When the rest of the city was stocking up on toilet paper, Justin Jacobson was buying hundreds of gallons of anti-viral cleaning solution.
Jacobson is founder and president of Platinum Events, a more than 15-year-old events company based in Northbrook. But when the coronavirus pandemic started spreading across the country, canceling events of all kinds and sizes, including some Platinum Events had planned, Jacobson decided to pivot.
“I didn’t have time to sulk,” he said. “It was just like, ‘OK, what am I going to do?’ … This domino effect is happening and the next domino to fall is going to be Chicago.”
Jacobson, 38, saw an opportunity in the sanitation industry, and launched Platinum Sanitation in mid-March. The team is compiled of some of Platinum Events’ original 15 employees, plus five new hires.
The employees suit up in head-to-toe protective gear and sanitize offices and other facilities, Jacobson said. They’ve done supermarkets, educational settings and manufacturing facilities.
The work isn’t totally new to the crew. Platinum Events provides lighting, staging, floral arrangements and decor. After events, it sterilizes all of its equipment and furniture.
Still, the employees were trained to do the new work, Jacobson said. Platinum Sanitation has applied for certifications, launched a new website and just shot a commercial.
“If I didn’t pivot, I would have just been a lamb to the slaughter. There’s no question,” he said. The events business “is a very cash-forward business. … If we have no deposits coming in, we have no income coming in.”
Jacobson said he plans to get Platinum Events back up and running eventually, but will also keep operating Platinum Sanitation.
“This is going to be a need that is going to forever be entrenched in people’s minds and business owners’ minds,” he said.
Twitter @AllyMarotti
Editor’s note: The coronavirus pandemic is forcing Chicago-area companies and workers to face harsh realities about their paychecks and their place in the local economy. The Tribune is reaching out to hear, and share, their stories.
