By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó A product research and testing firm will open an 11,000-square-foot laboratory at the N.C. Research Campus.
Sensory Spectrum should move in early next month, said Clyde Higgs, business recruiter for Research Campus developer Castle & Cooke North Carolina.
The company will occupy the old K&W Cafeteria space on Oak Avenue next to Family Dollar.
New Jersey-based Sensory Spectrum announced last year it would join the $1.5 billion biotechnology hub, but details were not released until recently.
Called the Spectrum Discovery Center North Carolina, the new lab will offer a variety of services to companies around the world and researchers in Kannapolis.
The lab will feature focus group suites, observation rooms, a commercial kitchen and a preparation kitchen, as well as a room with 10 sinks for product testing. Sensory Spectrum pays consumers to use products and give their opinions.
The company has a similar lab in New Jersey.
Sensory Spectrum will hire between 20 and 35 sensory scientists, psychologists, technicians and administrative staff in Kannapolis, Higgs said.
The company will collaborate with the Research Campus “in understanding sensory response and healthy behavior,” according to its Web site.
In addition to testing and consulting, the company regularly holds training seminars for the industry and will conduct a three-day course in March at Pity’s Sake Lodge, the home of Research Campus founder David Murdock, billionaire owner of Dole Food Co.
“The lodge is available to North Carolina Research Campus partners that need an intimate environment to host collaborators and clients,” Higgs wrote in an e-mail. “This is simply another tool available to our partners.”