J.C. Watson Co., Parma, Idaho, celebrates its 100-year anniversary this year with a major expansion of company facilities.
The remodel was unveiled at the company’s anniversary celebration Aug. 4, with a farm tour in the morning, winery tours and wine tastings, and various displays of produce and antique and modern farming equipment and technology, according to Kent Sutherland, sales manager.
As part of the celebration, an antique tractor that Jon Watson learned on was restored and donated to him from Watson Agriculture, part of J.C. Watson Co.
Nearly 600 guests attended, according to Sutherland.
“It was an awesome celebration spending time with the Watson family, customers from around the globe, vendors and associates,” Sutherland said.
The company is looking forward to settling into the remodeled facility.
“It’s a roughly 10,000-square-foot shop facility, and a large office with a demonstration area for products and larger conference spaces,” said Brad Watson, vice president of operations.
Jon Watson, president, said he is excited about the opportunities the new facilities will offer.
The improved office area is roughly double the size it was, according to Jon Watson, though no new work spaces were built.
“We’ve added a lot of spaces for collaboration areas, such as meeting rooms and conference rooms. We are trying to help get people to really work together,” Brad Watson said.
A Weber grill cooking station and a test kitchen are also included in the remodel, which coincides with the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee’s partnership with Weber for the upcoming season.
One project the company hopes will benefit from all this additional collaboration space is the plan to be more inclusive with employees working toward food safety and sustainability as a way of life.
One plan to increase this sustainability is the implementation of a cover crop trail that will help build soils and mitigate disease pressure using natural methods.
“It will help us reduce the use of other chemicals and pesticides for next year’s plantings by using an over-winter crop that we will be planting here in the next month,” Brad Watson said.
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