18th District Congressman Darin LaHood helped an Illinois ethanol business expedite a federal waiver to make hand sanitizer. LaHood, Global Impact Innovation, and Big River Resources in Galva, Illinois announced that GII will use portions of Big River Resource’s plant to produce hand sanitizer from corn-based ethanol in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
LaHood says that by using corn ethanol, it will help the overall market for corn, expand the usage of ethanol, and support the community’s demand in the hand sanitizer shortage due to COVID-19.
Big River Resources has long been an ethanol plant in the region. Federal regulations require waivers to convert ethanol plants to produce other alcohol-based products. LaHood worked with the Trump Administration and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau under the Department of the Treasury to expedite the waivers.
GII’s expected capacity will be around 100,000+ gallons per month and will be sold and donated across the United States to hospitals, retailers and government institutions. This plant is expected to employ about 30 employees when fully operational in the coming weeks.