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For Business Journal

4 min read

There was an urgent need at an urgent time, and distiller Jim Hough didn’t hesitate to jump into the mix.

The coronavirus was encroaching on Pennsylvania in mid-March, and Hough heard that Washington Hospital was short on hand sanitizer. As a founder, owner and operator of Liberty Pole Spirits in downtown Washington, he realized his business could provide at least a partial remedy.   

“We wanted to help and this was a perfect fit for our capabilities,” said Hough, owner with his wife, Ellen, and their sons, Rob and Kevin.

Sanitizer should be at least 85% ethanol, or grain alcohol. “You need a high-proof alcohol base for sanitizer,” Jim said. “Our still is not really designed to produce high-proof ethanol, but we babied the equipment, ran it through three times and had ethanol.”

After speaking with Washington Health System officials, Liberty Pole donated 90 of the 115 gallons of sanitizer it produced to WHS. The rest went to Washington police and fire, the correctional institution and several private enterprises.

Liberty Pole is not the only distillery in Washington, and not the only one to produce and donate sanitizer. So did Red Pump Spirits on North Main Street, about a half-mile from Liberty Pole on West Maiden. Ed Belfoure, owner of Red Pump, donated to the Washington County Department of Public Safety.

COVID-19 has cut a swath of death, depression, fear, discord, economic woe and misery throughout the world. One beacon among the gloom, however, has been the humanitarian spirit and collaborative spirit that many businesses, organizations and agencies have displayed during the pandemic. Those spirits have been evident in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and not just among the makers of spirits. Many people are striving to help others – in some way – during a crisis. 

Crown Castle USA is a huge communications infrastructure management company, responsible for connectivity throughout 50 states. It is a national firm, based in Houston, Texas, with offices at Southpointe. Crown Castle, the second-largest employer in Washington County behind WHS, likewise has extended its local outreach during the pandemic.

Jonathan Hart, the company’s government affairs director, works in the Cecil Township business park. During a recent online presentation, he said Crown Castle’s cafe in Southpointe has prepared and donated thousands of meals to a half-dozen or so organizations in Washington and Butler counties. And the company, he added, has given about 1,000 laptops to students.

“We put our resources to good use even if we’re not in the office,” Hart said. “We take our commitment to the community very seriously.”

So does Alisa Fava-Fasnacht, managing partner of Marketplace at Emerald Valley. In addition to running her restaurant/specialty food store on South Main Street, she coordinates “food” events in downtown Washington, recruiting cafe owners, distillers, craft butchers and other restaurateurs to bring their wares to get-togethers such as “Harvest on Main.” It is a win for hungry patrons and a financial win for merchants.

A Scenery Hill farmer, Fava-Fasnacht continues to work closely with retailers during the pandemic in a spirit of collaboration. She has sold items from shop owners who were limited to takeout sales or closed, including biscotti and casseroles from a nearby coffee shop, flowers from a store next door and local wines. Other merchants have reciprocated by carrying her goods.

The shop, a longtime supporter of the Greater Washington County Food Bank, is now assisting City Mission with food donations. The Marketplace also is involved with the Farmers to Families food box program, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched to boost farmers, distributors, food banks and other public-service organizations – and, especially, those in need.

“We partner with businesses and farms in the regions to fill boxes as prescribed by the USDA,” Fava-Fasnacht said. “It’s a heavy collaborative experience to put food on people’s tables while driving economic impact.

“This is local businesses helping other local businesses. We have a lot of goodwill out there.”

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