Mark Etheridge ’80 turned his woodworking hobby into a multimillion-dollar venture that now equips the nation’s top research laboratories.
State-of-the-art, computer-guided machinery brings consistency to old-world craftsmanship in Advanced Lab Concepts’ top-drawer designs that meet the specifications of the nation’s leading architects. Since its founding in 1988, ALC has grown so much that its 70,000 squarefoot facilities in north Austin are bursting
at the seams.
ALC’s laboratory grade wood and laminate casework and custom millwork dovetails nicely with the quality steel laboratory furniture and fume hoods built by industry partner Mott Manufacturing of Brantford, Ontario. “Together, we’re able to offer the full laboratory,” Etheridge said.
The Beaumont French High School graduate entered Lamar in pursuit of a degree in pre-medicine while working full time at Mobil. Marriage and parenthood soon led Etheridge to night classes and a major to business after he tallied the cost of years of medical school.
The son of longtime Beaumont educator and principal Charles ’54 and Linnie Etheridge, he beams with pride as he weaves among the neatly arranged work stations filled with large computer-guided machines from Germany and Italy, deftly describing how each fits in the manufacturing process. Etheridge is committed to the 130 employees of ALC, and takes pride not only the company’s high-tech manufacturing, but also in the skill of its people.
This machinery, and the women and men who run it, made it possible to fulfill recent orders like 11 floors of laboratory furnishings for the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center in Dallas ($6.9 million), five floors of laboratory space for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta ($4.7 million), as well as a $3.1 million job for Harvard, Cambridge, Mass., and a $1.5 million job for Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.
ALC’s furnishings are made to order for the next generation of research and university laboratories, Etheridge said. These modern labs are of flexible design, with gasses and power plumbed from above and tables and work stations modular and mobile, allowing the laboratory to be reconfigured quickly to meet changing demands. Etheridge worked in sales and marketing after graduating from Lamar, first for Xerox, then for a hazardous waste processor company based in Tulsa, Okla. The oil bust of the early 1980s brought its own hazards and his career took a new turn when he landed a job with Houston-based Kewaunee Scientific. Three years later, Etheridge founded ALC with three employees designing and installing laboratories primarily in the petrochemical industry. His early clients included Dow Chemical, Exxon and DuPont.
“Basically, we were interior designers for laboratories,” he said. “We put together the architectural design, bought products and installed them.”
In the early years, the company experienced slow but steady growth. While they used other companies’ products when they meet customer specifications, increasingly they found it necessary to build lab furnishings themselves. In 1998, Etheridge opened the plant between Austin and Pflugerville, drawn there by the lower humidity — a concern in woodworking — and the abundance of skilled craftsmen in the area.
At first, he didn’t believe he would have to be an on-the-scene manager, but, as the business grew quickly, so did his need to be at the plant.
“Now we sell all over the U.S.,” he said. ALC has sales offices in Austin and Houston, as well as South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Nebraska and California. Independent dealers also sell ALC’s products.
A newcomer in a mature industry, ALC competes with century-old companies. By entering the industry in the late 1990s, ALC was able to acquire the latest technology to ensure accuracy and consistency throughout the manufacturing process. Quality is key, Etheridge believes, and he will readily use a competitor’s lessor product to sell his own.
“I didn’t think we’d take off this quick,” he said. Already, ALC is in the top five of American companies supplying laboratory furnishings. Quality is essential, but so is paying close attention to customer needs. Etheridge works hard to ensure ALC products always meet or exceed specifications. “We’re not a catalog company,” he said, pointing out how he will painstakingly review specifications in all requests for proposals and contact architects to ensure ALC’s bids are spot on.
Wood, Etheridge says, is beautiful, durable and flexible in design. Together with steelwork by their Canadian partner, he is confident ALC can meet the needs of government, industry and education for years to come.
