Lansing-Based Plas-Labs Reaches $5 Million in Sales

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.

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