Who We Are

History of Laboratory Equipment Company (LEC)

Laboratory Equipment Company (LEC) was co-founded in 1948 in the resurging economic era following World War II, by J. Karl Kolhede and Albert Schlichtmann, former sales representatives for Braun, Knecht, Heimann, a large laboratory chemical and supply distributor. Following the passing of Albert, J. Karl Kolhede assumed full ownership and passed leadership of the company to his two sons, Kurt and Brent Kolhede.

The Trusted Source for Innovative Equipment

When it comes to sourcing the most reliable laboratory equipment innovations, we do the leg work, so you don’t have to. We partner with the world’s top equipment manufacturers to bring quality products to our customers. As an independent manufacturer representative, we thoroughly evaluate each manufacturer’s company, products, and services before representing them. As a result, our customers count on consistency in product quality and expert services from the brands we trust.

We bring

reliability

experience

success

to your laboratory

LabEquipCo has grown by enhancing our expertise in the products we offer and by providing prompt and effective response to customer needs, before, during and after purchase.

Relationships and Experience

LabEquipCo is a family-operated business specializing in capital equipment and instrumentation for laboratories of all types. For more than 65 years we have built upon our foundation of long-term relationships with both our customers and the manufacturers we represent.

We serve as major representatives for laboratory equipment sales and product support for customers on the West Coast. For two decades our customer base has been centralized in industrial, research, and biotechnology laboratories.

Quality Products

We search the world for new and innovative products. We are a reflection of the global nature of today’s business, with product offerings that include goods manufactured in Canada, France, Japan, Germany, and Finland.

Our goal is to find and offer our customers the highest quality products with the most reliable designs while providing excellent after-purchase technical support. The greatest compliment we receive is when our customers look to us as an information resource as well as a source of quality laboratory equipment. We pride ourselves on maintaining the personal touch our customers have come to expect.