Joseph Halligan, PharmChem president and CEO, says the firm's had enough of the high utility costs and rolling blackouts. Besides, Texas has an ample labor pool and is far less costly to live and do business, he tells GlobeSt.com.

The N. Beach Street location will supplement a 35-employee location along Pearl Street. Halligan says only a dozen employees are coming with him from Menlo Park. By June, the Texas headquarters and lab will employ 175, he says. PharmChem will retain a 15,000-sf lab in Menlo while vacating about 35,000 sf.

PharmChem provides drug testing, related products and Web-based lab services internationally. The Texas operation will take over all specimen processing, which should be up and running by July 1.

Halligan tells GlobeSt.com that the current business climate in California "makes it impossible for us to operate." The move is not a sign of downsizing, but rather one of necessity to maintain the operation in a more stable business environment. Also at play is the Dallas-Ft. Worth's middle-of-the-country logistical advantage, a long-standing favorite reason when companies decide to make the metroplex their homes.