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Suburban Testing Labs Enters List of Top Labs

Last week TechKNOWLEDGEy Strategic Group, the leading consulting and advisory firm to the environmental and water resource industry, released their highly anticipated list of “The Largest Environmental Testing Labs – 2017,” which ranks the country’s largest environmental testing laboratories by revenue.  Suburban Testing Labs joined the list for the first time, ranked at number 25.   It is estimated that there are around 1100 total environmental laboratories in the United States. We are the only lab headquartered in southeastern Pennsylvania to appear on the list.

The industry survey concluded that growth from the previous year was relatively flat, which indicates Suburban Testing Labs is growing as a result of market share expansion rather than industry growth.   The study goes on to say that the environmental lab industry has grown only 2.5 percent over the past 10 years.  Suburban Testing Labs’ growth over the past 10 years has been 365 percent.

19 labs on the list are conglomerate network laboratories labs with multiple locations.  Only 6 are single site laboratories, including Suburban Testing Labs.

The total revenue of the list was $1.138 Billion, and the top three labs (TestAmerica, Pace Analytical Services, and ALS Lab Group, respectively) make up 49 percent of the total revenue.  However, Pace and ALS report significant additional non-environmental testing revenues.

What Does This Mean?

Suburban Testing Labs is the 6th largest single site environmental laboratory in the nation, according to this list.  With continued revenue increases in a flat industry, more and more clients are choosing Suburban Testing Labs over the competition.  And the largest labs on the list lack the singular environmental focus, and diversify into other markets such as pharmaceutical testing.  Specialization in environmental analysis allows for greater subject matter expertise to better support client needs, and avoids rivalry among business units for profit investment.

Furthermore, with consolidation and investor owned structures dominant in the industry, independently owned labs are also in the minority.   As an independent and family-owned company, we enjoy greater flexibility in capital investment choices, and the ability to focus freely on employee investments.  Conglomerate and/or investor-owned labs typically see an erosion in these areas, requiring profits to rise to the highest tier.

How Did We Get Here?

The dedication of our passionate people pursuing excellence every day is the reason for our success.  Employees that come on board admire the great culture of our family owned business atmosphere, but it does come with the price of very high expectations.  These expectations are set by our visionary President and Lab Director, Mr. Rich Stump, III.  Mr. Stump believes that a culture of employee recognition, a commitment to excellent data quality, and a fantastic customer experience is the formula that will turn clients into loyal, enthusiastic fans.

Congratulations to all of the Suburban Testing Labs team on achieving this great milestone of success.