Total Lab Makeover Paves Way For Double-Digit Growth

Son's vision reinvigorates Rogers Dental Laboratories, Athens, TN, and his father's passion for the business.

After owning his own laboratory for nearly 30 years, Roy Rogers was ready to turn the reins over to his son and--in his words--"go home and start fishing."
But his son, Jason, had other ideas. Having joined the laboratory 13 years earlier, Jason saw the potential for growth in the family business but knew it was stifled in its current location: a cramped, mid-1940s building that barely had room for its 10 technicians. There was limited parking, no breakroom and--most importantly--no room to accommodate new technology. "It just wasn't exciting to come to work. I knew that if I was going to do this for the next 50 years, I had to be excited," says Jason, vice president of Rogers Family Laboratory.

Agreeing to put aside his fishing pole, Roy joined Jason in crafting a vision for a new facility: a state-of-the-art, 8,000-sq.-ft. facility...