By Scott Waterman, VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
The new Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets and Vermont Agency of Natural Resources lab is ready. Located on the beautiful campus at Vermont Tech, this new lab will help protect human, animal and environmental health for Vermonters. A ribbon cutting was held on February 11th, kicking off the move-in period for the lab’s infrastructure, equipment, instruments, and employees. The site will be home to the new lab in April of 2019.
In August of 2011, Tropical Storm Irene flooded the state office complex in Waterbury, destroying laboratories for both the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets and the Agency of Natural Resources. While accommodations were made for lab space at UVM and Berlin by splitting up the lab, there remained a need to establish a new location to bring all lab services under one roof again. In January of 2018, a ground breaking took place at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center to begin this process.
The lab will continue its service to Vermonters by monitoring various health and safety issues throughout the state -- everything from water quality, dairy, maple, and hemp to ticks and mosquitos. The 36-thousand square-foot facility is a $20 million-dollar project and is the last major state government building reconstruction project following Tropical Storm Irene.