“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.
Additional companies contributed to the project, including donations of ethanol from Eco-Energy, hydrogen peroxide from Arkema, Inc. and water from Coca-Cola. PSG Functional Materials contributing their mixing and packaging services.
“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. 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,” states Mohr, Jr.
