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COVID-19 needs take company in a new direction
Scott Bicknell ’03 is the executive vice president of Defender Repellent, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of repellant products. These products are used to treat footwear and garments to make them water and stain-resistant.
When COVID-19 forced a societal shutdown, “it pretty much shut down sales,” Bicknell says.
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However, one of the main ingredients used in the repellant products is the same as an ingredient in the FDA-approved formula to make hand sanitizer. The company received approval and a government allocation to transition to producing hand sanitizer. Not only were the employees of the company allowed to keep working, but it also fulfilled Bicknell’s desire to help during the pandemic.
“We want to help people, and we had the ability to help,” Bicknell says. “We also did this to keep people busy during times that were slow.”
Bicknell says the company is continuing to grow the sanitizer line by offering both spray and gel sanitizers. They are able to fill into 55-gallon drums as well as 8-ounce, personal-use bottles. Businesses and organizations have the option of purchasing spray bottles with their own personal logos on them.
“We airfreighted thousands of bottles in,” Bicknell says. “We have made drums and drums of sanitizer. The formula is a good, cost-effective formula. It’s safe and it works.”
“We have also made the decision to become a long-term, trusted supplier of sanitizer by receiving FDA approval to produce and sell sanitizer beyond the World Health Organization temporary approval end date of July 2020,” Bicknell says. “All of our formulas are approved, and the company is cleared to produce sanitizer for the long term. When the company returns to production of repellant sprays, sanitizer will remain in production. Eventually, this will add to growth in the business.”`
Bicknell majored in speech communications at Ripon and is using the current situation to take another look at where his company could head. “COVID-19 made us all reassess our businesses,” Bicknell says. “We have to adjust to the time we live in, and this fits our business model. We’re in this for the long haul.”
