New England Bioassay Inc. spins out from GZA as new, independent firm

Manchester, CT-based NEB provides ecological/water/environmental testing and assessments to more than 300 clients nationwide

MANCHESTER, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New England Bioassay Inc. (NEB), a leading provider of ecological and wastewater-toxicity testing, has reached an agreement to spin out from longtime owner GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. and become an independent company.

NEB, which has been part of the GZA family of companies since 2010, will be led by Laboratory Director/CEO Kimberly Wills, who has served for 12 years as NEB’s laboratory manager.

“All of us at NEB were delighted to reach agreement with GZA on this win-win opportunity for both of our companies,’’ Mrs. Wills said. “We’re excited to continue working with GZA and our many other valued clients, while also pursuing new business opportunities as a woman-owned business and small-business service provider.’’

GZA CEO Patrick Sheehan said: “As the market for aquatic toxicity testing has evolved in recent years, it became clearer that NEB would be better suited to operate as an independent company. We are delighted that Kim and her superb team of testing professionals are stepping up to pursue this opportunity to grow as a woman-owned, high-quality service provider. This is a great opportunity for them and the right decision for GZA.”

NEB serves more than 300 active industrial, municipal, environmental engineering, and risk assessment clients nationwide and has actively participated with United States Environmental Protection Agency Laboratory Performance Evaluation Studies since 1991.

Assessments performed by NEB include:

• Whole effluent toxicity (WET) compliance testing for NPDES permits
• Toxicity identification evaluations (TIE)
• Soil and sediment bioassay testing
• biological assessments of new processes and products
• multiple test species acute and chronic toxicity assessments of pharmaceutical products/byproducts, process wastewaters and specialized product/chemical assessments.
• Water Accommodated Fraction (WAF) and Water effects ratio (WER) testing
• Oil Water Dispersion Testing

Going forward, NEB will be known as New England Bioassay Inc., the same name the company used up to its acquisition by GZA in 2010. NEB was founded in 1986, and its senior personnel have collectively more than 60 years of experience in the environmental field. All current staff will be remaining with the newly independent NEB, continuing to provide the same high-quality customer service clients have come to expect.