The front view of the proposed Vets First Choice new corporate headquarters in downtown Portland, ME.
PORTLAND, ME—Vets First Choice has secured approvals to build a new 170,000-square-foot corporate headquarters building in Downtown Portland.
The project at 12 Mountfort St. will be the first major office building to be constructed in Downtown Portland in the last quarter century and will be a major economic catalyst for the region as Vets First Choice expects to ramp up hiring here. Vets First Choice is a provider of technology-enabled health care services for companion and equine veterinary practitioners.
The company states that the new building will support more than 1,500 employees, including a state-of-the-art pharmacy facility, enhanced software and data science labs and office space.
“We're thrilled to announce this major expansion in Portland, Maine to support rapid growth, a new IT R&D effort and improved service to our northeast customers.We expect to add more than 1,000 new high-quality jobs in southern Maine and believe this downtown location will be critical towards attracting world class talent,” says Benjamin Shaw, co-founder and CEO of Vets First Choice.
Vets First Choice expansion is fueled in part by the creation of a new company. Back in April, Melville, NY-based Henry Schein, Inc. and Vets First Choice announced plans for Henry Schein to spin off its Animal Health business and merge it with Vets First Choice, creating what the firms stated at the time will be “an innovative approach to advancing the delivery of animal health care designed to provide unique benefits to veterinarians, manufacturers, pet owners, and their pets.”
Vets First Choice says it anticipates that the new Downtown Portland facility will serve as the corporate headquarters for the new company created by the merger later this year or in early 2019. The planned new company, with approximately $3.6 billion in pro forma revenue in 2017 and more than 5,000 employees, will continue to operate out of the existing Vets First Choice and HSAH locations throughout the world.
The project will create hundreds of new professional jobs for Maine residents in areas like software development and pharmacy. Vets First Choice will be collaborating with the University of New England College of Pharmacy for residency, training and development programs.
Company officials say that construction will begin immediately, and the facility will include a state-of-the-art specialty pharmacy; an automated commercial pharmacy and fulfillment center; a world-class science, technology, engineering and math center; and office space.
“On behalf of the Vets First Choice organization, I want to express how exciting this is for us to build our new headquarters in Downtown Portland,” says David Shaw, co-founder and chairman of the board of Vets First Choice. “I've been a part of the Portland business community for the past 30 years and I've watched our great city evolve and grow. With this new building we're making it clear we plan to evolve and grow with the city.”
Greg Boulos, senior partner of the Boulos Company, says the new Vets First Choice headquarters will be the first office building developed over 150,000 square feet built in Portland over the last 25 years.
“Having a growing company like Vets First Choice in Portland is a huge win for everyone,” Boulos says. “A new landmark office building, great paying jobs and a growing company make it a win-win for Vets First Choice, its employees and Portland.”
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
