Franchisees Jeff and Josh Neelon of ARCpoint Labs of Winston-Salem were recently featured in the Winston-Salem Journal discussing the recent opening of their location.
Read the article online or in full below.
Father and son open first ARCpoint Labs facility in Winston-Salem
By Fran Daniel Winston-Salem Journal
After 26 years as a financial adviser, Jeff Neelon sold his practice in Robeson County, but he wasn’t quite ready to retire.
His son, Josh Neelon, who is married and has three children, lived in Winston-Salem.
“My wife said, “I’m moving to Winston-Salem to be with our grandchildren whether you come or not,” Jeff Neelon said, laughing.
His son had previously managed NASCAR drivers for 10 seasons, then later worked for the Winston-Salem Dash baseball team for a few years. Most recently, he was with an environmental products company.
“When my dad sold his business, we started looking for something to do together,” Josh Neelon said.
The Neelons looked at existing businesses as well as franchise opportunities.
In the end, they chose to operate the first ARCpoint Labs facility in Winston-Salem. The business opened in October at 3726 Vest Mill Road, offering lab testing and telehealth services via telephone and video.
Owner Jeff Neelon said that when he was in the brokerage business, he loved to call on individuals and businesses, look at their needs, goals or problems, and try to take care of them.
“This is going to be very similar to that,” he said of the new business.
His son said they wanted something different in the franchising industry and were attracted to ARCpoint Labs partly because it is an established and fast-growing company.
“They are adding new products and offering new opportunities,” said Josh Neelon, president of the local ARCpoint Labs.
ARCpoint Labs, based in Greenville, S.C., provides drug, alcohol, DNA and steroid testing; employment/background and wellness screening; and corporate wellness programs. The company has about 100 locations throughout the nation and plans to grow to 275 franchise locations by 2020.
The Neelons expect to open additional offices in High Point and Greensboro over the next few years.
The Winston-Salem location will focus on lab testing. It offers various types of drug screening or fluid testing, including hair, nail, urine and saliva.
“We can do it from an instant test and lab-confirmed tests,” Josh Neelon said.
In addition to DNA tests for paternity and infidelity, the lab has a partnership with a company that does canine DNA.
The lab does federal mandated programs that fall under the Department of Transportation and unmandated programs, including those for public and private companies, athletic environments and the health care industry.
The lab also offers testing to determine if a job candidate is suitable for a job, background checks, fingerprinting and random testing for a company’s entire workforce.
ARCpoint Labs’ newest brand is a telehealth program called ARCpoint MD.
“That’s the ability to provide low-cost health care in the form of having an online appointment with a board certified MD in the state that you’re in,” Josh Neelon said.
Consultations are offered via telephone or video 24/7. An app is available for smartphones.
The services are provided through Teladoc, a telehealth provider. The cost is a flat rate of $18 a month per household. There is no consultation fee.
“Our $18 per-household cost reflects our commitment to make health care accessible and affordable to anyone, anytime, anywhere,” Jeff Neelon said.
ARCpoint MD is part of a large physician network of board-certified doctors throughout the country. It is available in all states except Arkansas.
“The calls will be answered by an intake staff,” Jeff Neelon said in a statement. “Once the reason for the consultant is provided, the client’s information will be sent to the best physician who can address their health care challenge(s). The physicians are licensed in family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, dermatology and behavioral counseling.”
People interested in the telehealth services should call the ARCpoint office in Winston-Salem at (336) 999-8298. They will be directed to a website to sign up.
Telehealth services are typically used for common medical issues such as colds and flu, allergies, sinus problems, ear infections, asthma and rashes. Doctors will write certain prescriptions and direct clients to the ER or urgent care, if needed.
“It’s not an insurance program,” Jeff Neelon said. “It does not replace your regular doctor.”
Josh Neelon said the telehealth services application asks for the client’s primary care doctor and will send that doctor the results of the telehealth consultation.