Atlanta-based Momar, a manufacturer of specialty solutions including cleaning products sold into many industries, including the RV industry, produced 7,000 gallons of hand sanitizer that was donated to Atlanta-area medical facilities.
The company’s roots in the community go back to 1947, said its owner, and it wasted no time answering a call for help.
“We were very proud when the folks at (the Global Center for Medical Innovation) and Georgia Tech called us to help, and we of course answered the call immediately,” says Momar’s third-generation owner and CEO, Julian Mohr Jr.
The company was asked to produce a new hand sanitizer developed by professors at The Georgia Institute of Technology. The new formula would alleviate sanitizer shortages by replacing a key ingredient of sanitizer – isopropanol, which was experiencing supply issues – with fuel-grade ethanol, which is readily available. The Georgia Tech team had been the recipient of a donation from insurance provider Aflac, and they needed help getting their formula from the lab to the production floor.
“Innumerable phone calls, emails, text messages, and virtual meetings ensued over the next few weeks to get all the participating organizations lined up and the necessary pieces into place,” Mohr said. “Donated raw materials needed to be routed: ethanol from Eco-Energy, hydrogen peroxide from Arkema Inc., and water from Coca-Cola all had to be delivered to PSG Functional Materials, who was contributing their mixing and packaging services. Plus, a name had to be created, label designed, packaging sourced, quality control analyses conducted, and production scheduled in a very short timeline.
“Nearly every one of our departments sprang into action. Marketing lent our 50-year-old Han-I-Size trademark to the cause. Our purchasing department organized procurement and delivery of almost every component, including the ingredients themselves, the boxes, labels, bottles, caps, and misting pumps, many of which were in very short supply, if not impossible to come by. Our lab perfected the scalability of the Georgia Tech formula. Our shipping and logistics department coordinated the rapid delivery to nearly 50 recipients across the state.”
Leveraging Momar’s existing Han-I-Size brand of hand sanitizers and paying tribute to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Han-I-Size White & Gold went into production on May 29. Shortly thereafter, the Georgia Tech and Momar teams were able to finally meet in person as they delivered the hand sanitizer to facilities such as Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta and Brightmoor Assisted Living in Griffin. In total, 7,000 gallons of Han-I-Size White & Gold were delivered to metro Atlanta medical facilities in need.
“Helping our fellow Atlanta and Georgia community members is very much in keeping with our commitment to the city, and its finest institutions, for the past seven decades,” said Mohr.