Gabriel Weber
Staff Writer
For the second day of the Chautauqua Lecture Series Week Five theme “Innovation in Capitalism: How to Meet 21st-Century Challenges?,” top executives Marcella Kanfer Rolnick and Mark Smucker at their respective companies, GOJO Industries and the J.M. Smucker Company, will provide insights into two successful business models.
Both companies have been family-led for generations, and while they’re leading brands in their fields, they have widely differing products. The J.M. Smucker Company offers an array of consumable commodities like Smucker’s fruit spreads; Jif peanut butter; Uncrustables frozen handheld sandwiches; Folgers, Dunkin and Café Bustelo coffee; Hostess sweet baked snacks; Milk-Bone dog snacks; and Meow Mix cat food.
GOJO is a manufacturer of skincare and hygiene products; Purell Hand Sanitizer is one of their most well-known products as America’s number one hand sanitizer. As GOJO executive chair, Kanfer Rolnick leverages innovative thinking to continuously stay on top of the market.
“At GOJO, we stay ahead by falling in love with the problem, not the solution. This drives us to keep asking better questions, listening deeply to our customers and applying science-based innovation to meet real-world needs,” Kanfer Rolnick said.
“Whether launching new hand hygiene technologies, expanding into adjacent markets like surface disinfection or rethinking how we use AI and data, we’re always learning and adapting. Our culture of curiosity, collaboration and resilience keeps us moving forward — not just to lead the market, but to shape it.”
GOJO outlines five values to live by as team members of the company: people at the core, better together, uncompromising integrity, always learning and bold leadership.
“Our ‘GOJO Purpose’ puts people at the heart of all we do and that begins with our own team. We believe that when our team members flourish, they bring their best to the world. We strive for every team member to feel they belong and are accepted, welcomed, valued and heard,” Kanfer Rolnick said. “Our values guide how we treat one another every day: with dignity, care and a belief in each person’s potential. We celebrate accomplishments, share learnings and build each other up. This is what makes GOJO not just a great place to work, but an intentional place to grow and thrive.”
J.M. Smucker has five basic beliefs: be bold, be kind, do the right thing, play to win and thrive together. Due to the company’s wide-reaching products, cultivating a workplace that supports all employees remains a priority for the company.
“Most people eat peanut butter, most people drink coffee. And the people that are consuming our products don’t look like me or talk like me,” Smucker said to AP News in 2024. “Continuing to have our employee base be representative of what our consumer base looks like helps us serve the consumer better.”
Through dedicating themselves to the consumer, J.M. Smucker and GOJO are looking toward long-term sustainability practices. J.M. Smucker has consulted with EcoAct, an international organization supporting businesses’ efforts to reduce climate impact, to help establish science-based targets for their emission goals, while GOJO’s latest product launch is their most eco-friendly touch-free dispenser yet with a dispensing system that uses 30% less plastic per refill and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 38%.
“We’ve adapted to 21st-century challenges by being deeply committed to our ‘GOJO Purpose’ — ‘Saving Lives and Making Life Better through Well-Being Solutions’ — and staying relentlessly curious. Our value of ‘always learning’ means we don’t assume we have the answers,” Kanfer Rolnick said. “Instead, we ask bold questions, listen closely and evolve quickly. Whether it’s reimagining hygiene in a post-pandemic world, developing science-based innovations or building new leadership capabilities, we’re constantly learning from our past, our colleagues and the world around us. That’s how we stay resilient, relevant and ready for what’s next.”
