Medical supply giant leases ex-telecom space

PETALUMA – Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO), the Massachusetts-based medical supply giant, is consolidating its operations in Petaluma into a former telecom manufacturing space.

The company has signed a 10-year lease for 90,000 square feet at 2200 S. McDowell Blvd. in a space formerly leased by Tellabs and once part of telecom AFC’s manufacturing operation. The lease was arranged by Steve Leonard, Trevor Buck and Brian Foster of NAI BT Commercial.

“It’s a clean environment and quite well-powered,” said Mr. Leonard. “Thermo Fisher looked at several buildings, one in Santa Rosa. But keeping the operation in Petaluma was a plus, and a former telecom manufacturing facility met their needs.”

According to Vaughn Herring, Thermo Fisher director of real estate transactions, tubes and pipettes will be manufactured at the facility, which replaces five different locations in Petaluma.

He was not able to specify the number of employees who will work there.

Thermo Fisher’s operations in Petaluma are a result of several mergers and acquisitions. Porex Bio Products, a maker of tubes, pipettes and other laboratory products, was acquired in 2003 by Apogent Technologies and renamed Quality Scientific Plastics, or QSP. At the time of its purchase by Apogent, Porex had 200 employees and revenues of $30 million.

Apogent merged the following year with Fisher Scientific, and QSP became part of its San Diego-based Molecular BioProducts group.

About the same time, Fisher Scientific acquired the parent company of Float Machine Inc. in Novato. That group is currently closing down its 40-employee manufacturing facility and moving operations to Utah.

Now merged with Thermo Scientific to become Thermo Fisher, the company is the world leader in scientific products, with revenues of $10 billion and more than 30,000 employees. It has locations throughout the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia and Europe.

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