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GOJO Industries

Categories: ISSA Member Spotlight

Founded nearly 78 years ago by Jerry and Goldie Lippman, GOJO Industries, perhaps best known for its PURELL brand hand sanitizer, remains a beacon of innovation and perseverance. In this edition of our Member Spotlight, we look into the rich tapestry of GOJO’s history and values through a conversation with its CEO, Carey Jaros.

Beginning of the journey

A solution to a glaring problem marked GOJO’s inception. After cleaning their grease and carbon black-stained hands with kerosene or benzene, industrial workers found respite in Jerry and Goldie’s invention. Goldie, a factory worker, initiated the search for a safer, more comfortable cleaning agent. With a tenth-grade education and relentless determination, Jerry collaborated with Professor Clarence Cook to concoct the original cream cleaner, the first-ever one-step, rinse-off GOJO® Hand Cleaner, GOJO’s first breakthrough. This invention wasn’t just a commercial venture; it was a humanitarian intervention, responding to the immediate needs of the workforce.

Jerry Lippman exemplified a mix of courage and innovative thinking as he introduced the product to service stations with a unique sales model, imprinting a clean streak on mechanics’ palms, occasionally at the risk of a straight punch. His willingness to take risks and find genuine solutions to real-world problems has become a cornerstone of GOJO’s enduring values.

Valuing every team member

The COVID-19 pandemic tested GOJO’s mettle, pushing the demand for Purell products to new heights. The team, bonded with the purpose of saving lives and making life better, operated 24/7, manifesting resilience and commitment. “There is no group of people I would rather work with,” asserts Jaros, reflecting on the enterprise’s profound family culture and the mutual respect and cooperation that permeates the organizational fabric.

Beyond PURELL Hand Sanitizer: A legacy of diverse solutions

While PURELL remains a household name, GOJO’s legacy extends beyond consumer sanitizers. It has been a stalwart in the business-to-business soap industry, with two-thirds of its business centered around soap manufacturing. The company has forayed into surfaces with PURELL Surface Spray, a testament to its relentless pursuit of safety and efficacy, developed after seven years of meticulous research.

Jaros’ journey to GOJO’s helm is as unique as the company’s inception. Initially an outside board member involved with the owner family’s office, she transitioned into the management team in 2016. Her elevation to CEO in January 2020, just before the global pandemic, epitomizes her resilience and adaptive leadership.

With nearly 2,000 team members spread across North America and a manufacturing facility in France, GOJO has broadened its international footprint, embracing an import-export business model with great success. The company’s approach to leadership is democratic, shunning hierarchical vocabulary like ‘boss,’ reflecting a holistic and inclusive organizational culture.

As the world grappled with the unforeseen challenges thrown by the pandemic, GOJO Industries, a renowned producer of hygiene products, pivoted dynamically to meet rising demands and lead innovations in the sector.

In line with this, GOJO launched its next-generation dispensing system, the PURELL® ES10. A first-look of the product was at ISSA Show North America 2023. “The pandemic accelerated consumer preference for touch-free dispensing in public spaces, and we are extremely excited to launch our simplest and most sustainable touch-free dispensing system, the PURELL® ES10, at ISSA,” Jaros explains.

Navigating unprecedented demand

In the initial pandemic stages, GOJO Industries was propelled into intensified production, endeavoring to make each dispenser a promise of health and well-being. The company found allies in unexpected places, as diverse entities, from distilleries to automotive companies, started producing hand sanitizers and other health essentials. The response was applauded by GOJO, reflecting a shared commitment to public health amidst crippling demand.

However, the journey was challenging. Numerous products poured into the market, some lacking in efficacy and safety, leading to FDA bans on almost 300 brands of hand sanitizers. GOJO navigated this sea of inconsistencies by being a steward for health and well-being, ensuring their products remained a symbol of trust and reliability, and consulting with other industry players to uphold public safety standards.

The pandemic has undoubtedly elevated the role of hygiene in public consciousness, bringing attention to surface hygiene, hand hygiene, and oral hygiene. GOJO and ISSA, their trade association, are now poised to inform and elevate the public understanding of hand hygiene, backed by studies from the CDC, highlighting the life-saving potential of hand washing and sanitizers.

The data suggests there is more ground to cover, with sanitizer dispensers needing to be more conspicuously present in many public places where they are most needed. GOJO advocates for the increased availability of sanitizers in public areas and is seeing a rising demand in retail, pointing towards a growing consumer need to carry personal sanitizers due to the lack of availability in public spaces.

The ISSA impact

The synergy between GOJO and ISSA is longstanding, marked by 69 years of partnership, a relationship steeped in mutual growth and learning. ISSA remains an invaluable aspect of GOJO’s journey, providing platforms like the ISSA Show to discuss industry trends, innovations, and networks.

GOJO’s involvement with the ISSA Hygieia Network, an ISSA charity focusing on making the cleaning industry a preferable career choice for women, highlights their commitment to gender diversity and equality in the workplace.

Under the leadership of Carey Jaros, GOJO Industries remains the pinnacle of innovation, problem-solving, and unwavering values.

As GOJO moves forward, as a valued member organization of ISSA, it carries its rich, multifaceted legacy, poised to make life better and save more lives.

For more on GOJO, tune into the below Straight Talk! interview with GOJO CEO Carey Jaros

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