QualTex Laboratories Expands to Gwinnett County

ATLANTA—Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that QualTex Laboratories, a San Antonio, Texas-based independent blood testing lab, is expanding operations to Norcross.   QualTex will invest nearly $12 million over five years and create 125 highly-skilled jobs.

“As a vital contributor to the healthcare industry, QualTex’s expansion to Georgia helps to enhance the state’s competitiveness and growing reputation as the crossroads of global health,” said Governor Perdue.  “With the creation of a significant amount of highly-skilled jobs, this expansion bodes well for Georgia and Gwinnett County.”

Established as an independent affiliate of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center in 2007, QualTex has quickly grown into a worldwide provider of blood testing solutions. It is the largest independent testing lab in the United States for blood and plasma products, providing infectious disease testing services to blood banks and plasma center customers worldwide. QualTex is recognized nationally and globally for the quality of its services and research.    

“We are excited to join the metro Atlanta business and healthcare community,” said Dr. Norman D. Kalmin, CEO of South Texas Blood & Tissue Center and CEO-designate of QualTex. “QualTex tests more than seven million donations of life-saving blood, tissue, and plasma therapies each year, and we are growing rapidly due to an increased demand for our services.”

The QualTex Norcross facility will screen whole blood and plasma donations.  Once fully operational, the lab expects to test more than eight million biological samples, doubling its current operations. QualTex also plans to house a data center on site at its new facility.

“We expect to hire highly-trained, expert clinical laboratory scientists, certified lab technicians, quality specialists, materials management personnel and general management personnel,” Kalmin said. “We chose metro Atlanta because it’s a leading medical commercial center in the Southeast, where we know we can find a quality workforce, and it helps us serve our growth and customers along the Eastern seaboard. It’s a logical choice.”

In addition to Georgia’s pro-business climate, QualTex selected the metropolitan Atlanta area from among competing sites due in part to the access to highly-skilled labor for this industry, and the competitive advantages provided by the city’s convenient access to the lab’s East Coast clients.

“Gwinnett sits at the heart of the Innovation Crescent – Georgia’s hub for life science and medical device business, research and workforce development – making QualTex’s decision to relocate to our Metro Atlanta community quite simple,” said Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister.  “We welcome them to our region and look forward to growing together.”

“Georgia’s low-cost of doing business, talent pool and access to market are the key ingredients for successfully developing and growing the bioscience market in metro Atlanta,” said Hans Gant, senior vice president of economic development for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “QualTex is a great addition to our bioscience community, and is directly in line with the Chamber’s New Economy Task Force and Bioscience Leadership Council initiatives to recruit niche markets.”

About QualTex Laboratories

QualTex, an affiliate of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center in San Antonio, Texas, is the largest, independent non-profit testing laboratory in the United States for blood and plasma products. Prior to becoming a separate business entity, QualTex Laboratories existed as a strong business model with more than 35 years of testing experience as the testing laboratory services at South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. The laboratory has been ISO certified for more than 14 years and is currently ISO 9001:2008 compliant. The headquarters for Qualtex Laboratories is located in San Antonio, Texas.

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