Mitsubishi International Food Ingredients recently signed a 14,196 SF lease at 5475 Rings Road in Dublin, leaving a 11,000 SF space at another building in the Dublin submarket. We interviewed Mark Herd, Vice President of Logistics, on their space needs and what drew them to their new office.
Can you give us a brief overview of what Mitsubishi International Food Ingredients does and what your specific role looks like?
Mitsubishi International Food Ingredients is a food company/distributor that sells ingredients to food and pharmaceutical companies throughout North America.
As Vice President of Logistics, I am responsible for MIFI’s supply chain, which involves 18 warehouses, transportation companies that make our deliveries and ocean freight.
What factors influenced your decision to move offices and expand your office footprint from 11,000 SF to 14,000 SF?
The simple answer is – because we could. The existing office space at Atrium II (our new location) allowed for the cut off to occur at 14k and for our new office to flow better. This expansion will allow our projected growth over the next 5 years through both organic growth and acquisitions.
What drew you to keep your office in the Dublin area?
There are multiple reasons for having the office in Dublin. The business was originally part of the Ashland Distribution group in Dublin and many of our current employees came over to MIFI from Ashland. They were used to going to work here in Dublin so it made sense. As we reviewed the places that our employees live, Dublin was a central location with easy freeway access.
Additionally, we hold several large meetings per year, and Dublin provides both hotels and restaurants to meet our needs.
What were you looking for in a space? Were you looking for an open office for collaboration, private offices and meeting rooms, or a mixture of all of the above?
To be honest, we were looking for an upgrade from our previous space. We wanted a building with some ‘WOW factor’ for our employees. A place that they would be proud to bring suppliers, customers and their family to. We wanted an office space that was open and had space to grow. It also needed to have areas for the employees to huddle or take breaks. We were also looking and hoping for some new amenities, such as a gym and a café.
"We wanted a building with some 'WOW factor' for our employees. A place that they would be proud to bring suppliers, customers and their family to.”
-Mark Herd Mitsubishi International Food Ingredients
In your opinion, do you think we will see a major shift back to employers bringing employees back into the office or will the current hybrid and work from home trends continue to grow?
That is a difficult question. Majority of the data states that employees are more productive in an office setting. With that being said, I think MIFI will continue to provide a hybrid work environment. We are finding that during the interview process the “Work From Home” flexibility is important to new candidates.
How many people are working in the office at a time? Do you feel like your new office space will help team members work more cohesively?
We have anywhere from 35-40 employees in the office on any given day. The new office allows for training of new employees, a great amount of space in the kitchen for celebrations and huddle rooms if you need to have a quiet conversation on the phone. We now have room for the employees to take breaks together and work on fun projects. We even have a “jig saw puzzle” table that employees stop by on their breaks and work on the puzzle of the week.
What was most important for your employees when choosing office space?
The key for our employees has been the open view of the windows. We get a lot of sunlight, which everyone enjoys. We even have plants in the office now.
Why is it so important for your company to be innovative leaders, deliver beyond expectations and operate to meet the highest standards?
Our customers have many choices of who can service their ingredients needs. We need to be able to provide them with new and innovative ingredients for their future products, along with providing seamless service. Our customers’ time is very limited and many have cut back on staff, so we need to provide them with the path of least resistance.
Where do you see your company in 3-5 years?
We will continue to be a leader in the ingredients marketplace for food and pharmaceuticals. Within that time frame, MIFI will have expanded through acquisitions that fix our model for growth.
For more information on workplace trends, case studies in tenant behavior, tenant migration patterns, interviews with industry leaders and predictions for what’s to come in Columbus office space, check out our 2024 Columbus Office Tenant Report!
