Battling COVID-19, one Sanitation Station at a time

COVID-19 caused many businesses to close and others to lay off staff.

But for Kirk Stephens, the pandemic became another business opportunity, and one that even led to hiring workers.

Stephens and his family own Southwest Paper Sales with its main office in Livingston. It manufactures folding cartons and high-end printed corrugated boxes. Last year it added two plants in Arkansas. One of them makes corrugated stand up displays.

When the novel coronavirus hit, “We had gotten into the sanitizer business a little bit and were buying and selling sanitizers, said Stephens. “We used some of our relationships with people who made the sanitizers and relationships with people who could bottle the sanitizers and so we put the two together.”

He heard about the “burden that business owners have on them to convey to their customers that their safety is a priority to them.” It became an issue of, “It’s no longer about who’s got the best hamburger; it’s about where do you feel the safest going?”, he continued.

He was planting flowers in March when the idea came to him. “I thought, what if we did a sanitation station?”, combining the sanitizer part of the business with the cardboard display part.

“It would give the plant something to make and create a good marriage,” he said.

He had heard the term “sanitation station” a lot, but after checking, he could find no business that used the name.

“After thinking about it for several days or a week, and hearing the phrase ‘sanitation station’ more than once since then, and having the idea of combining the two and making our own dispensers, we said, okay, we’re going to create a company called Sanitation Station. We bought the domain and started the concept.”

In June Sanitation Station LLC was incorporated Marengo County with headquarters in Demopolis.

The first hurdle to be met was finding the sanitizer. “All you could get were gallon jugs of sanitizer, but you could not dispense it.”

Since sanitizer only available in gallon containers, the company decided it would “put the jugs inside the stand, and we’ll get pumps and create our own.”

The device, now holding a patent design, can be custom printed so the customers can tell their story or sell advertising space on it to offset the cost of the station.

Since all the components of the Sanitation Station are made in the United States – constructed in Arkansas and assembled in kits in Livingston – orders can be turned around quickly, said Stephens.

Initially the Sanitation Station offered only a gel sanitizer. Since then Stephens has formed a partnership with DAB (Defense Against Bacteria) in Corinth, Miss. The company offers a unique, non-alcohol-based foam sanitizer that continues to kill bacteria and viruses up to four hours after use.

DAB was created by a team of compound pharmacists who wanted something other than alcohol-based solutions that damaged their skin. Using FDA-approved ingredients It went through “huge” testing, Stephens said.

“It is certainly the most unique sanitizer in the country, in the world,” he stated. “No one can claim the things that they claim.”

Several different designs of Sanitation Stations are available to customers. They have a choice of manual or touch-free pumps and either gel or foam. Smaller pumps mounted on stands also are offered.

As soon as the company began selling the Sanitation Stations, orders started coming in. More than 3,000 stations can be found in 16 states coast-to-coast and Canada, and Stephens expects to ship to Mexico soon. Grocery store chains are coming on board and trying them out as well.

The demand is so great that four more employees were hired, one in Demopolis, one in Arkansas and two in Livingston..

The Sanitation Stations can be found around Demopolis. The company provided some in Demopolis schools, and nine area businesses and churches pitched in to purchase the rest. Stephens said he will be setting up the stations for COTR.

The cost of each station ranges from $200 to $350. While the price sounds like a lot, Stephens said, the customer can choose to order one stand with a design is chooses, without all the accompanying set up or art charges.

“We wanted to eliminate all that. Our process is completely digital up in Arkansas,” he said. “You get a lot of bang for your buck.”

“Once people understand the marketing power behind it, as well as actually providing a project that’s useful, then it pays to buy it.”