Coronavirus In Colorado: Parker Company Ramps Up Hand Sanitizer Production To Help
Company That Makes Hand Sanitizer Asked To Ramp Up Production To Help
PARKER, Colo., (CBS4) - As the coronavirus continues to spread, a critical need for health care workers and first responders is hand sanitizer. Currently, a Colorado company that already makes the product is being asked to ramp up production to help the state's response.
For almost two decades, OraLabs in Parker has mass produced personal hygiene products such as hand sanitizer, lip balm, toothpaste, and more.
Last week, its CEO Gary Schlatter got a call from Noel Ginsburg, who is a point person on Gov. Jared Polis' newly formed Innovation Response Team Task Force, which will work with the state to secure much-needed supplies and protective equipment for hospitals and state agencies.
"Basically, he asked us to produce as much as we could, so we ramped up a new production line," Schlatter said.
In just a week, OraLabs shifted production to fill the state's needs, which includes making at least 20,000 personal bottles of hand sanitizer per day. The tougher task will be filling thousands of large bottles, too, which the company has never done before.
"We literally built a production line over the course of the last week," Schlatter said. "We sourced large sized bottles, which has not typically been part of our production, so we're now filling quart sized bottles, gallon bottles and half gallon-sized bottles."
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The sanitizer will wind up in the hands of people on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. So far, Children's Hospital Colorado and Angel Flight, a local nonprofit that helps arrange air travel for children and adults with serious medical conditions, have received shipments.
"It's literally a day by day prioritization of where we're moving the product," Schlatter said.
Eventually, OraLabs could help hospitals in other states, but like countless local companies, its focus right now is on Colorado in one of its greatest times of need.
"I'm just glad that we were able to fulfill the need of the state and take care of our community," he said. "That's really the most important thing for us."
Schlatter said he's been impressed by all of the companies working with the governor's task force so far. Currently, others are developing test kits, making medical face shields, and creating other protective equipment for health care workers.
Additional Resources
Hospitals, police departments, fire departments, senior centers, state, city & county agencies, universities and critical care businesses can inquire about personal-size hand sanitizer bottles by sending an email to Sanitizer@oralabs.com.