The Dow Chemical Company has announced it will begin producing hand sanitizer at a facility in Auburn, Michigan.
Auburn is one of five facilities across the world the company is using to produce hand sanitizer, which it says will then be donated to help with the coronavirus effort.
Rebecca Bentley is the Global Vice President of Public Affairs for Dow. She said the hand sanitizer produced at their Auburn facility will primarily be donated to the state of Michigan.
“And then that will get distributed to area hospitals and first responders in the region.”
Bentley said Dow expects to produce roughly 30-thousand 8-ounce bottles of sanitizer at the Auburn facility every week.
She said a large portion of raw materials for hand sanitizer were available at Dow sites.
“Not something that we make typically but we were able to pull a good team together of smart folks who were focused on problem solving in order to get this done quickly.”
The Michigan site is one of two being used for hand sanitizer production in the US. The other one is in West Virginia.
Bentley said Dow facilities have been running throughout the coronavirus crisis. She said Dow products are being used in essential products including disposable gloves, syringes, lab wear, and medical devices.