2020 was a year for the history books. Taking the world by storm, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc in the child care industry.   Concerned about potential infection, parents began withdrawing their children from daycare and learning programs as safety protocols continued to change. The pandemic has caused the cost of quality care to increase by 74%, making it more difficult to purchase necessary sanitation supplies, compensate staff, and ultimately remain open with fewer enrolled children. The unfortunate reality left many businesses in a state of disarray. However, to some, the ZONO cabinet was a saving grace.

Despite declining enrollment and a decrease in profits in the child care industry, ZONO Technologies’ sales boomed in 2020. The need for reliable disinfecting and sanitizing methods had never been greater, and ZONO Technologies was ready to help! Yet, while ZONO’s business thrived, the market they served was suffering. It was the perfect time for the company to give back. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, ZONO Technologies’ CEO, Walter Mann said, “We have been incredibly blessed this year, so I would like for ZONO to make a donation that benefits children in the local community.”      

The University of West Georgia’s College of Education’s Early Learning Center was already looking to raise funding for a collaborative learning space for children across western Georgia. The ZONO would make a perfect addition to this communal space for children where the use of manipulative toys, learning instruments, and other shared items could be disinfected and sanitized quickly and easily with the ZONO cabinet. With no end in sight to the global pandemic, children must be cared for and their development must continue. Any contribution that ZONO Technologies could make to the College of Education’s initiative of expanding high-quality and safe services to students and families is a win for everyone!

On Monday, April 5, 2021, Dr. Chelsea Morris, Assistant Professor in the Department of Literacy and Special Education, received the ZONO Disinfecting and Sanitizing Cabinet for the University’s Early Learning Center. “We were very surprised in the fall when the Early Learning Center received a phone call from ZONO Technologies inquiring about the population we serve and our sanitization needs. At the beginning of the year, we had to respond to the pandemic and make an instructional decision to remove materials that were not able to be sanitized from the on-site preschool classrooms such as dress-up clothes, small blocks, and stuffed animals/puppets, and revise our processes to include more dedicated cleaning time in the clinic and center services and training.” The ZONO accommodates large quantities of these items, disinfecting and sanitizing them in just 30 minutes per cycle, allowing these materials that were so enjoyed by the students to be brought back into the classroom. The staff at UWG and the families it serves feel a sense of security knowing that the ZONO is addressing their disinfecting and sanitizing needs during a time when it matters most, with a chemical-free solution beneficial to its users’ health and safety. 

About ZONO Technologies

ZONO Technologies (ZONO) distributes the ZONO Ozone Disinfecting and Sanitizing Cabinet to various industries including child care, sports & fitness, military, public safety, museums, and more. The ozone-based system has been extensively vetted and tested by independent laboratories, verifying that the technology kills 99.99% of common surface viruses+ like Norovirus and 99.9% of common surface bacteria* like Staph and E. coli without the use of harsh liquid chemicals. For more information visit www.zonotechnologies.com.