Situation

Land & Seas Laboratory isn’t your average testing facility. Founded in Wasilla, this Alaskan-owned laboratory was born from the merger of two established ISO 17025-accredited laboratories: Frontier Fare Testing and The New Frontier Research. This powerhouse combination fuels their mission: to empower Alaska’s agricultural and natural resource sectors to thrive.

Land & Seas Laboratory operates on a multi-pronged approach to achieve this mission:

Consumer Protection: They prioritize public health by offering comprehensive pathogen testing for chemical and biological contaminants in Alaskan food products. This ensures consumers have access to safe, high-quality food.

Preserving Freshness: Understanding the challenges of Alaska’s vast geography, Land & Seas Laboratory offers rapid testing solutions. This minimizes product spoilage and degradation during long transport times, especially in uncontrolled temperatures.

Product Characterization: Going beyond safety checks, Land & Seas Laboratory analyzes products to determine the presence and quantity of crucial commercial characteristics. This empowers producers to understand the unique qualities of their offerings and potentially maximize their value.

Land & Seas Laboratory is an Alaskan-owned testing lab based in Wasilla, formed by merging two ISO 17025–accredited labs. They support Alaska’s agriculture and natural resource sectors with food safety and pathogen testing, rapid testing to reduce spoilage risk during long transport, and product characterization.

As they prepared to expand services, their systems became a bottleneck. Core work relied on connected Excel spreadsheets that required updates and heavy manual effort—data entry, document creation, and routine reporting. They also lacked real-time visibility, making analysis and tracking harder than it needed to be.

They previously invested heavily in a LIMS build with another vendor over two years, but the system never became functional and the process was meeting-heavy with little progress. The lab paused the project and instead looked for a partner who could stabilize and modernize what they already had.

Solution

Land & Seas found ProsperSpark for Excel and data expertise and needed help in three areas: modernizing their spreadsheets, automating routine outputs (PDF/CSV), and creating a more centralized, scalable data foundation.

ProsperSpark took a phased approach. After a small number of planning meetings to confirm goals and priorities, the team began implementing incremental improvements that built toward a functional LIMS without disrupting day-to-day operations. Work included optimizing and connecting Excel tools, creating an Airtable repository for structured data, and building a consolidated, real-time sample dashboard.

Each phase was delivered with close collaboration and light training, since the system evolved from tools the team already used. That reduced disruption, supported adoption, and helped Land & Seas maintain the system with more confidence going forward.

Results

The phased LIMS rebuild delivered fast, practical wins without a disruptive system overhaul.

• Less manual work: Routine tasks like data entry support, PDF/CSV outputs, and reporting steps were automated, freeing up staff time.

• Better visibility: A consolidated, real-time sample dashboard improved tracking and day-to-day decision-making.

• Easier compliance and audits: Alerts, traceability, and searchable records reduced scramble and improved readiness.

• Scalable growth without added headcount: The lab resumed expanding services by improving the system instead of adding people.

• Stronger internal ownership: Ongoing collaboration and training equipped the team to troubleshoot and make updates independently.

When asked what she’d tell other lab owners considering ProsperSpark, Laboratory Owner and Director Jessica Alexander said, “Pick one thing you would like to optimize and allow ProsperSpark the opportunity to complete a trial project. You’ll be blown away at the ease, speed, and customization!”

If you’re looking to modernize operations without a disruptive overhaul, ProsperSpark can help you take it one step at a time.