. It took another three months to demolish an outdated existing building that wasn't exactly described in the most flattering of terms.
In addition to Brock and Chore-Time, the new conference center will serve CTB's PigTek division while enhancing the company's ability to host large, virtual and in-person, employee and corporate meetings, distributor network conferences and training events.
The new facility will include the latest in telecommunications and computer networking infrastructure and upgraded employee amenities like locker rooms, indoor and outdoor common spaces for lunch breaks, additional parking spaces and new mothers' rooms. The manufacturing group will get a new tool and die area.
The existing Chore-Time office and manufacturing facility dating back to the early years of nearly 70-year-old company will also get a facelift.
Victor A. Mancinelli, CTB chairman and CEO, said many of the "upgrades have been designed around helping CTB attract, train and retain the employee talent we need to achieve our goals as a company."
However, at the end of the day, it still comes down to the farmes and members of the agriculture community who add Brock grain bins and other equipment to their operations.
"We're one of the equipment manufacturers that relies extremely heavily on a local dealership network," Sjolin said after the shovels of dirt were tossed. "And those dealerships are right in all the ag communities and often they are run by farmers themselves as an extension of their businesses.
"Our dealers are a vital resource to the farmers that are looking for solutions, and they often need to be regional. Being able to bring those dealers to a spot where we can train them and they can share ideas from across the country or the world, and provide us with the latest feedback of what the ag community and what local farms are requesting, and what problems they have, is really important."
That information, Sjolin said, is relayed to CTB's engineering and support teams who come up with better solutions, which are eventually passed on to the dealer network and delivered back to local farmers.
"With so much changing in farming on a yearly basis certainly, if not sooner than that, those relationships and that training is huge," Sjolin said. "A lot of that will happen in this new facility. Often, right now, some of that training is compromised because of the lack of a suitable space."
Keeping an American company strong is at the heart of the CTB-farming relationship. The new facility is expected to become operational in the second quarter of 2023.
"Farmers should care that we're investing in the ability to provide resources that can help them," Sjolin said. "Everybody, but no less than in ag, needs businesses that can support them because they're stretched thin. This is not a facility that's about squeezing out another roll of metal at 2 cents cheaper per pound; this is about investing in education and in solutions that should ultimately help.
"And it's about investment so we're not shipping production overseas at another 5 cents. This is about keeping our roots right here in the ag community."
In this case, that would be the world-renowned town of Milford.
"Because I'm somewhat new to the company, only a couple of years now, I am really astonished at the desire to visit Milford," Sjolin said. "I have just this coming week folks who'll be visiting the U.S. from halfway around the world, and they are making a special trip to Milford because they have to see where we manufacture the product.
"It's very important to them to put these facilities behind their impression of Brock because they are paying for more than the metal they buy from us—they're paying for a legacy of know-how and a promise we won't let them down. It important for them to see our commitment."
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