Earlier this month GOJO invested in new facilities for production, warehousing, and distribution. The company is leasing a new space in Navarre, Ohio, for both storage and distribution and bought a space in Maple Heights, Ohio, that will be used to manufacture the Purell surface spray.
“These two new facilities bring the company's Ohio manufacturing facilities to four, including those in Cuyahoga Falls and Wooster,” notes the company’s press release. “GOJO headquarters is in Akron, Ohio, and the company also has several manufacturing facilities in France. GOJO employs more than 2,500 team members around the globe and is expecting to add at least 200 jobs with these two additional facilities.”
The team at GOJO is confident that demand for hygiene products like Purell hand sanitzer will continue to be high as the pandemic wears on.
“We believe the world will forever be changed by this pandemic,” Carey Jaros, GOJO President and CEO, tells the press; “and we see this translating to a sustained increase in awareness of the importance of safe and effective hygiene practices.”
“This will result in ongoing, heightened demand for our essential Purell skincare and surface solutions,” she says, adding, “In service of our GOJO Purpose, Saving Lives and Making Life Better, our responsibility to keep the world healthy and well has never been greater. Expanding our manufacturing infrastructure is one of the many ways we are responding as the market leader in these challenging times.”
Building essential businesses and creating jobs in the wake of a pandemic
For the State of Ohio, the GOJO expansion is about economic development. “We are thrilled that one of the most essential companies in our region is expanding their manufacturing capabilities in Maple Heights,” says Annette Blackwell, Mayor of Maple Heights, Ohio.
As she sees it, “GOJO is a growing business that makes products that matter, with deep roots in Northeast Ohio. Its selection of Maple Heights to expand operations is a testament to the resources and local advantages provided by our city and the region.”
The non-profit economic development organization OhioJobs is expected to provide GOJO with assistance for the expansion: “GOJO is…doing everything it can to help communities and businesses during this pandemic,” says the organization’s President and CEO, J.P. Nauseef.
“We and our partners at Team NEO [the Northeast Ohio Business Development Organization] welcome the continued success and growth of GOJO in Ohio, which serves as an example how our resilient businesses and workers will get the state's economy growing once again,” he says.
“It's our stated Enterprise Strategic Intent to co-create a company where we can all find personal meaning, professional fulfillment and opportunities to contribute to a vibrant future,” says Jaros, who stepped up to the CEO spot at GOJO at the start of the year (after 5+ years in other leadership role with the company).
“We are so excited,” she says, “to be realizing that intent during this unprecedented moment, opening new facilities, creating jobs, and ultimately producing more of the essential solutions that people need to stay healthy and well.”
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For much of 2020, Deanna Utroske’s writing has included news of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the cosmetics and personal care industry—and in many instances that’s been news of collaboration, growth, and innovation. As Editor of CosmeticsDesign.com, Deanna writes daily news about the business of beauty in the Americas region and regularly produces video interviews with cosmetics, fragrance, personal care, and packaging experts as well as with indie brand founders.