Simpson Seeds celebrates 30 years in business, launch of new company

Simpson Seeds Inc. celebrated two achievements on Friday afternoon: Thirty years in business and the launch of a new company.
During a celebration at the company's Rail Site location in Moose Jaw, brothers Tom, Greg and John Simpson, founders of the company with their father, Jim, thanked all those who have helped make the company a success over the past 30 years, including its employees.
The three men also thanked their children and the company's up-and-coming leaders: Elyce, Trevor, Nicole, Jamie and Tyler Simpson.
For the five third-generation Simpsons, Friday was more than an anniversary celebration, it was the launch of their new company, Westgate.
Following in the footsteps of their fathers, the five entrepreneurs officially opened Westgate, a red lentil splitting line.
Tyler Simpson said the new company will be marketed under its parent company, Simpson Seeds, and be one more service the company can offer its clients, both locally and internationally.
He said to get the company off the ground took a lot of hard work, education, research, travel, patience and energy.
However, at the end of the day, Tyler said, it felt great to see it all come together.
Tyler said having Westgate is a great opportunity. He said it is a way for him, as well as his business partners, to learn how to run a business on a smaller scale before taking over Simpson Seeds, which operates at the international level.
"This is something that is a bit smaller that we can handle."
He said it is also nice for the five younger Simpsons to have the opportunity to put their names on a company they helped build from the ground up.
"It is good to have something we can call our own."
In the way of expansion, Tyler said the company will never stop looking for new opportunities.
However, with Westgate just beginning to get its feet wet and the purchase of the two new plants in Kyle and Swift Current, he said the company will most likely take the next two years to let the dust settle before taking on its next big project, adding there will be more projects.
As he looked forward to the operation of Westgate, Tyler reflected the past of Simpson Seeds.
Simpson Seeds began when his grandfather, Jim Simpson, his father Tom and his uncles Greg and John decided to take their local family farm to a new level and invest in an endeavour that has now made the company an international success.
It was and still is that type of out-of-the box thinking that has contributed to the continued success and growth of Simpson Seeds, said Tyler about his family's business.
Simpson said to see how far the company has come, in what really is a short period of time, is a great accomplishment.
"To see the growth of the company from its humble beginnings, just cleaning seed here on the farm to having four locations in the province and shipping to 70 different countries worldwide, is amazing."