MIDDLEBURY — A drug testing company will soon move into a 1,200-square-foot vacancy in the Star Mill building in Middlebury’s Frog Hollow district.
The company is called Burlington Labs, a Burlington-based company that performs urinalysis and oral fluid testing to screen for around 25 different drugs, including opiates, cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, alcohol and barbiturates.
Clients are most commonly referred by doctors, hospitals, drug treatment centers, probation and parole officers, prospective employers and parents, as well as by other individuals. Company officials said their services are covered by most private insurance, as well as Medicaid and Medicare.
Burlington Labs was founded in 2006 by Michael and Jodie Casarico, a husband and wife with backgrounds in substance abuse treatment. The company already has seven collection centers in Vermont, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, according to Ryan Kinkel, business development manager for Burlington Labs.
The Burlington Labs website states that the Casaricos have “pledged to give back at least 10 percent to the communities in which they do business.” The website also states that the company provides same-day results for urine samples received by 3 p.m.
Kinkel noted there is a growing demand for drug testing in Vermont, and Burlington Labs has been looking for a while to establish a presence in Middlebury.
“We are trying to get into every county in Vermont,” Kinkel said. “There is quite a big market (in Addison County). There is a lot of potential.”
Kinkel anticipates the Middlebury collection center, once open, will have around three employees. Burlington Labs currently has a total workforce of more than 100 spread out at its various locations. He expects the Middlebury office to open within about a month.
The Star Mill building is divided into sections with different owners. The section in which Burlington Labs will locate is owned by Deirdre Holmes and Jacob Edgar of Charlotte. Holmes confirmed on Monday that the Burlington Labs space is now being renovated to accommodate the new tenant. The space more recently hosted the “Lollygaggers” novelty business, which vacated the building around four years ago. It also once hosted a bead/crafts store and a golf store.
Holmes also noted another impending vacancy in the building. The 660-square-foot Sound Source space will officially become available on July 1. Sound Source was a tenant for three decades, according to Holmes.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].