Email Our Team
Call Us Today
This paid piece is courtesy of SiouxFalls.Business. A fast-growing Sioux Falls company will double its space with the move to a new headquarters this year.
Direct Companies has purchased a more than 30,000-square-foot building at 3401 N. Louise Ave. It most recently was a bank operations center.
“We’ve grown organically and through acquisition, and we have been operating out of multiple buildings in Sioux Falls,” CEO Paul Zweifel said. “We knew we wanted to get everyone under one roof, and we like the location. Plus, it gives us room to grow.”
Direct Companies is a family of businesses that largely are tech-focused, including:
- Process and machine automation.
- Custom software and data management.
- Phone systems.
- Managed IT.
- Security system services.
- Design and fabrication services of electrical and mechanical systems.
With the acquisition of Workplace IT Management in 2023, the company significantly grew its managed IT business. Combined with organic growth and other acquisitions, the company overall grew from 38 to 140 people in two years. There will be about 110 people working out of the new Sioux Falls headquarters.
“It’s a big win to have everyone in the same space,” said Marcia Schmitz, who joined Direct Companies as vice president of experience last year.
“With our acquisitions in recent years, we haven’t had our team all in one space, so our new headquarters will help us feel and operate more like one team.”
The building also is big enough to host visiting team members from sites in Aberdeen and Council Bluffs, Iowa, and remote employees — all part of Direct Companies’ growing footprint.
“Employee engagement is top of mind with the new space,” Zweifel said. “The only thing we’re really keeping is the structure itself. Everything inside will be renovated so there’s a good open office environment.”
The building positions Direct Companies well for the future as it sits on an established corridor that delivers excellent exposure along with convenient accessibility, said Raquel Blount, vice president of commercial real estate at Lloyd Cos., who represented the company in the deal.
“It’s been exciting to watch this company outgrow its former spaces and find the right opportunity to make a long-term move,” she said. “The size of the building combined with the location makes it a strong fit for their needs today and offers a lot of options to grow going forward. Nothing is better than seeing a local company experience so much growth while strengthening our overall business community.”
While the design is being finalized, it will include bistro-type stations throughout the building to grab a beverage or snack, areas to collaborate with co-workers and a break room for lunch that will be larger than anything the company has had.
There are logistical benefits too, Zweifel added.
“It’s in a good area to service downtown and all directions within Sioux Falls, plus it’s close to the airport, and being on a major interstate makes it easy for us to travel to serve customers.”
Direct Companies has experienced solid growth since integrating its newly acquired businesses and is starting to see the synergy among customers who now are using the company for both automation and IT needs, for instance.
“It’s the same with our design and fabrication services, so we’re able to provide additional services to our existing customer base,” Zweifel said.
Telling Direct Companies’ story will be a focus in the year ahead. Schmitz’s team is working on a rebrand to reflect the company’s varied expertise. Internally, there’s a focus on helping manage growth and prepare for more.
“When you look at the growth we’ve seen – 38 to 140 people in two years – a lot of the focus for our experience team will be on laying the groundwork to make sure we have processes in place for things like recruiting, onboarding and setting people up to be successful long term,” she said.
“We want to help our long-term team members grow within the organization as well, and the expansion of the building sets us up to continue adding to the team in the next few years.”
The Direct Companies team regularly has a chance to be involved through ongoing employee engagement surveys and open opportunities for feedback, Zweifel said.
“There’s a lot of opportunity for input as we look at culture, processes and strategy,” he said. “We have a great team assembled with a lot of talent, and we’re striving to hire for culture fit. We think there’s a lot of opportunity going forward, and the goal is to balance striving for efficiency and delivering outstanding quality.”