Accelerated Analytical
David Metzger, president and CEO
Milwaukee
Acceleratedlabs.com
While the COVID-19 pandemic has been devasting to many businesses, it resulted in a surge of business for Accelerated Analytical, but presented the company with two challenges: hiring enough people and obtaining enough equipment and supplies to keep up with demand.
The Milwaukee-based laboratory has been about 300% busier than normal during the viral outbreak as it works to keep up with the increased demand for testing, said president and chief executive officer David Metzger. Accelerated’s customers are booked with business for the next 18 months, which could mean his company will be just as busy, Metzger said.
Amid global shortages of disposable test kits, it has been difficult to find enough equipment and supplies to run the volume of COVID-19 tests the company is receiving, Metzger said. Hunting down supplies has become some employees’ full-time jobs, and the company has had to rely on every relationship it has established with vendors over the past roughly 20 years.
Accelerated has also added several people to human resources to keep up with hiring efforts. One of the challenges in hiring has been that the work requires skilled labor, with some departments requiring up to five months of training, he said.
“This industry has struggled with different shortages since the pandemic broke, and it’s always something,” Metzger said. “So, you learn to think on your feet as laboratories participating in this pandemic, helping out.”
