Authorized Montel Distributor Spotlight: Bill of Workspace Technology

For Bill Powers, outside sales rep and vice president of sales at Workspace Technology, building storage equipment isn’t just a day job—it’s a family tradition.

What began as a family-run furniture dealership grew into a sizeable operation. Fifteen years after Workspace opened its doors, owners Scotti and Tim Powers—Bill’s mom and dad—partnered with Montel and opened a new branch in Florida back in 2013.

As the businesses grew, so did Bill. He started in the industry when he was only 15 years old, installing storage systems for pocket money during summer vacation. These days, his job consists of designing cutting-edge storage systems for his clients and overseeing their creation and implementation. Bill works not only with his parents but also his cousin TJ and a longtime friend from high school. His wife, Kasey, and sister, Kelly, even work at the Workspace Studio, which offers pilates, yoga, and dance instruction. 

Bill has an eye for technical details. To him, Workspace’s partnership with Montel, going on its seventh year, just makes logical sense. If he and his family wants to provide the best storage products for their customers, why wouldn’t they partner with the company with the strongest, most versatile hardware and the safest, most user-friendly designs? What other mobile storage system on the market prevents carriage dovetailing by using a single driveshaft to move all the wheels in a carriage at once?

And don’t even get him started on the electronics.

“The electronics,” Bill said, “are just superior to everyone else’s.”

Bill and his family once installed a powered mobile shelving system for Medtronic, one of the largest medical device companies in the world. By combining the benefits of Montel’s SmartShelves and 4D Wide Span Racking, Workspace was able to double Medtronic’s storage capacity. The client raved about system’s simple PIN-pad controls. Medtronic loved how users could open the aisles remotely through ePulse and run system diagnostics right from the end panels—no extra computer or guy from IT needed.

The end panels themselves, however, were a different story.

As a company founded on helping people live longer, healthier lives, Medtronic had many requirements for storage systems that would eventually hold implant devices and other lifesaving technologies—including that the system contain no particleboard, a common material for shelving end panels. Luckily, Montel had a selection of metal end panels for Bill and his team to choose from. They’re easy to clean and naturally prevent the spread of germs.

“We come to Montel with challenges sometimes,” Bill said. “We say this is what our client needs, and Montel’s engineers figure out a way to make it all come to life. You don’t find that with other manufacturers.”

Bill could go on and on about the technical specifications of Montel versus any other storage provider out there. He’s seen it all, as an installer and as VP of sales. But at the end of the day, what’s more important is cultivating a good working relationship with a client. It’s a lot like being a family: you have to meet them where they are.

“It’s all about listening to a client, building that relationship, and knowing who they are, so even if they don’t know what they’re looking for, we can still help them.”