Gojo Industries

Gojo was founded in Akron, Ohio, by Jerry and Goldie Lippman. During World War II, Goldie worked at the Miller Tire Co. rubber factory and Jerry at the Goodyear Aircraft plant. Like other employees there, both often came home with sticky, difficult-to-remove graphite, tar, and carbon on their hands and clothes. They disliked the products the cleaners used to clean their clothes, so they set out to find an effective cleaning product that could be used without water. Goldie and Jerry worked with Professor Clarence Cook of Kent State University’s chemistry department to formulate a heavy-duty hand cleaner. They called it Gojo Hand Cleaner and sold it to rubber workers, who had sometimes used benzene and other noxious chemicals to clean their skin. After the war they began marketing to automotive service facilities. They quit their factory jobs and started Gojo.[5]

The company's first name and product was GoGo, Goldie's nickname, but another company had already used the name, so the founders came up with Gojo, with the "G" standing for Goldie and the "J" standing for Jerry.[6]

In 1950, Gojo invented a liquid soap dispenser after realizing that users were using much more than was needed to clean their hands, causing buyers to think the product was too expensive. Jerry Lipmann filed a patent for this portion-limiting dispenser in 1952.[7] The original product was meant to clean, not sanitize the skin. In 1988, the company developed the Purell product to disinfect hands.[7]

In 2004, Gojo sold Pfizer the exclusive rights to distribute Purell in the consumer market, while Gojo Industries retained the rights to existing industrial markets.[8] In 2006, Pfizer sold its Consumer Healthcare division, and hence the rights to Purell, to Johnson & Johnson.[9] In 2010, Gojo bought the brand back from Johnson & Johnson.[10]

In February 2014, Gojo Industries acquired privately held Laboratoires Prodene Klint of Croissy-Beaubourg, France. The acquisition allows both companies greater geographic footprint and increased manufacturing operations. Prodene Klint manufactures professional hygiene, cosmetics and disinfectant products.[11]

On June 6, 2015, Gojo launched its Gojo Smartlink Observation System, a mobile application that connects to Gojo Smartlink web-based software and allows for the electronic collection and collation of hand hygiene and personal protective equipment (PPE) compliance metrics.[12] On 1 January 2020, Carey Jaros became Gojo president and CEO.[13]

GOJO headquarters

Gojo operates worldwide, with offices in the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Japan, and Brazil. It has factories in Ohio and across North America, as well as in Latin America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Gojo's main manufacturing and distribution facilities are at its Lippman Campus in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.[14]

• Gojo Industries website