NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Orchid Cellmark plans to shut down its paternity testing operations in East Lansing, Mich., and move them to its facilities in Dayton, Ohio, the company said today.
The DNA testing firm plans to bring all of its US paternity operations "under one roof" in an effort to increase efficiency, Orchid CEO Thomas Bologna said in a statement today. The Dayton facility already houses some paternity testing services, and the company's call center and customer operations are based in Dayton as well, Bologna said.
"This consolidation makes sense for a number of strategic, financial, and pragmatic reasons, and represents the latest of our ongoing initiatives to provide high quality DNA testing services while aggressively reducing our cost structure," he added.
Bologna said that the company expects to gain around $1 million in annual savings from the consolidation, but also expects to pay around that much this year in costs associated with the move.
The company expects to hire around 15 new employees at the Dayton facility. However, it was not immediately clear how many Michigan employees would be affected by the move, which should begin within the next month.