When COVID-19 forced brothers Miguel and Tomas Zepeda to shut down the flag football leagues they operate in Colorado, Kansas and Missouri last spring, they began looking for new business opportunities that would make sense in a world turned upside down by the disease.
They found just that in Germinator Mobile Sanitizing and Disinfecting, an Atlanta-based company that offers a hypochlorous acid cleaning process they say has been proven to provide effective protection against viruses similar to the one that causes COVID-19 along with a host of germs.
So at the end of last month, just as COVID-19 rates were beginning to increase once again in Jefferson County and across the nation, the brothers launched Rocky Mountain Germinator, a local germinator franchise that will aim to provide its cleaning services to Jeffco and beyond.
Partnering with the Zepadas are another pair of brothers, Christian and Oliver Liebig, two School of Mines graduates who also found themselves looking for something new and are bringing their field engineering experience to the business.
“I think we definitely made the right decision picking this field to really start helping our community get back on our feet,” said Christian. “I think we all kind of felt during the shutdown that everyone was in a rough spot.”
Rocky Mountain Germinator offers a two-step sanitization and disinfecting process that it hopes will help businesses get back to operating and remain that way by giving employees and customers the peace of mind that they have taken effective steps to keep the virus out of their facilities.
The first step involves using hypochlorous acid, which they describe as a non-toxic, hospital grade sanitizer, to destroy bacteria, mold, mildew, viruses and odors caused by bacteria. In the second step, the sprayer applies an invisible microbial coating that they claim protects surfaces for around 90 days against the growth of mold, mildew and odor-causing bacteria.
The EPA says there is no product on the market that has been proven to give long-lasting protection against COVID-19.
Jeff Gill, the founder of Germinator, said Rocky Mountain Germinator is one of dozens of franchises the five-year-old company is adding as COVID-19 fuels spectacular growth.
“As of now we have 18 franchises but by the end of the month it's probably going to reach 70,” he said.
At the same time, its sprayers are also being called out to locations they never had served before the arrival of the virus hit.
“Every week it's been something new,” said Jeff. “Two weeks ago it was churches. Now with Major League Baseball trying to start the season we are getting calls related to that.
According to the CDC website, the latest research suggests COVID-19 is mainly spread between people who are within six feet of each other. However, it says it can also be spread by touching a surface with the virus on it and then touching one's nose, eyes or mouth, although this is no longer considered a main way the virus spreads.
However, current CDC recommendations call for frequently touched surfaces to be cleaned with household cleaners and EPA-registered disinfectants that are appropriate for the surface frequently.
Hypochlorous acid is listed as one of the cleaning solutions approved by the EPA for use in battling COVID-19.
While surface transmission is not considered to be a main way the virus spreads, the Germinator team says their cleaning services are still a good option for addressing whatever risk does exist from surfaces.
Of course, concerns about COVID-19 hopefully won't be around forever. But Miguel said he believes the virus is changing society in ways that will allow Rocky Mountain Germinator to thrive even after the virus is gone.
“We're all adjusted and it's becoming a way of life,” said Miguel. “I don't know if we are all going to run around with masks for the rest of our lives but I think handwashing and making sure that we are sanitizing the proper ways are preventative measures that are going to keep on going for a long time.”
