CLEAN BREAK
Energy chemicals supplier pivots to meet need
Big problems aren't insurmountable.
One Oklahoma City-based oil-field chemicals supplier on the verge of shutting its doors proved that in a big way by pivoting operations to begin producing an isopropyl alcohol-based sanitizing product that can be used on both surfaces and hands.
Okie Clean is the new subsidiary of the nearly decade- old Horizon Energy Partners.
Okie Clean began sending its sanitizing products, packaged in a variety of sizes starting with an 8 oz. bottle sold for $5.99, out the door to individual customers through curbside sales conducted at its business at 7501 N Classen Blvd. earlier this month.
It added its product to a list of Oklahoma- based manufacturers as a source of personal protective equipment and supplies created by local and state officials, and is working to get its product on the shelves of several local vendors.
Online ordering will be available soon at okieclean. com.
It made its switch to making the sanitizer in less than three weeks, bringing in all the necessary chemicals, bottles, labels and equipment needed for large-scale production.
Jonathan Jordan, president of the oil and gas firm and a
co- founder of Okie Clean, credits ideas for the new company and its products to good old oil-field ingenuity.
Jordan said he and other company team members began looking at the opportunity in early April as they considered ways it might be able to keep its workers busy as orders from oil and gas operators it supplied with chemicals all but stopped coming in.
Jordan said the team discovered it could obtain what it needed from its suppliers to make the sanitizer.
Then Nick Zenk, the company's operations manager, took a basic recipe for the product developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and tweaked it to create something that both accomplishes
its stated mission and is agreeable to use.
After Zenk came up with the desired results, Okie Clean sent the product to third-party laboratories to verify its effectiveness in helping people safeguard themselves against the coronavirus.
Jordan said the product is FDA- approved, safe for use by all ages and comes in a variety of scents, including “clean,” eucalyptus and coconut.
“People like our product, that it doesn't dry out their hands, and that it doesn't hit users with an overwhelming smell,” he said.
The company also has been providing the product for free to local police and other public service officials.
Word about its availability circulated initially via social media and verbal conversations. Jordan expects sales will climb as the company gains exposure through the state's PPE vendor website and through instore sales.
“We were in the right place, at the right time, with the right idea, the right name and the right marketing,” he said.
Jordan would prefer to be busy taking care of oilfield customers, meeting their chemical supply needs. But he is proud he and his team were able to reconfigure their business to keep people on the job, especially while many of their friends and family members haven't been so fortunate.
Mason Haley, an Okie Clean co-founder, agreed.
“By creating this line of products, we are able to not only keep our people employed, we are also able to help our friends, family and customers continue the safe sanitizing protocols laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” Haley said.