S tory by k ara schweiss • P hotos by minorwhitestu d ios . com
cover feature
Midwest Laboratories Once a small branch lab focused on serving the agriculture niche, Omaha-based Midwest Labs has grown to become one of the premier chemical analysis and testing companies in the U.S.
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hroughout the seven-building campus that includes 80,000 square feet of laboratory and support space, the approximately 120 employees of Midwest Laboratories, Inc., are perpetually in motion. In some buildings, technicians in white lab coats are peering into microscopes, entering data, or analyzing substances in beakers, pipettes, and test tubes. In other areas, employees are watching over all manner of complex apparatus and instruments or testing endless arrays of trays containing neat rows of sample containers. In yet another space, workers are processing and distributing a plethora of packages containing everything from food products to soil samples in Midwest Labs’ substantial shipping and receiving area. President and CEO Ken Pohlman says it’s just business as usual for the state-of-the-art independent commercial laboratory operation that’s grown dramatically since its founding 35 plus years ago. Having earned a reputation over three and a half decades for outstanding customer service, along with a commitment to accuracy and precision—plus some of the fastest turnaround times available anywhere—have been big contributors to the company’s growth and success. Pohlman also says the leadership at Midwest Labs, which includes Vice President /Chief Administrative Officer John DeBoer and Technical Director John Torpy, never stops striving to stay on the leading edge. “We have been able to use some of the best instrumentation you will find in a private laboratory,” Pohlman explains. “And we are trying to make ourselves better yet.” Pohlman, who is from Stanton, Neb., (in the northeast part of the state), and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says his younger self never envisioned being at the helm of such a sizeable operation when he launched his career; he was simply happy to land a laboratory job that put his studies of agronomy, chemistry, and business to use. After years of working for several labs primarily conducting soil and chemical analysis, Pohlman, alongside Torpy, opened the first branch operation of a Memphis-based >>
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B2B Omaha Magazine • Fall 2012 31