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Jewish Businesses Meet
Demand for Sanitizers, PPE
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SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
ALLAN GOLDSHTEYN’S
business has expanded 240%
since spring, but he’s not
exactly happy about it.

Goldshteyn is president of
AG Laboratories, a cleaning
and sanitizing company that
initially specialized in disin-
fectant products. Now, it offers
the GermBuster Service, a
pathogen-killing regimen for
businesses, housing units and
community spaces.

“Unfortunately, my market
has expanded,” he said. “And
at the end of the day, our goal is
to help businesses reopen and
for the customers to feel safe.”
While the pandemic has
caused an economic reces-
sion and strained businesses
like bars and restaurants,
health-related companies are
seeing increased demand.

Jewish business owners like
Goldshteyn have responded to
the new normal by offering
products and services that
individuals and organizations
need to operate safely. Some
have built on their existing
companies, while others have
started entirely new ventures.

Goldshteyn said the disin-
fectant product he uses,
PRO-Techs, is a positively
charged nitrogen that kills
microorganisms, which are
all negatively charged, by
electrocuting them. Unlike
other disinfectants, which can
evaporate after a few hours,
PRO-Techs is designed to keep
surfaces free of viruses and
bacteria for up to 90 days.

This isn’t an ordinary disin-
fectant that can be applied
with an average spray bottle or
wipe, he said. Goldshteyn and
his team use an electric static
dispenser to charge the parti-
cles as they’re sprayed. Surfaces
must be thoroughly cleaned
Name: The Sweater Mill-display*
Width: 3.625 in
Certain restrictions apply. Offer ends December 31, 2020,
Depth: 3.62 in
Color: Black plus one
Comment: JE News 11/5
17 %
The Sweater Mill
115 S. York Road, Hatboro 215.441.8966 Open Monday-Saturday 11-4
Allan Goldshteyn treats
surfaces with PRO-Techs.

Photo by Zac Shull
Personalized masks
created by Shani Klein
Photo by Shani Klein
with another disinfectant prior
to treatment.

The product, which is only
manufactured by two compa-
nies, is not a miracle cure,
but Goldshteyn said that it is
a strong defense against the
coronavirus, with an EPA
registration to prove it. It is also
water-based and non-toxic,
making it safe for use around
food, children and pets.

Goldshteyn and his team
create certificates for businesses
and organizations that have
completed the program,
which can be displayed to give
customers and guests more
peace of mind. They have
treated local businesses, health
care providers, housing units,
synagogues and churches as
part of reopening plans.

Philly PPE Vending, a
new coronavirus-inspired
company, is making individu-
ally packaged items like masks
and thermometers available in
vending machines.

The idea for the company
originated at the beginning
of the crisis, when personal
protective equipment was
in short supply and desper-
ately needed by health care
workers, businesses looking to
reopen and anyone venturing
out in public. Co-owners
Ben Waxman and Nathaniel
Parks wanted to find a way
to distribute equipment like
masks quickly and easily, and
vending machines seemed like
a natural solution.

The vending machines can
be customized with different
combinations of products.

In addition to non-contact
thermometers, sanitizing
wipes and KN-95 masks, Philly
JEWISH EXPONENT
PPE Vending supplies snacks,
lip balm, over-the-counter pain
relief medication, condoms
and USB chargers.

Waxman, who is president
and CEO of the public affairs
consulting firm A. Waxman
& Co., said he and Parks are
offering the vending machines
for free to any location that
wants them. People who install
them can keep 10% of the sales
revenue. The company has 10
machines ready to be deployed,
and one is available for public
use in Parks’ retail outlet, Philly
PPE Store, on East Passyunk
Avenue. The latter was used
as a test run, since the various
shapes of the equipment sold
are different from the average
bag of chips or water bottle in a
normal vending machine.

“The last thing we wanted
to do was put out machines
that were constantly not able
to vend masks,” Waxman said.

RapidMask 2Go, a New
York-based company, also
has installed PPE vending
mach i ne s
in SEP TA’ S
Suburban Station.

Personal protective equip-
ment has even made its way
into the fashion world.

Shani Klein added masks
to her online tie-dye store
Shemesh Shop, which started
as a creative outlet during
quarantine. “Initially, I just did it as a
fun project for myself and my
two young daughters, because
we were spending so much
time together and they weren’t
in preschool,” she said.

Her neighbors noticed the
projects they were making in
their yard and began to request
shirts, hats, beach blankets
and other items. Klein, a
speech-language pathol-
ogist, launched the store on
Instagram soon after.

She added personalized
masks to her inventory when
she noticed her children were
having a hard time keeping
their face coverings on due to
poor fit or forgetfulness.

She came up with designs
that fit snugly and had
brightly colored patterns to
appeal to kids. They can be
customized with names and
initials for those who want a
personalized touch and for
parents who want to avoid
mixing up their children’s
masks for hygiene’s sake.

The masks, along with the
shop’s other items, come in
color schemes named after
inspirational women. There’s
the Rosie, a mix of pink and
orange named after civil rights
activist Rosa Parks, and the
Goldie, a rainbow pattern
named after Israeli prime
minister Golda Meir, among
others. Klein said that it was
important to her as a mother
and business owner to pay
homage to female leaders. l
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
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