Laird & Company: A History of Helping

FEATURED PHOTO: Laird & Company has been donating its hand sanitizer to local first responders, healthcare providers, and postal workers. From left to right: Gerard Dunn, Operations Manager, Laird & Company; Bobby Ciasulli, First Responder, Colts Neck Fire Co. #2, picking up the donation; and Lisa Laird Dunn, Executive Vice President, Laird & Company

As we all experience an historic time in our lives, county, and world, the Laird family is once again carving out a piece of what will be remembered. As America’s oldest family of distillers with a brand synonymous with apple spirits, Laird & Company has converted a portion of its facility in Colts Neck to produce hand sanitizer, using the World Health Organization’s recommended formula. The product is then distributed to first responders, healthcare providers, and postal workers.

“As a company and family we have always answered the call to assist the country during times of uncertainty, that’s what we have done throughout our history,” said Lisa Laird Dunn, Executive Vice President and World Ambassador. “The first generations of Lairds housed, supplied, and guided the troops of George Washington’s Continental Army. During World War II, operations were converted to produce certain pectin used to preserve the soldier’s war rations. Though different than our past calls to action, we are still here to help our country and community.”

Due to their experience as a distiller and rectifier for more than 200 years, switching to hand sanitizer production was not difficult in terms of machinery. However, the process has come with some challenges.

“In the early stages we were battling with our regulatory body, the Alcohol Tax and Tobacco Trade Bureau (TTB), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), trying to eliminate federal excise taxes on the alcohol and to find workable guidelines,” shared Lisa. “The FDA has changed their temporary guidelines multiple times during the past two months. It has been very time consuming to keep up with the regulations ensuring that we are in compliance. The TTB has not waived our tax liability. That battle is still ongoing. The bureaucracies have not been accommodating.”

Originally bottling and labeling small batches by hand, Laird switched to producing hand sanitizer on its 1.75L PET bottling line, but still labels by hand. (Since most label companies are back-logged with canned food and hand sanitizer demands, the pressure sensitive labels they ordered were slow to arrive and alleviate the added work and time-constraints of hand-labeling.) They also needed to source new materials to conform with WHO and FDA guidelines.

Laird & Company has not furloughed or laid-off any employees during this challenging period. Most of the staff and employees are still working on-site, with as many as possible working remotely. A few employees who are advanced in age, and have underlying health conditions, are remaining at home.

“The health of our employees remains our number one priority,” said Lisa. “We have been following preventative measures and monitoring the health of everyone daily and enforcing social distancing procedures. We have a nurse on site each morning to answer employees’ questions and concerns while monitoring temperatures. I have never been prouder of our employees and proud to work by their sides. We have come together as a team to help our local community. One person in particular is our Vice President of Production, Ray Murdock, who has spearheaded this operation while ensuring the safety of our employees. And I would be remiss if I did not thank Barry Heffernan of Tribar Services who is coordinating logistics and deliveries for our hand sanitizer production.”

As with all the many companies locally and state-wide, Laird is feeling the decline in sales and needs for the community to help in return.

“We are still a medium sized, generational family business that is doing all we can to support our employees and community,” said Lisa. “As this pandemic continues, Laird & Company is struggling as sales decline. So if you are proud of local history here in Colts Neck, please consider picking up one of our products next time you visit your local liquor store. The Laird family sincerely appreciates your support.”