100 years ago, Labconco began with a simple mission: to make science safer and more reliable. From our humble beginnings in a Kansas City garage to becoming a global leader in laboratory equipment, ours is a story of unwavering dedication to empowering innovation and discovery. This milestone isn’t about looking back – it’s about propelling science forward, side by side with you and the scientific community we’re honored to serve.
It all started in a downtown Kansas City, Missouri garage when entrepreneur Ralph Callaway stopped by Philip Goldfisch’s repair shop for a car battery repair. Callaway noticed an interesting contraption in the shop – a rack of lead pipes assembled to help vent acid fumes from laboratory work conducted in the booming agriculture industry.
Together, Callaway and Goldfisch founded Laboratory Construction Company, later known as Labconco, laying the foundation for what would become a global leader in laboratory equipment and safety.
Labconco revolutionized Kjeldahl and other products for determining nitrogen, protein, fat, and fiber content in agricultural commodities, allowing scientists to analyze samples with unprecedented accuracy and speed. The process is still used today to set prices in the ag industry. The early innovative products paved the way for breakthroughs in food safety, agriculture and nutritional science.
Throughout the following 20 years, Labconco expanded its product portfolio to include laboratory furniture, fume hoods, and countertops to address customer needs for a complete laboratory. Serving customers throughout the Midwest, employment grew and Redman “Red” Callaway, Ralph’s son, ascended to full leadership and ownership of the re-branded “Labconco Corporation.”
With growing success, we established our current Kansas City headquarters – marking a significant milestone in Labconco’s growth. This state-of-the-art facility served as a hub for engineering excellence and innovation, enabling us to serve scientists beyond the Midwest region. Over the years, our campus has grown to include a robust manufacturing facility, in-house R&D, engineering, warehouse, distribution and centralized headquarters.
Red’s desire to identify and develop new products to address the expanding laboratory market initially focused on fume hoods. With help from a local engineering firm, Labconco revolutionized fume hood products by developing a one-piece molded fiberglass inner liner to enhance fume hood performance and user safety.
Although we have been making fume hoods since 1936, the introduction of the 1961 Fiberglass-47 Fume Hood was more than just an engineering achievement – it was a revolution in lab safety. Designed with dual-wall construction and a smooth gel coat finish, these hoods delivered unmatched durability and chemical resistance, while also becoming a benchmark for ergonomic design. With integral features such as cup sinks and work surfaces, Labconco set a new standard for laboratory ventilation for safer, more efficient laboratories worldwide.
In addition, fiberglass proved to be an ideal material for other laboratory products including glove boxes, tissue culture enclosures, and laboratory exhaust blowers — all of which were incorporated into the company’s product portfolio. Labconco became a leading laboratory ventilation equipment manufacturer opening growth opportunities in a broader market.
Labconco’s growing product portfolio expanded a geographic market well beyond our Midwest agricultural roots. Historically, sales were directly to end-user customers; however, our existing sales organization was not structured to reach the vast domestic laboratory market. Accordingly, the company formed relationships and began selling through laboratory supply dealers whose large sales forces and extensive product catalogs introduced our products to end users throughout the United States.
With distribution channels expanding, Labconco focused on supporting distributors in the field and broadening its product portfolio. Marketing support included the first full-color catalog in the industry, helping to change the perception of the company as a regional manufacturer to a respected national leader. We tripled our field sales team to support distributors and continued to develop and introduce innovative products, including biosafety cabinets, freeze dry apparatus and laboratory glassware washers.
Labconco's Glassware Washers redefined how Glaslabs approached cleaning glassware by introducing the first compact washer designed specifically for laboratory use. Precise cleaning cycles, customized racks and stainless-steel durability set a new standard for lab hygiene and efficiency. Initially, washers were manufactured by a high-quality U.S. appliance manufacturer.
A fully customized tour bus of sorts, traveled across the country stopping at labs and distributors to showcase our groundbreaking lyophilization technology firsthand. The caravan is an iconic moment in our history, representing Labconco’s dedication to advancing science and safety, while also building relationships with the communities we serve.
Labconco's freeze dry product innovations include a wide variety of sizes, freezing temperatures, and electrical configurations to meet the specific needs of research laboratories.
Rapid growth in the global laboratory market during this period propelled Labconco’s expansion into international markets. With freeze dryers and biosafety cabinets leading the way, Labconco developed dealer and customer relationships in Japan, Latin America, Europe and subsequently greater Asia. In the early 1980’s the Company established a separate international department to serve this market more effectively.
To meet increasing demand, Labconco expanded its production operations in Kansas City and added a facility in Fort Scott, Kansas. In the center of the U.S., this new facility tapped into a strong agricultural Midwest work ethic. The new facility allowed us greater flexibility to meet the growing demand for our products. It also reinforced our strategy of reaching customers on either coast within a day, expediting products to market.
During this era, we launched a website, began exhibiting at tradeshows and created unique marketing campaigns such as Labby the Labster, a spokesperson to help educate the market about our products. Our candy mailings became wildly popular among dealers and growth flourished.
In 1992, we purchased the tooling and the rights to design and produce washer products. This control allowed us to tailor washer features and functionality to meet specific laboratory needs. Future innovations included enhanced features such as window models, international electrical configurations, and the development of FlaskScrubber models designed to effectively wash and dry laboratory glassware including narrow-necked flasks and volumetrics. Additional new models included larger Vantage Washers and custom washers designed to clean printed circuit boards.
Our legacy products, fume hoods, biosafety cabinets, freeze dryers and glassware washers continued to drive business. We further expanded our offering by developing small enclosures, concentrators, lab animal research and forensic products.
The breadth of our portfolio established Labconco as the global leader with the most complete range of laboratory ventilation products in the industry. Our freeze dry and concentrator products have also achieved global leadership status.
When our nation received a threat through the postal service system, our team was called upon to solve threats to people working at mail sorting facilities and the public who received mail. We created an innovative glove box where equipment could be cleaned, and any trace of anthrax could be trapped in a HEPA filter. An enclosure was also developed for the FBI's incoming mail operations.
In subsequent years, our introduction of forensic enclosures revolutionized how sensitive evidence is processed. Labconco's forensic equipment is designed to protect forensic scientists while preserving the integrity of critical evidence.
During this era, Labconco consolidated our extensive Protector high performance fume hood line, including our XStream, XL and Premier Fume Hoods. XStream Fume Hoods feature a highly effective slotted baffle to enhance containment and user safety. XL Fume Hoods offer great flexibility and customization of sizes and features, making them a popular choice for laboratory construction projects. Premier Fume Hoods round out the mix with their one-piece molded fiberglass interior for easy cleanability. Our Protector Fume Hood portfolio includes these and other models, the most extensive range of high performance fume hoods in the industry.
Another innovation from Labconco in this era was the Axiom Type C1 Biosafety Cabinet, a BSC so unique that the NSF created a new product category. The Axiom brought a new level of safety and flexibility to laboratories that might sometimes need Type A2 recirculating BSCs, and other times need Type B2 fully exhausted BSCs for special types of life science work involving minute amounts of chemicals. Type C1 models can connect to existing laboratory ventilation systems, rather than requiring a dedicated exhaust system. This enables enormous savings for existing lab spaces to incorporate it. These innovations helped expand our reach into life science labs and attracted new, loyal customers.
We introduced ultra-low temperature collectors in this era as well. Our freeze dryers and concentrators can reach temperatures as low as -105º C (-157º F). These units are used for freeze drying and concentrating samples that include solvents that require very low temperatures to freeze solid.
As laboratory spaces evolved, so did the need for smarter, more sustainable ventilation solutions. Labconco introduced the Protector Echo and Airo Filtered fume hoods. These new products incorporate Erlab's advanced chemical filtration technology while significantly reducing energy costs and providing an immediate return on investment.
These energy-light, our hoods reduced HVAC costs by 99 percent compared to traditional ducted hoods. The Echo remains the world’s most advanced chemical filtration system, redefining lab efficiency while ensuring safety and sustainability.
When the world needed science most, Labconco stepped up to the challenge. We provided essential tools and equipment for researchers in labs worldwide to advance lifesaving discoveries. From clinical testing to vaccine development, our mission to protect people around the world proved more important than ever.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Labconco’s role as an essential business took on a new meaning. We worked tirelessly to meet the surge in demand for biosafety cabinets, protecting researchers as they developed testing methods and treatments. While production ramped up, we prioritized employee safety to meet increasing demand.
With the global pandemic subsiding, we returned to a spirit of innovation. We launched a new clean bench that elevated clean-air protection. It utilized ISO Class 4 laminar airflow powered by an ECM blower with constant airflow. A modern touchscreen streamlined monitoring and compliance management, while durable materials such as tempered safety glass and stainless-steel interior options ensured effortless cleaning and long-term reliability.
We also redesigned our Logic biosafety cabinet. It delivered a heightened level of protection while reducing energy dependency. It became popular in critical research environments.
Labconco continued to invest in infrastructure and expand operations to better serve our partners and customers. We added new manufacturing equipment and invested in technology upgrades to enhance product development capabilities. As we grew, so did our ability to support the scientific community with unique needs and complex challenges.
Throughout our 100-year history, we have remained a privately held company with owners actively involved in the day-to-day business. Our model allows us to be nimble to market needs, responsive to distributors and customers and gives us the ability to expand.
We serve customers in every industry – from academic research institutions to pharmaceutical organizations, hospitals to pharmacies, energy to high-tech devices, consumer products to aquariums – everyday customers count on our in-depth knowledge, reliable products and live support team. We are continually recognized for our world-class service and support before, during and well after a sale.