Almond blossoms are not the only thing coming to fruition this spring; economic development in Turlock is also blooming. One of the newest businesses to open up shop in town, Certified Laboratories, Inc., is hosting an open house on Saturday for its employees and the community.

The laboratory testing facility that specializes in the food industry will open its doors to the public for a special event and tour to showcase the brand new, state-of-the-art facility.

“We will be having a barbeque and will be calling it ‘Family Day,’” said Operations Manager William Hawes. “We figured this would be a great introduction to the city, and we are also throwing this for our employees. We plan to have a good time as a company.”

The open house will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 3241 Liberty Square Parkway in Turlock. There will be a catered tri-trip and chicken lunch, a bounce house, carnival games, and giveaway goody bags for children. Children and adults are also encouraged to join a tour where they can actively explore, learn, and touch items that are found in the microbiological and chemical laboratories.

Large display windows will also allow children and adults to see inside the testing facilities to view the equipment. Workstations will be set up outside each division so that visitors may witness first hand examples of solutions found within microscopes, petri dishes, and incubators.

“We have these workstations where kids can get a closer idea of what we are doing at this facility,” said Hawes. “In tomato paste, we would be looking for insect parts. So we have a little display of what a wing may look like, or a leg, or even an insect head. We know that it is kind of gross, but the kids might like it.”

Poster displays will document floor plans for the building, its initial planning stages, photographs of the employees, and a short history of the facility.

Certified Laboratories was first established in 1926 in New York. Within the last 12 years,  the company has expanded to Southern and Northern California. Turlock was chosen due to its location near the freeway for easy courier access and its centrality in the almond industry.

“Our division of businesses started in Merced, but we moved to Turlock," said Hawes.  “It is a great location for us because there is a lot of industry here. We ended up around the corner from Blue Diamond, so that is nice as well. They are big players in the almond industry.”

For more information about Family Day, call 664-1100 or email Whawes@certified-laboratories.com.