Atlanta, Georgia, June 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When the opportunity to help their local healthcare community arose, Atlanta-based Momar, Incorporated did not hesitate to volunteer. As a manufacturer of specialty chemicals for the commercial, industrial, and institutional markets since 1947, Momar has considerable experience providing unique solutions for organizations in need. And due to COVID-19, the need for hand sanitizers has never been higher nor more critical.
“We were very proud when the folks at GCMI 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. about being contacted by the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) requesting assistance with production of 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, Incorporated, and they needed help getting their formula from the lab bench 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. 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,” reports Mohr, Jr.
Momar Chief Technical Officer West Gary, adds, “We brought our 75 years of manufacturing experience to bear, coordinating the formulary development, regulatory review, production, and final distribution well short of the established deadline. Typically, product development would have taken months if not years, but with great partners, we were proud to complete it in just a few short weeks, meeting the extremely high quality standards of all of the contributors involved in this effort and resulting in an end product that contains 80% ethyl alcohol and meets World Health Organization guidelines.”
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, 2020.
Shortly thereafter, the Georgia Tech and Momar teams were able to finally meet in person as they delivered the hand sanitizer to facilities like Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta and Brightmoor Assisted Living in Griffin. All in all, 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,” states Mohr, Jr.
About Momar, Inc.
Momar, Inc. is a manufacturer of specialty chemicals and a one-stop facility maintenance solutions provider for industrial and institutional markets. Through Momar’s multi-faceted divisions, the company specializes as a total solutions supplier and provides customers with virtually every product or service available in the areas of maintenance chemicals and equipment, lubrication, water and wastewater treatment, food processing chemicals, material handling, specialty hardware, industrial safety, and expert application services. For more information, call 404.355.4580 or visit momar.com.
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