Center for Toxicology & Environmental Health

The Center for Toxicology & Environmental Health of Little Rock is on the move again.

CTEH, which provides toxicology and environmental consulting services nationwide, was the first company to emerge from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ BioVentures Incubator back in 2001.

In March, it will move into a new 18,000-SF office in North Little Rock because the company was running out of space, said Justin DeLille, manager of business development.

CTEH started with nine employees when it was formed in 1997 and now employs 85 companywide, with many of those on the staff holding master’s or doctoral degrees. CTEH also has offices in Tennessee, Texas, Nebraska and Florida.

The founding partners of CTEH, Phillip T. Goad, Glenn C. Millner, Alan C. Nye and Jay Gandy, had worked together in the toxicology and environmental fields and saw a niche market they could tap.

CTEH’s target market includes chemical manufacturers, chemical transporters and law firms. Much of the work it does is under the stress of a chemical emergency or natural disaster, he said.

After Hurricane Katrina struck, CTEH was hired by Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado to visually document the impact of a 10 million-gallon crude oil spill on a neighborhood. That required designing a software program that linked a high-quality digital camera with a global position system.

Some of the challenges CTEH faced getting the company off the ground were securing the finances, DeLille said.

Another hurdle to launching the company was “just building a strong client base and providing top-quality products,” he said. “It’s the same changes that most consulting firms [face].”