🔒Hagstrom turns furniture into worker recruiting tool

Josh Hagstrom grew up around office furniture, so it seems fitting that he would eventually pull up a chair in the industry.

“I learned the nuts and bolts of the commercial contract furniture industry from a very young age,” Hagstrom said of working in his parents' office furniture, supply and copier business in Brattleboro, Vt.

Hagstrom, 37, is president and co-founder of Farmington-based Interscape Commercial Environments, which focuses on furnishings for the commercial, healthcare and education markets. His mother, Nancy, is CEO and co-founder, and visits about once a week from Brattleboro.

Studying small business in college and having grown up in a family business environment, Hagstrom wanted to be an entrepreneur, but didn't envision being in office furniture.

He went to Virginia Beach, Va., after college to try something new and landed a job in advertising sales. After a couple years, the entrepreneurial fire burned.

He considered opening a ski shop, but “came full circle back to the office furniture industry.” He took a sales job for two years in contract office furniture in Virginia Beach to broaden his perspective while writing a business plan for his own business in Hartford or Manchester, N.H. He and his family chose Hartford, incorporating in 2005 and opening Interscape in 2006 at 960 Main St.

Interscape — the name combines interior and landscape — moved to Farmington in October to get more space and the bright, airy location will soon begin filling with furniture. Furniture isn't sold off the floor, but demonstrates products and systems that can be produced.

“We're very excited about [this] being a stepping stone to us being an even bigger player in this marketplace,” Hagstrom said.

The store ramp-up was delayed, in part, by a dirt bike accident Hagstrom had in November while riding with a group on a motocross track.

It's unclear how the accident happened because friends didn't see it and he has no memory of it, but he sustained 13 bone breaks, including seven ribs, two of which broke in two places, and four breaks of his left clavicle, which penetrated his skin.

He was hospitalized three weeks and home for two more.

“It's been a long recovery,” he said.

Interscape provides an array of furniture from myriad vendors, its flagship being Teknion, and helps clients determine what's best for their employees and environment.

Interscape spends half its time with clients talking about industry trends: what workplaces are doing to recruit and retain employees, how workplace culture is changing and furniture's role in that. Mobility, flexibility and catering to multiple generations affect furniture design and use, he said.

Open, collaborative space has been a trend the last 10 to 15 years and, more recently, stand-up desks have become more prevalent.

Another evolving area of business is interior wall systems. The company is completing 23 stories of architectural glass walls for a client in Hartford. It's a multimillion-dollar project that will be followed by another later this year, he said.

As a business leader, Hagstrom's biggest learning experience has been not losing focus of staff while steering the business. It's something he continues to try to improve.

“It's an evolving one for sure, always trying to learn,” Hagstrom said of his management style. “You have to sometimes take a step back and look at what you're doing with your management style and you don't really see it from others' perspectives all the time.”

Rita Joy, director of client development, appreciates Hagstrom's industry knowledge and work ethic, and Interscape's culture.

“He's fun to work with and he makes it a fun atmosphere for us and does some good things so that we feel more like a family here,” Joy said. “It's nice, I feel like we all have more job security because we're a close-knit family.”

Hagstrom and his wife, Alla, a first-grade teacher in New Haven, will soon add to their own family. They're expecting their first child, a daughter, in May.

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