Preserving the Past: Delta Designs Ltd.

Photos by: Emma Highfill | Rose Wheat Photography & Grace Place

When it comes to creating custom-made products for some of the most reputable institutions in the nation, determining which part of the process is the most important may seem like a daunting task. One might think, perhaps, that the design phase is the most challenging. After all, names such as Harvard, Yale and Smithsonian don’t maintain the reputations that they have by associating with second-rate products and designs.

On the other hand, perhaps the marketing of a product is the deciding factor in whether a business venture succeeds or fails. Certainly, a product line can’t survive if no one knows about it.

COMPLEX AND DEMANDING

For Delta Designs Ltd., the process of designing, producing and selling top-of-the- line museum storage equipment is one that can be both complex and demanding. From trying to coordinate a multitude of suppliers spread across the globe, to iterating on designs that can take years to complete, to making sure the finished product is installed correctly and able to protect high-value artifacts, the company drives a process with quite a few mission- critical pieces. But for Brett Danielson, president and owner of Delta Designs, the answer to the question of the most important aspect of the process is an easy one.

“The people,” he says without hesitation.

Since its inception in 1987, Delta Designs has always been a family business built on a people-first principle. Brett Danielson’s father, Bruce Danielson, co-founded the company in 1987. After his business partner passed away unexpectedly in 1990, Bruce grew the business as a solo entrepreneur, taking it from a $100K per year company to a multi- million dollar per year business, due in no small part to the company’s focus on quality products and quality people.

Fast forward to 2009. Brett Danielson joined his father’s company, taking ownership of all sales. Then eight years later, Brett purchased the company from his father, who subsequently retired. Since April 2017, Delta Designs has thrived under Brett’s leadership. And even though there was a change in leadership, the focus of the business remains the same.

HIGHEST QUALITY STORAGE STANDARDS

“The company’s goal is to provide the highest quality collection storage equipment to museums, universities, and research collections—throughout the country and throughout the world,” Danielson said.

When a company is consistently able to provide quality products and services over an extended length of time (three decades to be exact), it can’t help but enjoy brand recognition and organic customer-base growth.

“A great deal of our marketing is through our reputation, word of mouth and referrals,” Danielson said, mentioning that they supplement that demand generation with their own digital marketing efforts and a handful of roadshows each year.

And it’s not just what is being said about Delta Designs’ quality work that makes such a positive impact on the company’s brand, but who is saying it, as well.

Danielson’s company is proud to work with and serve top-tier organizations such as the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology; the Harvard Art Museums; the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University; the American Museum of Natural History in New York; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City; and the world-famous Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

A complete soup to nuts operation, Delta Designs serves these customers—and many more—through an end-to-end process, starting with conceptualizing a piece all the way to the final installation. Danielson’s team consists of designers, welders, painters, finishers and installation specialists, in addition to some long- term vendors and partners. Altogether, this group—with an impressive collective tenure due to very low turnover rates—is able to provide their customers both intricate custom designs as well as expansions to existing models.

No challenge is too difficult for his team, as evidenced by one project in which his team designed and constructed large racks to hold ancient canoes.

SUSTAINING MOMENTUM AND GROWTH

With such a solid reputation and an arsenal of expertise, future business growth now sits on the forefront of many team members’ minds, not the least of which is Danielson himself.

“We’ve sustained a good production level the past few years that we’re very good at and very comfortable with, but obviously we always want to grow and offer more products.”

Danielson says the plan is to sustain their momentum in 2020 and then with some big projects coming in 2021, he hopes to move the needle on growth.

For the time being though, and as he always has, Danielson will focus on what he and his company know best:

“We focus on our core values, and right at the top of the list is honest and integrity,” Danielson said. “We’re very trustworthy, and it doesn’t just start with me; it starts with everyone in the plant.

“The people here do an incredible job of maintaining the integrity of the company.”