GRTC sources sanitizer from Reservoir Distillery

March 31, 2020
The local partnership supplies sanitizer for essential GRTC staff.

The Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) has partnered with Reservoir Distillery to source hand sanitizer for GRTC staff.

As hand sanitizer supplies quickly backordered during the COVID-19 crisis, GRTC says it needed to find a supplier quickly to refill dwindling inventory for essential employees. A Richmond Times-Dispatch news story about local businesses shifting production from spirits to sanitizer sparked a solution.

GRTC contacted Reservoir Distillery last week to place a recurring bulk order for their newly produced sanitizer. Just as sanitizer dispensers at GRTC’s headquarters emptied, reinforcements arrived from Reservoir Distillery, normally a bourbon whiskey producer in Scott’s Addition.

“Creative solutions like this are exciting,” GRTC CEO Julie Timm said. “Our essential employees need sanitizer at headquarters and in the field, and a local business benefits from our need. This is a win-win solution for both of us and I am proud of our procurement department’s ingenuity.”

More than 100 gallons of liquid sanitizer were picked up from Reservoir Distillery, helping GRTC staff reporting to headquarters maintain proper personal hygiene practices. Operators and other frontline staff can refill personal bottles to use in the field.

“We are happy to be able to support GRTC during this unprecedented time,” said Dave Cuttino, co-founder of Reservoir Distillery. “Reservoir will continue to make hand sanitizer as long as resources are available and the need is there within our community.”