Company Profile


History

In 1973 Forrest Stannard and Don McCorquodale formed a company called Water Management Inc. This company supplied aeration equipment to Coral Ridge Properties Inc. for use in the canals in Coral Springs, Florida. It soon became apparent that a chemical monitoring program for the health of the canals was needed. Since neither Forrest nor Don were chemists, they began to look for a graduate chemist to hire to perform the necessary testing. In 1974 they hired Lyle Johnson, a chemist about to graduate from Florida Atlantic University. A small laboratory was set up in the Cove Shopping Center in Deerfield Beach, Florida and monitoring of the water quality in Coral Springs began. In 1975, they moved the lab to 4550 N. Dixie Highway in Fort Lauderdale. On December 12 , 1975 they changed the name to Spectrum Laboratories Inc. On October 1, 1978, Don and Lyle bought out Forrest Stannard's interest in the company for $25,000.00

Certification for Environmental Testing and Analysis

Over the years, the lab grew, more instrumentation and employees were added and Spectrum became the first certified lab in South Florida. (E86006, the 006 suffix denotes the 6th lab to be certified in the state). In the early 1980's, Spectrum was "sued" by the State of Florida in order to gain access to right of way for the widening of Dixie Highway. The bad news was the State would force Spectrum to move in order to build the new highway. The good news was they would pay all moving expenses and any business damages. The case dragged on for about ten years while the project was delayed, but in 1991 Spectrum moved into its new facilities at 1460 West McNab Road in Fort Lauderdale.

Growth and New Locations

By this time, Spectrum had added another laboratory in Savannah, GA. in 1990. Sun Glow Lab in Babson Park, FL was added in 2000. On February 19, 2001, Don sold his interest in Spectrum to Lyle but remained as Microbiologist and QA Officer. In 2006, Spectrum formed a new subsidiary called Florida-Spectrum Environmental Services, Inc and purchased the assets of the troubled Envirodyne Inc. moving their equipment and employees to the Fort Lauderdale lab. The Envirodyne purchase included Pembroke Laboratories in Fort Meade, Florida. In 2006 Big Lake Laboratories in Okeechobee, FL was also added to the FSES family. In 2014 Lakeland Laboratories and their eight employees were acquired by FSES yielding a much stronger presence in Central Florida.