Mid-way through construction of our new building, employees signed their names to a 20-foot steel beam. Adorned with signatures, hearts and smiley faces, that beam was hoisted by crane and now serves as a key backbone for the structure.

While our varied handwriting styles are no longer visible, it’s clear employees are at the heart of our newly expanded headquarters in Arden Hills.

This was not by accident.

We have a uniquely high-teaming work philosophy that supports our marketplace-back strategy and enables agility to team around projects. We’re enabling employees with the tools, technology and space to collaborate, innovate and feed human progress.

This week, we celebrate the opening of our newly expanded campus, which brings together employees from Shoreview and Roseville to our Arden Hills campus. In all, we’ll be about 2,000 strong at HQ (with another 8,000 colleagues in fields, plants and offices across the country). It’s a milestone for us, with the new building serving as the embodiment of our growth.

Designed for people

We’re a nearly 100-year-old cooperative that is transforming the future -- we’ve been recognized on The Fortune 2017 Change the World List and are among America’s Most Reputable Companies 2018 (published by Forbes Magazine)-- and our employees are a critical enabler of this transformation.

We thought a lot about employees, which is why we took an innovative approach to workplace design. We’re providing more access to natural light and a variety of spaces to support individual, team and collaborative work. It’s an open office concept but with plenty of private and individual spaces to work.

Inside, employees can choose to get down to business seated (or standing) at an open work station, or from the privacy of a quiet focus room. Or, if the day calls for a lively strategic planning session, there are plenty of colorful booths, couches and conference rooms geared for collaboration.

Even our new Social Stair is intended for high teaming. It’s a unique indoor-outdoor feature, divided by a wall of windows, so we can work together, inside or out.

Technology is woven throughout campus, enabling us to collaborate with colleagues on campus, across the country and around the world. Increasingly, paper is replaced in favor of mobile devices and cloud-based storage.

Now, in every building of our headquarters, teams are increasingly mobile but have a “neighborhood” to call home. Even in a flexible work environment, we know a sense of community is important.

The pace of work today is fast. At Land O'Lakes, we want that pace to be motivating, not draining. That's why we’ve designed the campus to meet a full range of work-life needs and support employees total wellbeing.

Our campus includes three new amenities that employees said they wanted -- onsite childcare, wellness and fitness centers. Employees also have access to a newly remodeled credit union, cafeteria and technology assistance center, as well as a coffee shop and Mothers’ Suites.

Designed for efficiency

We take our call to feed human progress seriously, and one aspect of that is building sustainably. We sought to drive efficiencies through careful design, including through use of above-code insulation and LED lighting.

We’ll keep the new building cooler in summer by using a white membrane on the roof which redirects heat away from the building. And we’re using landscaping with native and drought tolerant plants, along with irrigation tanks, to reduce our water usage.

Our farmer-owners never stand still, and neither do our employees. We’re excited to start working on a shared campus and proud of what we know we can accomplish by working together.