SPRINGDALE -- Gordon Whitbeck has cracked a lot of eggs in his day, and most of them he threw away.
Workers at Whitbeck Laboratories in Springdale cracked 4,000 eggs last week testing for salmonella. New poultry rules and a recent avian flu outbreak have increased the company's workload. The firm's 17 employees are squeezed into a 4,400-square-foot office at 1000 Backus Ave.
On the Web
Authorized labs
The National Poultry Improvement Plans authorizes labs to monitor and test for diseases. Eight labs are certified in Arkansas, including four private companies that use in-house testing:
• Whitbeck Laboratories, Springdale
• ATC Microbiology, North Little Rock
• Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Commission lab, Little Rock
• University of Arkansas veterinary diagnostic laboratory, Fayetteville
• Cobb-Vantress Inc., Siloam Springs
• Georges Inc., Springdale
• OK Foods Inc., Fort Smith
• Tyson Springdale laboratory, Springdale
Source: United States Department of Agriculture
The firm bought land in Springdale Technology Park from the Springdale Public Facilities Board. The Planning Commission on June 2 approved plans for a 7,632 square foot office, which will eventually be expanded an additional 2,520 square feet.
The Technology Park's 37 acres is bordered by East Huntsville Avenue, North Monitor Road and Emma Avenue in east Springdale.
Perry Webb, president and CEO of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, said Whitbeck purchased two acres. The park's other tenant, NanoMech, owns seven acres, leaving 28 acres available for sale, he said.
"Over time, there hasn't been a lot of interest in the park, but we've had more interest in the past year than we've had in the past 10 years combined," Webb said.
Whitbeck Labs,which turns 37 years old on June 26, is a full-service, private commercial laboratory offering microbiology, chemistry and serology testing. The firm specializes in the poultry industry, but also serves clients in other fields, including veterinary diagnostic, finished food product testing and well water analysis.
The cracked eggs are tested for salmonella as part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's egg rules. The rules started in 2009, and the federal agency has steadily added requirements.
Whitbeck said he first looked at expanding in the technology park nearly a decade ago, but the timing was just not right. He has hired five people since December, taking employment to 17 people.
"We're busting at the seams," Whitbeck said. "Our next phase is to get into a building that can accommodate us and give us growth space."
"The building we are in was never built to be a lab," said John Carson, Whitbeck's head of business development and information systems. "We've retrofitted it, but need additional room."
Whitbeck wouldn't say how much the new office will cost, adding design plans are incomplete. Carson said he hopes to break ground in the fall.
The company has customers across the country and is a National Poultry Improvement Plan authorized lab. The plan is a cooperative federal, state and industry disease monitoring and certification program established in 1935, said Dr. Brandon Doss, assistant state veterinarian for the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission. He also serves as state coordinator for poultry improvement plan.
One of of Doss' jobs is to make sure approved labs are working in accordance to the plan.
"They do play a very vital role. There is enough poultry and diagnostic work to go around," he said.
Most improvement plan authorized labs have government or corporate ties. Only two of the eight authorized labs in Arkansas are private: Whitbeck Labs and ATC Microbiology in North Little Rock. Whitbeck tests for seven diseases; ATC tests for one.
"Our niche is really full service to the poultry industry," Carson said. "We tried to gather any testing the poultry industry needs from farm to fork, and have it all available under one roof."
NW News on 06/20/2015