Christine Gallo has spent the last 18 months pivoting from simply trying to save lives to now trying to protect businesses.
"Before it was pandemonium, and now it's strategic," said Gallo, owner and founder of IP Program Infection Prevention. "Before it was — for lack of a better phrase — we were trying to save lives [with our cleaning solutions], and now we’re trying to help places open back up and keep things safe."
The company, founded in 2017, provides several cleaning solutions, including UVC cleaning systems and Pathogen3 Solutions, but it is perhaps best known for its flashy UV-D cleaning robots. While the robots were previously deployed solely in hospital settings, including Moffitt Cancer Center, IP Program Infection Prevention has now seen demand from many businesses pivoting from remote work back to in-person.
"With all the hype we've seen on the news with cleaning and disinfection, it's not just a need, but it's an expectation," said Phil Hughes, infection prevention specialist at IP Program Infection Prevention. "You're expected to have a properly clean and disinfected space."
Gallo attributes the influx of coronavirus funding to the increased interest, paired with businesses having slightly more downtime to take stock of their cleaning options.
"The people that have to go in every day and create a safe environment in schools and restaurants and retail stores, it's on their minds like, 'Where should we spend our money?'" Gallo said. "It's the same level of demand; it's just different [entities asking]. And health care didn't have a second [to think] before; they were in the middle of hell. Now they have time to sit down and say, 'Maybe we should look at this. People have more time because we're learning to live with it and manage it."
The company now has its technology with 32 schools across the nation and outfitting new buildings with its cleaning solutions embedded into the structure, versus embedding it in later. Key West Airport received a cleaning robot and built an entire marketing campaign around it, including a naming contest that brought in roughly 2,000 entries.
"They're doing it right; talk about promoting," Hughes said. "When the robot isn’t in use, they have a glass case to show it's there, and you see people take pictures and videos with it. It's so cool to see people embracing it, and it's an educational tool, too, to show how humans and robots can work together."
Gallo now considers the company to be national due to the level of interest across the U.S. and believes the general public has become more educated on the UV cleaning process, which could eventually trickle its way into even more sectors.
"That's one thing I'm so shocked about — like an airport got a robot," Gallo said. "And I'm shocked 32 schools could buy it, and I couldn't believe then it was hotels and restaurants. And I think if an airport can buy it, why can't everyone?"
