Plas-Labs, a Lansing-based science research equipment manufacturer,
has grown to more than 100 employees since opening in 1967, and now
has nearly $5 million in sales. Plas-Labs primarily designs equipment that separates scientists from their experiments.
According to excerpts from the article:
"I knew that I didn't want to help a big company get
bigger," said Plas-Labs President Dave Regan, 69. "I had made a lot
of money in the hotel business, and I wanted an opportunity to make money for
myself."
Plas-Labs designs and builds custom plastic isolation and
containment units that keep researchers separated from the objects they study.
Most units are "glove boxes" – airtight plastic boxes with safety
gloves extending inside. The gloves, made of hypalon, are chemical and
ultraviolet resistant.
"It makes it a safe situation for the operator . . .
but it also protects sensitive materials from the operator," Regan said.
For example, a poultry isolation unit, measuring one
cubic yard, lets scientists study birds with poultry flu without exposing
themselves to the virus. The mechanism, used by researchers at Mount Sinai
School of Medicine, North Carolina State University and elsewhere, also can
hold other small animals, such as cats and monkeys.
About 15 percent of Plas-Labs' units are designed
specifically for animals, Regan said. Others can hold research subjects such as
DNA and anaerobes - organisms that can live without atmospheric oxygen.
Regan and his son, Mike Regan, vice president of special
projects custom engineering, design the products.
One glove box not for animal use costs an average of
about $8,000, Dave Regan said. However, costs vary – Plas-Labs once built a
$60,000 stem cell research unit.
Last year, Plas-Labs built a terrorist rapid response
unit for the United Arab
Emirates' military department. It was used
to test materials used by terrorists, such as anthrax, Regan said.
Plas-Labs exports about 35 percent of its products. Its
distributors include Cole-Parmer Instrument Co. in Vernon
Hills, Ill., Jencons Scientific
Ltd. in the United Kingdom
and Fisher Scientific Bioblock in France.
Plas-Labs also has made products for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food
and Drug Administration.
"The nice thing about that is when you're selling
scientific research equipment all over the world, you have some protection if
the economy becomes unstable in one country," Regan said.
Read the entire article here.
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