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PEPPERELL — Founded in 2008, the goal of CELLTREAT Scientific Products was to provide high-quality lab consumables — beakers, flasks, Petri dishes, etc. — and service to customers in the research field that have often been overlooked.
Now, after March’s acquisition of VistaLab Technologies, it can do that and more, according to CELLTREAT President and Director of Operations Richard Happell.
“Almost every company says the customer comes first,” Happell said. “But we truly live that here (at CELLTREAT), we hold ourselves accountable for a much higher level of service.”
“I feel incredibly blessed to have such a strong team of people at CELLTREAT, and to add VistaLab into the fold is incredible for us and our customers — truly a blend of two industry leaders,” he said.
Happell spent nearly five years in the life science industry before he and a few others set out to found CELLTREAT. Poor company culture and what he saw as a wanting clientele overlooked by bigger manufacturers pushed them to do so, according to Happell.
“We had found that a lot of smaller research labs had been neglected by other suppliers,” he said. “We saw an opportunity and wanted to be the brand of choice for those smaller guys, so we jumped at it.”
“To be honest? I had a jerk boss. But, I’ll tell you right now, I would give that boss a big hug as a thank you,” he said.
Later, as CELLTREAT began to grow, VistaLab’s similar commitment to quality made them stand out as an acquisition candidate to further its service goals. In fact, according to Happell, the opportunity to combine their products — VistaLab’s pipettes, pipette tips and reservoirs often make use of the laboratory plastic consumables that CELLTREAT manufactures — was too great to pass up.
“It was exciting to see a fresh approach to an industry or space that has been around for a while,” he said. “Their products are advantaged and their customers love them, so it was just the perfect addition to what we have going on here at CELLTREAT.”
Before it acquired VistaLab, CELLTREAT itself was seen as a similar acquisition candidate by larger companies in the industry. Its prior success played a major part in the decision to bet on itself, rather than sell, according to Happell.
“We had always kept our eye on the long-term picture and, to be honest, we were a target to be acquired,” he said. “But our standards for quality and service were high compared to a lot of competitors — sprinkle in the fun we have and the end result has been a real, successful formula for us.”
“The way we looked at it, we had seen so much success that we thought ‘we can do this ourselves,’ and so we did,” he said.
Beyond the quality of the product and the service to the consumer, Happell stressed the importance of a “good company culture” and the deliberate effort to make CELLTREAT a place people want to work. Now, Happel said he is excited to extend that culture to those at VistaLab.
“It’s incredibly impressive, the power of a good company culture,” he said. “We’ve made a deliberate effort to establish that here and it’s just amazing how much it has continued to pay us back.”
“I think when you have a culture that lets the team continue to grow and thrive, not only has it made CELLTREAT a pleasant place to work, but it’s increased our quality as well — and I’m excited to take that culture forward to VistaLab,” he said.
Post-acquisition, CELLTREAT’s location in Pepperell will focus more on the distribution of their products, while the VistaLab location in Brewster, N.Y., will primarily handle manufacturing, according to Happell. Regardless, Happell said both CELLTREAT and VistaLab will continue to do everything they can to provide high-quality products to their customers.
“I know, together, (CELLTREAT and VistaLab) are ready to provide our customers with the best product possible.”
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