New partnership to manufacture, distribute hand sanitizer aids public safety and creates jobs
Goshen. The collaboration between Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery and Access: Supports for Living was facilitated by the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation.
| 22 Apr 2020 | 02:31
Hand sanitizer is produced and bottled at the Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery before being distributed by Access: Supports for Living. The hand sanitizer is $22 per gallon; orders can be placed by calling (845) 281-4974 or emailing cmasters@asfl.org. (
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A unique Hudson Valley-based partnership to manufacture and distribute hand sanitizer is innovatively responding to the immense demand for this product, creating jobs and benefiting public safety. Orders from the public for this sanitizer are now being accepted.
The collaboration between Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery and Access: Supports for Living, a non-profit organization serving people with developmental disabilities and behavioral health needs, was facilitated by the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation.
The distillery creates the hand sanitizer using grain alcohol and then bottles it. Its recipe complies with World Health Organization protocols, ensuring it is safe and effective.
Access: Supports for Living, with locations throughout the Hudson Valley, distributes the hand sanitizer through its industrial operations division, Access: Business Solutions.
The demand for hand sanitizer has quickly outstripped the supply as the coronavirus crisis has deepened – and hand sanitizer has become a powerful safety tool for first responders, health care teams and others across all walks of life. The need has been particularly significant within community-based, non-profit facilities like those operated by Access.
“Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery is proud to partner with Access and HVEDC to make an important difference,” said Co-Managing Partner Jeremy Kidde. “Our team is excited that the sanitizer we’re creating is helping limit coronavirus’ spread.”
“This partnership is some of the best of what we can hope for during this crisis – businesses across sectors finding innovative solutions to critical needs, while keeping people working,” said Ron Colavito, President and CEO of Access: Supports for Living. “Put simply, this hand sanitizer is helping protect the health of our staff, the people we support and our community. We’re proud of this partnership.”
Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Michael Oates said the project’s initial goal was to aid agencies that serve people with special needs, which were in need of sanitizer. He reached out to Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery, which quickly agreed to participate. Oates then contacted Access: Supports for Living, which saw the potential to not only receive the sanitizer it needed, but to assist similar organizations. Overall, the collaboration is helping meet the ever-increasing demand for hand sanitizer.
Production, which started with a 55-gallon batch donated to Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie in late March, will be ongoing. Vassar Brothers already has requested additional shipments and its parent entity, Nuvance, will share the sanitizer across its system.