July 22, 2015

NSA Puts $10 Million In Corporate Headquarters


By Jane Aldinger
– Memphis Business Journal –

National Safety Associates is investing about $10 million in a 60,000 square-foot headquarters at Boyle Investment Co.’s Schilling Farms development in Collierville.

The two-story structure is being built on 6.57 acres, and NSA has purchased an additional 6 acres adjacent to the site for future expansion possibilities.

The company currently leases 42,500 square feet at 4260 E. Raines and another 150,000 square feet of warehousing space at 4049 E. Raines. No decision has been made about moving that warehouse, but the additional acreage NSA purchased could allow for the future development of a new warehouse adjacent to the headquarters facility.

The Memphis-based company is in the direct sales business and primarily markets a nutritional line of products, Juice Plus+. Similar to Amway and Mary Kay Cosmetics, NSA sells its products through distributors who market them directly to customers.

NSA employs 169 full-time people in Memphis. Most of those employees will move to the Collierville location except about 40 that will stay at the Raines distribution center.

NSA president and CEO Jay Martin founded the company to directly market heat-sensored fire detection equipment. It was successful, “until the $9.95 smoke detector came along,” says Stan Turk, secretary and treasurer.

The company then began selling water and air filtration systems and still sells those today, but with a knack for reinventing the business, Martin and NSA started selling Juice Plus+ in 1993. Now NSA primarily markets that product line, which includes capsules, meal replacement drinks and dietary fiber wafers.

The company has been on Raines since 1987 but has outgrown its office space there. Turk says Schilling Farms and Goodlett Farms were the two primary developments NSA scouted because they offered the option of warehouse and office zoning.

NSA’s computer system is paramount to the company’s vitality as it runs 24 hours a day providing distributor support all over the world. The company did tour the Concord EFS headquarters at Goodlett Farms, but the 285,000-square-foot facility was too large for its needs.

Turk says the company and its employees are looking forward to the move.

“It will be the first time we’ve ever had windows,” he says.

“We want to build something that make employees want to come to work here,” he says. “We’re in this for the long haul, and we’re in this for all the employees.”

Holice Jeffries with Central States Realty represented NSA in the deal.

NSA has hired Weston Cos. to handle the headquarters’ development. Bill Thoda, executive vice president with Weston Cos. And principal architect for NSA’s building, says the headquarters will be a two-story brick structure consistent with Boyle’s requirements at Schilling Farms.

“Everybody knew going in that Boyle had a lot of restrictions you had to comply with, so the building will be very compatible with other buildings in the development,” Thoda says.

Thoda says the traditional-style building will maintain its character over a long period of time.

Joel Fulmer, senior vice president with Boyle, says the 440-acre Schilling Farms campus is at least halfway through the development process. Boyle just opened a new section of seven small office lots, called Schilling Bend Commons that range from 1.5-2 acres each.

Helena Chemical Co., the Collierville YMCA and Fortune 100 company Parker Hannifin Corp. are some of the organizations and companies with locations in Schilling Farms.

“We are very well mixed,” Fulmer says. “We like to provide an overall living environment where people can literally live there, work there and play there,”

NSA decided to build in Schilling Farms because the location was convenient to it employee base and because officers felt it is a good long-term investment.

“When the bought the land originally, we felt like it was a great investment,” Turk says. “We think we’ve really selected a nice spot, and we’re tickled to be there.”