Poultry laboratory unveils new facility in Springdale

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Gordon Whitbeck (right), president and microbiologist of Whitbeck Labs in Springdale, leads a tour Wednesday at the new office and laboratory for the longtime poultry testing company in Springdale during a grand opening.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Gordon Whitbeck (right), president and microbiologist of Whitbeck Labs in Springdale, leads a tour Wednesday at the new office and laboratory for the longtime poultry testing company in Springdale during a grand opening.

SPRINGDALE -- A laboratory testing poultry for diseases unveiled its new facility in the city's technology park Wednesday.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Gordon Whitbeck (right), president and microbiologist of Whitbeck Labs in Springdale, shakes hands with visitors Wednesday during a grand opening for the newly constructed office and laboratory for the longtime poultry testing company in Springdale.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse (left) speaks Wednesday alongside Gordon Whitbeck, president and microbiologist of Whitbeck Labs in Springdale, during a grand opening at the newly constructed office and laboratory for the longtime poultry testing company in Springdale.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Visitors file into Whitbeck Labs in Springdale on Wednesday.

Whitbeck Laboratories opened its 7,500-square-foot laboratory and office at 441 Reinert Drive. It's the second facility to open in the Springdale Technology Park.

A family business

Whitbeck Laboratories has 19 employees, but started with just Gordon Whitbeck and his wife Bonnie in a tiny office space near the Murphy Park area in 1978. Whitbeck handled lab duties and Bonnie managed accounts payable and receivable. The company has grown, but remained a family business with the Whitbecks’ daughter Kristin Carson handling the accounting and her husband John Carson serving as vice president of operations.

Source: Staff report

"We wanted an open space, a space that's not typical for laboratories," said Gordon Whitbeck, company owner and microbiologist. "God has been my help, but I have also had a lot of people helping me. You can't get through life without help."

The company operates a chemistry laboratory for testing food, feed and feed ingredients, a microbiology laboratory for environmental testing, water testing and egg testing, and a poultry serology laboratory for doing tests on poultry blood diseases, Whitbeck said. He said he has clients across the nation, including major poultry providers Tyson Foods, Cargill and George's Inc.

Whitbeck acquired 1.5 acres at the technology park for the new facility.

"We were able to buy the acreage we needed for our facility and get the acreage at the visible, acceptable location we wanted," he said. "We have ready to go expansion capabilities on our current building and we can add more within the acreage as we grow."

The 30-acre Technology Park is also home to NanoMech, its first tenant. NanoMech owns 8.5 acres, including 7 acres of undeveloped land.

Tyson Foods is building an incubation technology center on 10.8 acres in the park. Construction should be finished this year.

The park's 10 remaining acres are available to be bought or developed, said Bill Rogers, vice president of communications for the Springdale Chamber of Commerce.

"On a daily basis we field inquiries about companies that are suitable [for the remaining acreage]," Rogers said. "I'm not sure there's an active project we're in the process of pursuing, but it's day to day, and you never know what opportunity might come through the door."

C.R. Crawford Construction began building Whitbeck's facility in April and finished on deadline on Nov. 5, said Richard Johnson, director of business development for the Fayetteville-based construction company.

Whitbeck Laboratories was located at 1000 Backus Ave., in a 4,400-square-foot building. The confines there were too limited and no longer met the company's needs, Whitbeck said.

"We'll have much more room and better space to work," he said. "With our new electrical system, we have enough circuits for all of our equipment to work correctly."

The new office is nontypical for a laboratory because it has solitudes, which are skylights that cast down daylight, Johnson said.

"Most labs are very institutional and are not concerned with the light employees experience," he said. "The design creates a very positive work experience."

Elizabeth Atungulu, who works in the chemistry laboratory, called the new building beautiful and efficient, and Erma Hill, head of the poultry serology lab, said employees got to help design the lab.

Victoria Hogan works in the poultry serology lab and described what happens in the lab as crucial to the quality of the chicken and turkey meat that people consume.

"We check for salmonella and make sure birds and eggs are disease free," Hogan said. "It helps the poultry industry and, ultimately, the consumer as well."

Mayor Doug Sprouse acknowledged the laboratory's 39-year presence in the city.

"We're thankful for Gordon and his team," Sprouse said at the grand opening. "I want to thank you for investing in Springdale and for continuing to invest and bringing people throughout the nation to do business in Springdale."

NW News on 01/19/2017

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