Firm take steps to open breast milk plant, sales facility

An Oregon-based company is one step closer to having its corporate headquarters in Boulder City after the City Council introduced a bill at its meeting Tuesday that would create a new use within a zoning district.

Bill No. 1817 would amend Boulder City’s code and create a new permitted use, organic material processing with associate retail sales, in the C2 zoning district.

Medolac Laboratories of Lake Oswego, Oregon, processes human milk for sick babies and is looking to relocate to the old Vons/Haggen building at 1031 Boulder City Parkway.

According to its CEO Elena Medo, the company currently provides breast milk to hospitals, adopted babies, nontraditional families and working mothers throughout the country. Its goal is to make the product more available and affordable to the babies that need it.

“Every mother wants the best,” she said. “We’re just thrilled to be able to make those situations somewhat better.”

She said she had the idea of starting Medolac when she visited a neonatal hospital ward for work.

“From that point on, my passion has been to help them (the babies), the parents and the medical professionals and give them the best care possible,” she said.

She said that she was already looking at Southern Nevada because of its proximity to her family in California when she heard about the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development’s program. She applied for a program there and was accepted. At that point, she started researching facilities to move the business and heard about the old Vons/Haggen building on Boulder City Parkway.

“We have just been so impressed with the people we’ve worked with,” she said of Boulder City. “We’re hoping we’re going to make it happen.”

If approved, Medo said Medolac plans to hire more than 100 people in the next two years to work at the facility and outside of it.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, some residents were concerned that the organic material being processed and its retail sales were for marijuana.

Boulder City Mayor Rod Woodbury said that they did not, and during public comment Jill Rowland-Lagan, CEO of Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, said that the material was breast milk and the lab would be processing and packaging it there.

She said that it’s a good opportunity for the scientific community and could be a good addition and asset to Boulder City.

The bill will come before council at its meeting Oct. 24 for final consideration.

In other actions, council:

■ Introduced a bill that would add baby changing tables to the bathrooms in public buildings.

■ Proclaimed Boulder City a Purple Heart City in recognition of the contributions of the military order and local veteran community.

■ Approved three resolutions for the Techren Solar LLC Project that provide limited amounts of reclaimed water to them, and easements to tie into the NV Energy substation at Nevada Solar One.

■ Denied a request to permit fabric carports in front of 1501 Marita Drive.

■ Discussed a staff directive regarding the League of Cities draft language concerning the distribution of proceeds related to controlled substances.

Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.