Special Report: Caribbean Business
Published on : May 15, 2008
When Elizabeth Plaza founded Pharma Serv in 1993, her dream was to see the company become the preferred choice for validation and regulatory compliance services in Puerto Rico. Today, despite the economy and the current industry climate, the company continues to meet the challenge and exceed expectations. "Even when last year was a very difficult year for the industry in Puerto Rico, and we lost key clients due to plant closures, our sales increased by around 16% in 2007 compared with 2006." she said. "Our strategy has been to double our efforts, penetrate new markets and diversify our service portfolio."
With a pool of more than 170 qualified professionals, the Dorado-based company's growth has included opening offices in Limerick, PA. and Cork, Ireland; and this past January, the inauguration of Scienza Labs, a state-of-the-artmicrobiological testing facility that contains the latest equipment and technology and test methodologies available to provide contract laboratory services. "We decided to build the $1.2 million laboratory because I have so much trust in our industry," said Plaza. "We invested in the latest technology to raise the standard of the island's laboratory service business, and this newbusiness unit will provide new expansion opportunities and demonstrate that in Puerto Rico we can truly provide high-end service."
This year also saw a name change for the local operation as well. While Pharma Serv underwent a reverse merger with Delaware-based Pharma-Bio Serv to become a public company (ticker symbol PBSV) during 2006, the Pharma-Bio Serv Inc. name was incorporated into the local operation during the fourth quarter of last year to give all the company's locations a common branding. "We wanted our name to show that our company's expertise is in both areas," said Plaza. "As we face the reality that biotechnology is where the future is, we are not only strengthening our expertise in the biotech arena, but the new name aptly reflects our entry in this new market."
When asked about her company's strategy for recruiting and retaining the best people in the field, she pointed to a number of factors. "Those whodon't like the status quo but prefer challenges, come here and stay," she said. "We are only interested in those who are aligned with our culture of discipline and ethics with a full awareness that we also require our people to be agile and productive as well." She also pointed out that now that Pharma-Bio Serv is a public company, also represents opportunities for key employees to own company stock options. "Being a public company also means we are very regulated by the federal governmental agencies, which makes us very structured and controlled," she added. "This is also attractive to our employees,who feel as if they are working for a serious organization that has controls in place to protect not only the interests of our investors,but also our people, who are our main capital." Given Plaza's efforts to bring the company to where it is today, the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association recently recognized her as the island Executive of the Year at its annual PRMA gala.
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