Southern California’s oldest and most prestigious testing laboratory—Babcock Laboratories, Inc.—has announced that former Chief Financial Officer Tiffany Gomez has been selected by the Board of Directors to succeed Allison Mackenzie as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective January 1, 2021. This succession exemplifies the organization’s 115 years’ long legacy of employee opportunity.
As part of the succession plan, Ms. Gomez became President of Babcock Laboratories (Babcock Labs) during the summer of 2020 under the guidance of Ms. Mackenzie, who, after leading the organization for 36 years, will transition into the role of Executive Vice President of Development & Regulatory Affairs. This seamless transition will help bolster business development while Ms. Gomez familiarizes herself with the new role. Both Ms. Gomez and Ms. Mackenzie have made it clear that Babcock Labs’ top priority is caring for its longstanding relationships with its many public agency and private industry clients.
“I am honored to lead Babcock Laboratories and to continue the legacy my predecessors have built,” said Ms. Gomez. “My vision for Babcock Laboratories is to continue to sustain and grow a legacy of quality analytical testing services while partnering with our clients to help them succeed at protecting people and the environment.”
Ms. Gomez holds a Master of Science in Accountancy from Texas A&M University Commerce, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine. She joined the Babcock team as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2014 and has over a decade of experience in human resources, risk management, safety, finance, and accounting. In her first year as CFO at Babcock Laboratories, Ms. Gomez successfully took Babcock Laboratories from a privately held corporation to an employee-owned company in record time, under seven months.
In keeping with Babcock Labs’ prevailing commitment to employee wellbeing, Ms. Gomez oversaw the company’s recognition as a Top Workplace in the Inland Empire for three years in a row. Since becoming President, Ms. Gomez has successfully led the company through unprecedented challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. By effectively engaging the leadership team and staff, Ms. Gomez has ensured a 90% and above success rate of on-time lab service delivery despite resource and staffing challenges.
“Building on the success and experience of previous years, Tiffany’s leadership will be essential to Babcock Lab’s growth,” said Ms. Mackenzie. “She is applying her skills in strategic planning to lay the groundwork for Babcock Laboratories to successfully grow into the second 115 years as an independent environmental company. She brings to the role of President and CEO of Babcock Laboratories visionary talents, well-established managerial skills, and an understanding of the economic challenges that lie ahead.”
Former President and CEO Ms. Mackenzie has over 40 years of experience in the environmental laboratory business, including 13 years as CEO, 23 years as Vice President and General Manager, and eight years in analytical method development for both inorganic and organic determinations in drinking water and wastewater. Ms. Mackenzie is passionate about two key issues: high ethical conduct in the environmental testing field and STEM education. Throughout her professional career, she has promoted accreditation and ethical standards in the environmental laboratory. Ms. Mackenzie serves on the Board of the American Council of Independent Laboratories (ACIL) and is an active member of the ACIL Business Practices and Government Relations Committees. In her endeavor to improve lab accreditation in California, she served as a member for the California Environmental Technical Advisory Committee (ELTAC) for four years and helped shape regulatory State law. ACIL recognized Ms. Mackenzie's efforts to reform and revitalize the California Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (CA ELAP) and has awarded her three ACIL Preston Millar Awards.
“Ms. Mackenzie has been a passionate advocate for safe and fair environmental regulation, and a staple in the community when it comes to philanthropic service,” said Gomez. “I endeavor to continue that legacy by spearheading the next 115 years of essential community testing services that ensure clean drinking water and environmental safety, and a brighter future for our children.”
As the company’s name implies, Babcock Labs was founded in Riverside County by Edward S. Babcock in 1906. It remained a family-owned business until the late 1970s, when Ms. Mackenzie and her partner, Larry Chrystal, were offered company ownership. In the interest of continuing employee ownership, Ms. Mackenzie and Mr. Chrystal sold the company to its employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 2014. Now, as a 100% employee and minority Women-Owned business in Riverside, CA, the company will celebrate its 115th anniversary in 2021. Babcock Labs remains dedicated to its mission of safeguarding public health and the environment. As a proud local, small business the company continuously reinvests in its staff, instrumentation, and state-of-the-art facilities to ensure that it offers its clients reliable lab capacity and the best data quality available. In a time of uncertainty, Babcock Labs focuses on doing right by its customers and the people they serve.