How Resourceful North Dakota Companies Pivoted Amid the Pandemic
In partnership with: North Dakota Department of Agriculture
In March 2020, the small team behind Red River Biorefinery in Grand Forks was ready to open its doors and debut its “next generation biorefinery,” providing different grades of ethanol to customers. But that all came to a screeching halt when COVID-19 arrived. With a travel ban in Europe set to take place, international engineers and the commissioning team had to leave to make it home in time. “They literally got up and left just as we were turning the facility on,” says Keshav Rajpal, president and managing member of the refinery. “At the same time, the whole ethanol transportation market completely cratered.”
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Thinking on Their Feet
The young company knew they had to think fast, so they turned their attention away from transportation fuel and over to alcohol that could be used in hand sanitizer. Appreciating the community support they had received to get started in the first place, Red River Biorefinery provided thousands of gallons of alcohol at cost to companies who needed it for their employees to continue working safely.
“There’s a lot of support and a lot of help that we’ve had from the communities we’ve been in, so it was an opportunity for us to give back,” Rajpal says. “It was just the right thing to do.”
And as the demand for hand sanitizer ebbs and flows, the company continues to stay nimble, adjusting to the ever-changing marketplace. They’ve since found shipping partners and started shipping to Canada and Mexico, as well.
Flower Power
In April 2020, Maple River Winery in Casselton also made the switch to hand sanitizer; the small team was bottling up to 1,500 gallons a day. But they got a bit creative with the ingredients, swapping out the glycerin and replacing it with safflower oil.
“Anyone who uses sanitizer a great deal will tell you they very much dislike it; it dries the skin, smells bad and is sticky,” says Randy Lang, who took over as owner of Maple River Winery’s offshoot company (named SaffPower) in November. “We offer an alternative in our brand. It moisturizes skin, smells pleasant and is silky to the touch.”
SaffPower even expanded its catalog of products to include a mask refresher. The mist comes in three scents – bubble gum, coconut and tropical – to refresh masks as people wear them throughout the day. To serve companies relying on large orders of hand sanitizer, SaffPower also created a subscription program for companies to automatically get refills sent to their store.
Lang recently visited the North Dakota State Capitol building and gifted sanitizers to each of the state legislators as a way to give back.
“This product is so directly tied to North Dakota agriculture; I think it’s important to get that message out,” Lang says. “We really want to grow the brand, promote the state and give back to the local economy.”
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Safety First
For many companies, the changes hit closer to home. Founded in 1915 by the Russell family, Cloverdale Foods implemented changes at the protein plant the first week of March 2020 to keep their workers safe.
“The safety of our employees and customers was our No. 1 priority,” says Scott Staudinger, vice president of human resources and government affairs.
Knowing that 470 employees needed to support their families, the Mandan-based company’s pandemic planning team implemented one-way traffic, mandatory masks, social distancing, temperature tracking, adjusting shifts, infrared cameras and even voluntary finger-prick tests for COVID-19 screening. The company installed ultraviolet disinfection lamps for the break rooms, lockers and offices; Clorox Total 360 fogging machines; and antibacterial mats to disinfect employees’ shoes. They also regularly disinfect the shuttles used by 260 employees dozens of times a day.
In July 2020, the company further supported their workers by announcing that the starting salary at Cloverdale Foods would be raised to $15 an hour. Exciting plans are in the works to expand the facility, creating more jobs.
“One thing that 2020 has really shown us – and the Russell family – is that together we can accomplish anything,” Staudinger says. “We truly have terrific employees. This was a way to say, ‘You know what guys, this is where we need to be, and we appreciate you.’”
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