FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact: Holly Swartz, 330-542-9752
Rob Portman Recognizes Personal Protected As A Success Story
NEW MIDDLETOWN, OH, June 30, 2021 – A local manufacturing company, Personal Protected in New Middletown was visited by Rob Portman, United States Senator from Ohio. Portman and his team were welcomed by Jeff and Holly Swartz, company owners, as well as the Personal Protected employees as they toured the "Home of the Quad-Sink."
"It is great to have Senator Portman visit and be genuinely interested in how our company made it through last year’s pandemic," said Holly Swartz. "When we lost 100% of our business due to the nationwide shutdown it was a dire situation. The PPP forgivable loan helped us through the interim as we developed our Quad-Sink hand wash station as a solution to help get back together safely again. Senator Portman was a champion for the paycheck protection program and it was a contributing factor to our company keeping stability for our employees."
Jeff and Holly Swartz own and operate Hitch-Hiker manufacturing. Their company has designed, manufactured and sold high-end concession trailers for more than 50 years. With a focus on innovation and quality, this family business is in the business of producing fast and efficient mobile food trailers to serve massive crowds nationwide. Their products are proudly made in the USA at their one-stop production facility in northeast Ohio. When the pandemic struck, Jeff used his expertise at his wife's suggestion to put hand washing and social distancing together. He designed a high volume hand washing station, the Quad-Sink, that they knew could help keep people safe and instill confidence.
"When people ask how long it took me to come up with this idea, I give them two answers," said Jeff Swartz. "I say it took over thirty years of development for a high traffic industry that resulted in taking five minutes to sketch an idea of what we now know as the 'Quad-Sink' in front of us."
The Quad-Sink is a fully mobile, four-person touchless handwashing station that includes side barriers for social distancing. The units are built for high volume, high speed, and can be customized through their in-house graphic department. In just 10 minutes, each unit accommodates 120 individual 20 second hand washes, and 720 individual 20-second hand washes every hour. The unit offers a most impressive 6,000 individual uses before needing any refills; basically running on auto-pilot for around 8 hours! Currently, these units are already in use in schools, on university campuses, in government buildings, community centers, and event facilities. They have great potential as they market to airports, hospitals, zoos, fairs, stadiums and more!
During Rob Portman's visit, he showed incredible enthusiasm toward the Quad-Sink as well as the turnaround of the company. When talking with Jeff and Holly, he showed admiration for both their passion for their business and their motivation for creating a healthy humanity. Portman used this time to also discuss with them on how the PPP loan had benefited Hitch-Hiker to help in the interim while Personal Protected was being created, and he was happy to hear how the success of that loan played a key part in employee retention and the success of Personal Protected.
Rob Portman took the time to recognize the employees for their hard work and praised their positive attitudes through the company's changes. He shared words of encouragement and appreciation, then asked to take a picture with all of them. Jeff and Holly then ended the visit with a tour of the facility where Senator Portman was able to see the production line of both products, the new Quad-Sink by Personal Protected and then the iconic Hitch-Hiker concession trailers, of which he found quite interesting!