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Bruce Nielsen, director R&D Operations for ADM, talks about the new company testing laboratory in Decatur. 

DECATUR — Archer Daniels Midland Co.’s relentless pursuit of the microscopic paid off big-time for the Decatur community on Monday.

ADM celebrated the opening of its North America Microbiology Laboratory at its Specialty Manufacturing Facility housed in the former Meda Pharmaceuticals medicine factory building at 705 E. Eldorado St.

ADM has sunk some $3 million to create its state-of-the-art lab in a building that sat empty after Meda churned out its last pill in 2017 and shut down.

It’s yet another example of the global food products company, which has its North American headquarters in Decatur, stepping in to breathe new life into the downtown Decatur cityscape: ADM City Centre and its Global Technology Center saw it occupy buildings otherwise standing largely empty.

“To be frank, the work in this lab that we’re going to be doing could be done somewhere else,” said Bruce Nielsen, director of R&D Operations for ADM.

“But we’ve gotten into the habit of doubling down on Decatur. The global headquarters may have moved up north a little bit, but the North American Headquarters are still right here. There are crops all around us and the centralized location (of the new lab) will be perfect for servicing manufacturing sites all across the central United States.

“And plus, this laboratory’s proximity to our other downtown buildings, the City Centre and our Global Technology Center, will provide some additional synergies as well.”

The laboratory will have a 10-strong staff who will be drawn from other ADM facilities, like its East Plant in Decatur. But the company said this was just the beginning as it looks to expand the lab and its work going into the future and it will need more employees.

What precisely will the lab do? Yanyan Huang, global director for Quality Control at ADM, said the duties include checking company food products and ingredients for any signs of microscopic critters that aren’t supposed to be there.

“I’m a microbiologist, I love bacteria,” she said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new lab building. “But I don’t want it in my food; we have to make sure it is killed.”

Covering more than 4,600 square feet, the new lab doubles the company’s former lab space and greatly ramps up what it can handle. Huang said where the old lab facilities processed maybe 100 samples a day for testing, the new lab has the capacity to process 200 or 300 and get that done much faster, leading to a speedier turnarounds and happier customers.

She also said it will feature advanced automation and management systems. “It’s just amazing,” she added.

Speaker after company speaker at the ribbon-cutting emphasized the firm’s symbiotic relationship with Decatur as much as the lab itself, however, praising the mutual bond incubated over their long history together.

“We could not be more excited about the future of ADM and our place in both this industry and this community,” said Veronica Braker, ADM’s senior vice president of Global Operations.

“ADM is intertwined within Decatur and we owe so much to the people and families in this area who have worked here and supported our mission and fueled our growth over the years.”

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, middle right, chats with attendees in the Archer Daniels Midland Co. tent.

1942: Cars are parked outside of Archer Daniels Midland Co.

1977: The clarifier, the third step in the treatment process, will remove sludge from waste generated by the Archer Daniels Midland Co. complex.

1967: As part of the Archer Daniels Midland Co. West Plant expansion, 1900 Samuels St., three 15,000-barrel tanks are being moved. The tank at left base. In order to move the tanks, a dike was built and the channel lined with 30,000 square feet of plastic. Water was then pumped into it so the tanks could be floated. At bottom right, a truck tows one of the 50-ton oil tanks down the canal. When the expansion was announced, it was to double the facilities.

1984: Bob Ryan of Archer Daniels Midland Co. explains lettuce production in a hydroponics greenhouse to group of National Outstanding Young Farmer candidates.

Mark Schweitzer, managing director of transportation for Archer Daniels Midland Co. talks with freshman state representatives Terri Bryant, Reggie Phillips, Litesa Wallace, Randy Frese and Carol Ammons during a tour Tuesday of ADM's intermodal rail facility.

Nathan Hardeman, 20, of Moweaqua, drives through the Archer Daniels Midland Co. trucking yard in Decatur in November. Hardeman, hired when he was 19, is ADM Trucking's youngest driver, and has just started working local routes. 

Jeremy Milligan, a business solutions analyst for Archer Daniels Midland Co., was selected by his classmates as Millikin University's Professional Adult Comprehensive Education, or PACE, programs student of the year. The university's winter graduation is Sunday.

1980: Richard Burket, right, shows Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D., around the Archer Daniels Midland Co.'s east plant. Condenser towers are pictured in the background. (H&R file photo)

Debbie Sarko, with Archer Daniels Midland Co., speaks about truck driver expectations at ADM during an information session about Richland Community College's Truck Driver Training program on Thursday.

Decatur's Archer Daniels Midland Co. has seen many developments over the course of 2013.

The Archer Daniels Midland Co. logo is seen on a tanker truck at the ADM facility in Decatur.

An operator sorts containers with a side lift crane at the new intermodal rail facility as part of the Archer Daniels Midland Co. plant.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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