Dry ice is essential for the transportation and preservation of a cold COVID vaccine, like Pfizer's. A local company that makes dry ice machines is now seeing skyrocketing sales.
Like so many other businesses, Loveland's Cold Jet had a slowdown this spring.
"As the expression goes for those of us who are older, the phone rang... and we have facilities in Belgium, Germany and here," says CEO Gene Cooke.
Cooke's company is now going non-stop with $70 million in sales this year, a 200% increase from 2019. "So, we went from zero to 100, so to speak, in the period between July and it continues today."
Who Are His Customers?
Here are some of them:
- vaccine manufacturers
- transportation companies like UPS, FedEx, DHL
- Kroger Little Clinics
- Indiana Dept. of Corrections (a partner for vaccine distribution)
The Indiana Department of Corrections paid Cold Jet $100,000 for dry ice machines, while it cost vaccine manufacturers more than $1 million because of the increased volume and automation.
Cooke is up for the job saying, "The vaccine roll-out is in front of us, not behind us."
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