Formaspace provided the laboratory workbenches and lab ventilation equipment in Antech Diagnostics’s new 9,200 sq ft and 2,227 sq ft reference laboratories located in their newly opened Orlando facility. HKM General Contractor of Sanford, FL led the construction project.
We’d Like to Brag on One of our Longstanding Clients, Antech Diagnostics
Here at Formaspace, we love laboratory furniture. And, like most everyone it seems, we also love our pets, whether they be dogs, cats, horses, fish or birds. So it’s with great pleasure we have the opportunity to brag on one of our special clients, Antech Diagnostics, whose reference laboratories support veterinarians all across North America — from the West coast to the East coast and up into Canada as well.
You Can’t Help but Like a Company Whose Stock Trading Symbol is WOOF!
Antech Diagnostics, whose parent company VCA Inc trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol ‘WOOF’, is a long-term Formaspace client. Presently Antech has over fifty reference laboratories — serving around 19,000 animal hospitals and veterinary clinics across the U.S. and Canada.
Thanks to Antech’s rapid growth, they needed to find a new location where they could build out a new laboratory ‘hub’ — to better serve the Southeast region, and in particular the state of Florida. With over 45,000 laboratory samples in transit each day, Antech also knew that rapid transportation was a critical factor in site selection — proximity to a major airport was key.
Partnership with Orlando and the State of Florida
The new Antech Diagnostics laboratory would also reportedly bring about 45 new high wage jobs to the region they selected, so competition among cities for the new laboratory was keen. The City of Orlando and the State of Florida, both hit hard by the economic recession that started in 2008, were eager to contribute $135,000 in tax refunds to help secure the facility. According to Orlando city officials, Antech Diagnostic will invest around $1.35 million in construction and lab equipment costs for building out the new reference laboratory.
New Use for an Unused Facility
Kirk McKinnon, who represents the lead contractor, HKM General Contractor in Sanford, Florida, filled us in with some of the project details. C4 Architecture of Orlando is the architect of record. The original shell of the structure was first built in 2008, but it had been left unoccupied due to the poor economic environment in the Orlando area. Antech will be the first tenant to occupy the building. The buildout and customization of the 14,800 sq ft facility is extensive. Inside, Antech has designed and spec’d out two new reference laboratories: Lab One is 9,200 sq ft and Lab Two is 2,227 sq ft. The labs are kitted out with Formaspace laboratory workbenches; Formaspace also provided the fume hoods. There are 7 wet lab sinks on site.
Formaspace Gets Kudos for On Time Performance and Flexibility
According to McKinnon, the project went very smoothly. He said Antech did “make a change in mid-stream to the height of four frames for their exhaust hoods. Formaspace was able to ship new frames within a week. I was impressed with the response time.” McKinnon was also impressed with the on time performance of Formaspace’s on-site furniture installers. “Christian Slaughter and his team performed beyond expectations.
Christian was very organized, was a team player amongst other subcontractors on the job, kept his work space clean, and most importantly was on time.” In fact, McKinnon says “they were waiting on me when I pulled in at 5:45 a.m. I know this sounds trivial, however it (on time performance) could be the difference between getting future work from a client or not.”
Meet Joe Leeth, DVM, Vice President of Antech Diagnostics
Antech Diagnostics’ Vice President, Joe Leeth, is a man on a mission. As a both a practicing veterinarian and an experienced business executive at a rapidly growing company, Joe is extremely busy but very hands on. He knows exactly what he wants in a new reference laboratory. We’ve worked with him before on other Antech projects and we’re glad he called on us again here at Formaspace to supply the new custom laboratory workbenches and fume hoods for the new Orlando project. When we asked Joe for his take on our performance, his response was, as usual, brief and to the point: “We are happy and satisfied.” We’ll take that! We agree, it was a great project.
Antech Diagnostics Leads the Way in Advanced Laboratory Testing
This is an exciting field of laboratory science. Just like in other areas of healthcare, medical science is making rapid advances in diagnostic testing techniques for pets and livestock — just like they are doing for human patients. Joe is particularly proud of the (Quadraspec) BIO-CD analyzers they have installed at the new lab in Orlando — he notes it’s a unique, proprietary technology that Antech has and is not present anywhere else in the world.
BioCD technology is a direct, label-free detection method, which in laymen-speak means that the test equipment can identify proteins without having to add any fluorescent molecule labels. It uses a laser beam which is split in two by an interferometer. One half of the beam serves as the original “reference” wave and the second half of the beam is the “signal” that measures the protein. By comparing the two waves, one can infer the protein structure’s and rapidly identify it.
New Diseases Affecting Pets and Livestock
Antech is also alert to new diseases affecting our pets and livestock. We were particularly curious about diseases like West Nile, Chikungunya and Dengue Fever which have entered the US via Florida and are becoming a concern to human populations throughout the southern states, including here in Texas. We asked Joe if there is similar situation of any new diseases that pet owners should be concerned about. Joe responds that, “Zoonotic diseases are always a big concern, including parasitism and Lyme disease — along with other tick borne disease. We also monitor our incidence of MRSA and MRSP infections.”
We Offer Our Congratulations to Antech Diagnostics on their New Reference Laboratory in Orlando
We’re very pleased to have Antech Diagnostics as a repeat customer. If you are in the market for laboratory furniture, why not give us a call today at 800.251.1505 to find out more about the Formaspace line of stock, semi-custom and custom-made computer workstations, industrial workbenches, laboratory furniture, lab benches and dry lab/wet labs — as well as our design / furniture consulting services.
Our American-made technical furniture solutions are flexible, reconfigurable and long-lasting. In fact our 12 year, 3 work shift furniture guarantee is the best in the industry. Join the roster of satisfied Formaspace technical, manufacturing and laboratory furniture clients — including Apple Computer, Boeing, Dell, Eli Lilly, Exxon Mobile, General Electric, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Medtronic, NASA, Novartis, Stanford University, Toyota and more.
