Caledonia, Michigan – Viking Group, Inc., a global leader in the manufacture and distribution of fire protection and life safety systems, announces the opening of its new headquarters building in Caledonia, Michigan. Employees previously based out of its Grand Rapids office, along with many employees from the existing Hastings, Michigan location, began occupying the new facility on August 19.
“Our new location just outside of Grand Rapids provides a beautiful, collaborative working environment for our West Michigan employees,” said James Golinveaux, President and CEO of Viking Group. “This new space also provides new opportunities for recruiting and retaining top talent in a very competitive market. In addition to the new headquarters, this facility allows us to increase our manufacturing capacity in our Hastings facility, which is essential to our continued growth.”
The 172,754 sq. ft. facility located on Beltway Drive was designed by Byce & Associates, Inc. with general contractor First Companies, Inc. Featuring state-of-the-art work spaces, meeting rooms, and technology, the building design promotes teamwork, innovation, and productivity.
Viking’s new training facility is an integral part of the building. Expected to welcome its first guests in early 2020, the training space features two standard classrooms, a collaborative learning classroom, six functional systems labs and a unique virtual reality training lab. “We eagerly anticipate welcoming contractors, engineers, AHJs, Insurance representatives and other industry personnel to our new state-of-the-art educational facility,” Golinveaux added. “For years, Viking has provided unequaled training from highly qualified teachers. Now, we have a facility specifically built to develop this area of our company and provide world-class instruction to the next generation of fire protection professionals.”
The building also features unrivaled research and development facilities. In addition to modern office areas and large work rooms, Viking’s laboratory spaces were specifically designed to complement global listing and approval agencies. Golinveaux noted that continued innovation is at the heart of the Caledonia facility. “As Viking approaches its 100th year in the fire protection business, we have no intention of slowing down. The investment in this new building reinforces our commitment to continual improvement in the way we protect lives and property around the world from fire.”
To learn more about Viking Group, Inc.’s new headquarters, see the Fall 2019 edition of CONNECTIONS, Viking’s semi-annual company magazine.