Quest Diagnostics Opens National Center In Tampa, Creates 350 Jobs

Kathy Steele | Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Quest Diagnostics will provide about 350 jobs at the new diagnostics center that is now open in Tampa near Busch Gardens.

Job positions are in customer service, logistics and human resources. Company officials anticipate hiring will continue through 2015. Some of those jobs will be subsidized with state and local funds.

The 48,000-square-foot facility, at 10441 University Center Drive, will provide customer service and logistics operations for Quest's nationwide operations. As one of two Quest Diagnostics National Operations Centers, it also will share human resource services for the company's 45,000 employees. The second national center is in Lenexa KS.

"This new center will elevate Quest's customer services to the next level of responsiveness and quality," says James E. Davis, Quest's senior vice president of operations. "It reflects our comittment to delivering a superior customer experience and providing diagnostics insights that will help people lead healthier lives."

The architectural design is by San Francisco-based Gensler which has a Tampa office. Construction is by Rhode Island-based Gilbane which has several locations in the Tampa Bay area.

The Tampa facility will provide state-of-the-art technology to monitor air and ground transportation of patient specimens from about 2,200 patient service centers nationwide. Quest's services include advanced genetic cancer tests as well as routine cholesterol and diabetes screenings.

In Florida, Quest has full-service clinical laboratories in Tampa, Miramar and Orlando. There also are dermatological pathology laboratories and offices and patient service centers statewide.

The center is expected to create about $9.3 million in capital investment.

Quest is eligible to receive about $675,000 in incentives from the state's Qualified Target Industry Program. About $540,000 is from the state with the remainder from the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County. The funds will subsidize up to 175 jobs that will pay a minimum average annual salary of slightly more than $47,500.

"Florida's life science industry is one of the best in the nation and as companies like Quest Diagnostics expand their presence in Florida, the sector will continue to grow and more businesses will look at the state as a vital location," says Gary Swoope, president of Enterprise Florida, the state's chief economic development organization.

Writer: Kathy Steele
Source: Gary Swoope, Enterprise Florida

Read more articles by Kathy Steele.

Kathy Steele is a freelance writer who lives in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa. She previously covered Tampa neighborhoods for more than 15 years as a reporter for The Tampa Tribune. She grew up in Georgia but headed north to earn a BA degree from Adelphi University in Garden City, NY. She backpacked through Europe before attending the University of Iowa's Creative Writers' Workshop for two years. She has a journalism degree from Georgia College. She likes writing, history, and movies.