LaHood Helps Secure Hand Sanitizer
Production at Big River Resources’ Galva Ethanol Plant by Global
Impact Innovation
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[June 21, 2020]
Congressman Darin LaHood
(R-IL), Global Impact Innovation (GII), and Big River Resources in
Galva, Illinois today announced that Global Impact Innovation will
use portions of the Big River Resources plant in Galva to produce
hand sanitizer from corn-based ethanol in response to the COVID-19
outbreak. Re-purposing of corn ethanol from renewable fuels to hand
sanitizer will expand the use of ethanol, help control the spread of
COVID-19, and support communities dealing with hand sanitizer supply
shortages.
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“As our nation confronts the coronavirus pandemic,
we are seeing Americans rise to the occasion to support our
communities,” said Rep. LaHood. “I am grateful to Global Impact
Innovation and Big River Resources for their willingness to step up
and lend a helping hand during this time of need. Converting
portions of the plant to produce hand sanitizer is a testament to
midwestern ingenuity and could hold great potential for the ethanol
industry into the future. I was happy to lend a hand to ensure they
can begin production in the coming days.”
Big River Resources have long produced ethanol. Federal regulations,
however, require waivers to convert plants that produce
alcohol-based ethanol to other alcohol-based products. Through Rep.
LaHood’s casework operation, he worked with the Trump Administration
and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) under the
Department of the Treasury to expedite and get their waivers
approved in a matter of days.
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“The Galva Plant was designed to produce Zein protein from corn to
address global problems, such as pollution. However, when the
Coronavirus pandemic hit our nation, it became clear that basic
products such as testing kits, medicines, masks and sanitizers were
needed across the country. True to our mission at GII, we decided to
be part of the solution and do our part. We immediately decided to
re-purpose the Galva Plant to produce ethanol-based sanitizers on a
large scale so we can make it available across the United States at
an affordable price. At that moment we reached out to U.S. Rep.
Darin LaHood and State Senator Chuck Weaver. They quickly worked
with the Trump Administration and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and
Trade Bureau (TTB) under the Department of the Treasury to expedite
our request and it was ultimately approved in a matter of days. This
is a wonderful example of government moving quickly to help the
private sector move forward with solutions to solving hand sanitizer
supply shortages,” said Dr. Anil Oroskar, Dr. Asha Oroskar, and Mr.
Paresh Ghelani, Founders of Global Impact Innovation LLC. “We thank
the late Mr. Ray Defenbaugh, the founding member and chairman of Big
River Resources, LLC., Mr. Jim Leiting, CEO of Big River Resources
LLC and their entire team. We are grateful for their assistance and
looking forward to do our part, as we all are in it together in
these tough times.”
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GII will begin hand sanitizer production at Big River
Resources in Galva using ethanol produced at the Big River Resources
facility in April. GII’s expected capacity will be around 100,000+
gallons per month and will be sold and donated across the United
States to hospitals, retailers and government institutions. This
plant is expected to employ about 30 employees when fully
operational in the coming weeks.
“Big River Prairie Gold and Big River Resources are excited to
partner with Global Impact Innovation LLC. at our Galva, Illinois
ethanol facility to support their effort to produce and supply hand
sanitizer in this time of national crisis due to the coronavirus
pandemic. We thank our legislators and local Galva City
Administration for their support in expediting the licensing and
permitting process to allow this to happen in a timely manner. Big
River Resources and Global Impact Innovation are proud to support
our local communities with stable well-paid employment opportunities
in rural America,” said Jim Leiting, Chief Executive Officer of Big
River Resources.
Global Impact Innovation (GII) is a company founded by Mr. Paresh
Ghelani, Dr. Asha Oroskar, and Dr. Anil Oroskar. GII's vision is to
bring innovative products and solutions to address global problems
such as environmental pollution, seawater desalination,
biodegradable plastics etc. This large effort would not be possible
without the great teamwork by Orochem Technologies Inc. of
Naperville, Big River Prairie Gold and Big River Resources, the City
of Galva, Rep. Darin LaHood and Senator Chuck Weaver’s offices.
[Text from file received from
]
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