UP Joins Forces with Omaha Distillery to Make Hand Sanitizer
Bottles to be Distributed Systemwide
A Brickway employee fills hand sanitizer bottles for Union Pacific employees.
When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Or in this case, hand sanitizer.
Union Pacific’s Engineering and Supply Chain departments formed a cross-functional team to do just that, and in turn, help a local Omaha business.
The goal? More than 400,000 ounces of hand sanitizer in 4-ounce and 8-ounce bottles for UP employees as they keep America moving during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s taken a team to gather the raw materials, including rubbing alcohol, hand soap and aloe vera gel. Union Pacific's Bridge Inspection team found a source of 48,000 squeeze bottles.
Omaha’s Brickway Brewery & Distillery, which already was producing hand sanitizer for first responders and hospitals, is mixing and packaging the railroad’s sanitizers.
"This is a creative way for the UP team to work together and find a solution while also supporting the community," said Union Pacific's Jim Holder, general director-Engineering Infrastructure and Operations Services, Engineering.
Brickway Brewery & Distillery Owner Zac Triemert
Once the bottles are ready, they will be sent to UP’s Council Bluffs, Iowa, warehouse and distributed throughout the system from there — including service units, offices and warehouses.