For the past 75 years, the main purpose of GOJO Industries INC is “Saving Lives and Making Life Better through Well-Being Solutions.” It is extremely proud to be certified by Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a Women’s Business Enterprise. This certification aligns with GOJO’s values and their commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

The partnership between Encompass Health and GOJO dates back to 2010 and was put to the test during 2020. To ensure proper infection control protocols were followed across its hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, Encompass Health had a huge uptick in demand for GOJO’s solutions - hand sanitizer, soaps and surface disinfectants.

“We spent over $1.3 million on GOJO’s products during 2020 to ensure our employees, patients and visitors had high-quality hand hygiene products readily available,” said Elaine Prince, vice president of operations support for Encompass Health. “GOJO needed to be able to support our current customer base with getting product.”

Having constant communication and dialogue throughout the pandemic on product availability, locations, who had critical needs (out of stocks), updating to an Active Portfolio, was a crucial part to Encompass Health’s success in getting through the pandemic.

“GOJO reacted quickly to our needs for both existing and newly opened hospitals to ensure that they could meet our demand consistently and timely,” Prince added. “They remain committed to expanding their ability to meet and exceed demands for hand hygiene products. Their purpose, supported by a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, has led Encompass Health to expand our strong partnership for hand hygiene products with GOJO.”

GOJO has added to its manufacturing capabilities, increasing warehouse space—adding three new sites totaling over 2 million square feet of production/distribution—and innovating new solutions and partnering with outside sources for raw materials and component solutions (Emergency Response bottles) that would help make PURELL readily available. They are now shipping more than one billion doses of hand sanitizer every week in North America alone.

KMS manages offsite ATMs for Regions Bank, tracking multiple projects with the new software.

“To date, they’ve done roughly 24 projects for us,” said John Earley, senior retail project leader for Regions. “And we have a large list in 2021 they’ll be performing. We’re looking at other ways to do things with them and grow on the project side.”

Scott Riley, head of corporate real estate operations at Regions, points out that KMS has answered each call for change.

“We’re always in a mode of testing, piloting and challenging ourselves – as well as our existing service providers,” Riley said. “We’re constantly looking for providers that we can test the market with. Frankly, a lot of those companies don’t pan out. But KMS’ solid performance and ability to innovate has not only improved us, it has also made us more efficient."

Click here to learn more about KMS and Regions.

ClearMask is certified as a woman-owned business and is a deaf-owned business that Encompass Health began partnering with in 2020 as a response to the need for clear masks for speech therapy and patient communication during the pandemic.

ClearMask launched the world’s first FDA-cleared, fully transparent surgical mask in 2020, but the company’s mission started several years before. In 2015, ClearMask’s co-founder Allysa Dittmar had a negative surgery experience where she was unable to communicate with her medical team due to standard masks. Born deaf, she uses American Sign Language, facial expressions and lip-reading to communicate. The hospital experienced a scheduling error and her ASL interpreter never showed up. Her medical team wore surgical masks, which completely blocked her ability to communicate - she couldn’t lip-read or even see a reassuring smile.

In 2017, Allysa and her three fellow classmates and alumni at Johns Hopkins University teamed up to develop the first FDA-cleared, fully transparent surgical mask that meets applicable ASTM level-three standards. Hundreds of design iterations and prototypes later, the deaf-owned and women-owned business has sold more than 17 million masks worldwide.

Encompass Health was one of the first healthcare systems to prioritize patient safety and the patient-provider relationship by adopting transparent masks at the start of the pandemic. ClearMask has supplied Encompass Health with critical PPE that restores human connection while providing optimal protection.

Ophelia Cox was bit by the entrepreneurial bug after for working for Dr. A.G. Gaston, after college. In 2012, she founded Cox Commercial Interiors (CCi). Ophelia wanted to provide a more personal, consultative, and collaborative approach, to customer’s Furniture and Interior Design Services. “Our service is personal”, says Cox. “With us, we go above and beyond. People buy us. They have confidence in us. It’s not just selling furniture. It’s a solution-based model, so that we are our client’s partner to make the space what it could be, and much more. We treat the project as if we are going to be living in that space from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday ourselves”.

CCi is a full-service Furniture Dealership and Interior Design firm committed to providing quality furniture and exceptional service. The company provides contract grade furnishings and design services to Higher Learning Education, Healthcare, and other companies throughout the State of Alabama. CCi is a certified minority and woman-owned business located in Birmingham, Alabama. Ms. Cos has over to decades of experience in the furniture industry. From interior design to space planning, rendering, cubicle layout, reconfiguration, installation, and much more, the company is poised to grow, as they seek to do business with more major companies in Birmingham.

Ophelia’s vision is focused on the next generation. During our interview, she shared the following: “My dream is to help expose the younger generation and future entrepreneurs, to opportunities in this space”.

Dynamic Civil Solutions (DCS) is a minority owned professional engineering firm that specializes in providing multi-disciplined consulting engineering services in a professional timely and courteous manner. DCS is located and headquartered in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The company was launched in 2007. Company President Bolaji Kukoyi want to grow the firm in a systematic manner. “I am looking to strategically position the firm to expand into new markets that will diversity our portfolio”, says Mr. Kukoyi. DCS supports public and private sector clients in a diverse range of markets at every stage -- from initial concept to project completion and beyond.

LEWIS ELECTRIC CO., LLC is a full-service company with a wide range of experience in all phases of new construction, remodeling, Electrical, Mechanical and HVAC. The company has achieved success working with clients like the City of Birmingham, with HBCUs, e.g., Miles College and with churches, e.g., East Birmingham Church of God in Christ and Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in Birmingham. The company has an excellent reputation and a long list of satisfied clients. A high percentage of their business is from repeat customers and referrals.

At the height of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Regions Bank was informed by their largest supplier of cleaning supplies that they were contracted to meet the demand of the Federal Government for supplies and would not be able to provide products for an indefinite period. This was a dilemma. The company was in dire straits and needed to ensure that the environment at their company was sanitized. The company needed somewhere to turn. Enter 3G Chemical Solutions. Aleia Shipman, CEO of 3G, responded to the call from Marcus Lundy to provide services. According to Marcus, “3G saved us, at a time when suppliers were not able to provide us with products…more companies need to use the services of 3G Chemical Solutions”

Birmingham, Ala. — When the walls of the Ramsay-McCormack building came tumbling down in April, an excavator bearing the name Nuckles sat nearby, having done… read more.