Can you have the best of both worlds? Kaivac thinks so.
The Butler County-based company has found a way for janitors and other personnel to not just clean but sanitize the most grungy items without directly touching them -- all with use of "green" chemicals. The key is a high-pressure fan spray, then vacuum extraction and a recovery tank.
An independent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-certified lab recently confirmed two Kaivac products are effective sanitizing devices that, when used as directed, reduce E. coli, C. difficile, MRSA, pseudomonas, and salmonella bacteria by 99.9 percent.
"To date, we've sold approximately 30,000 units on every inhabitable continent. The vast majority of the business is in North America," says spokesman Robert Kravitz. "The primary segments are: K-12 schools (approximately 65 percent), higher education (approximately 10 percent), and building service contractors (approximately 10 percent)."
Business has risen since summer, as the public becomes more aware of the threat of a flu pandemic, he said.
Kaivac has 40 full-time employees. Last year, the company purchased a larger facility and moved its manufacturing and R&D functions there; the rest of the Kaivac will follow in the next year or two, according to Kravitz. "Kaivac will remain in Hamilton," he said.
CEO Robert Robinson is among executives included in the book, "The Success Effect: Uncommon Conversations with America's Business Trailblazers" by Cincinnati-area author John Eckberg. It is available on Amazon.com
Robertson and his wife, Carlene, are also majority owners of Hamilton-based Valley Janitor Supply Co.
Source: Robert Kravitz, Kaivac
Writer: Gabriella Jacobs