OC Business Journal

Amber Enriquez,

MANUFACTURING: ECOS aims for safer, cleaner products

■ By AUDREY KEMP

For decades, cleaning product developers have been legally allowed to hide their ingredients—including those known to be harmful to human health and the planet.

“Most of our competitors didn’t disclose what went into their products, because they didn’t want people to know,” said Amber Enriquez, general counsel of the familyowned Earth Friendly Products of Cypress, which manufactures over 200 green cleaning products which are sold under the ECOS name.

“We are always lobbying for safer and cleaner products. As a mother of three, I feel very strongly about it.”

Enriquez and Earth Friendly Products CEO Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks took the issue to Sacramento, where they lobbied for ingredient transparency: something Earth Friendly Products has prioritized for years.

In 2017, the California Cleaning Product Right to Know Act was signed into law, requiring that all cleaning products companies list ingredients on their labels by January 2021.

“Amber is a pragmatic force and valued member of the C-suite and executive management team,” said Vlahakis-Hanks, who in 2016 was named a Women in Business Award winner by the Business Journal. “Her guidance and commitment are unparalleled, and it’s a great honor and privilege to work alongside her.”

Enriquez’s efforts at Earth Friendly Products—which in 2014 earned a Business Journal Family-Owned Business Award—has also earned her a Business Journal recognition.

She was given the Rising Star Award at the Business Journal’s 11th annual General Counsel Awards on Nov. 18.

Climbing the Ranks

After graduating from Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law in 2009, Enriquez relocated to Washington State to assume a role as general manager for Earth Friendly Products, whereby she oversaw the construction of the company’s new manufacturing facility.

In 2012, she and her family returned to Orange County to establish the company’s first legal department.

Today, she holds the highest-level legal position and addresses all legal and regulatory matters with a growing team of six women. She heads legal strategy and operations for the company’s four U.S. manufacturing facilities, global operations in Europe, and sales in over 65 countries.

“Not only does [Enriquez] provide counsel on legal rights and new and existing laws, but she also offers a unique functional business insight that she gained from her experience as the General Manager of an operating division, prior to becoming the company’s first general counsel,” VlahakisHanks said. “Spanning both a domestic and international perspective, Amber is both a growth and best practices driver within the company.”

Sustainable Solutions

For Enriquez, sustainability must be tackled on all fronts.

Under her leadership, Earth Friendly Products achieved not only carbon neutrality, but carbon positivity, and has been named Safer Choice Partner of the Year by the Environmental Protection Agency four times.

She also developed an international brand protection strategy, including a portfolio of over 110 worldwide trademarks in 51 countries, to protect the company’s intellectual property.

“I don’t want the legal department to be solely concerned with legal liability, but how to grow the company,” Enriquez said. “Our IP filings protect and poise us for more growth.”

Some of the company’s most innovative products include ECOS Treeless Paper Towels, made from renewable bamboo and

sugarcane waste, and the ECOS Liquidless Laundry Detergent, dissolvable sheets designed to reduce plastic waste.

Much of the company’s innovation is spearheaded by Enriquez’s sister, Jenna Arkin, who was recently promoted to chief innovation officer at the company.

When the pandemic struck, Enriquez said she and her team decided to stay “ahead of the game.”

In March 2020, she sent the C-suite home and formed a COVID-19 Response Committee, for which she worked tirelessly, often seven days per week.

“It was so difficult going home,” she said. “We met on Zoom every week for an hour, simply to catch up with one another.”

The company’s efforts paid off, as the company reported zero COVID-19 transmission across worksites.

Cleaner World

As for future endeavors, the ECOS product pipeline looks promising; it must be, if we want to ensure a safer and cleaner world for future generations, according to Enriquez.

Enriquez, a three-time winner of the “Parent of the Year Award” at her children’s school, said she hopes public schools adopt less toxic hand sanitizers for children, such as the one ECOS has produced long before the pandemic.

“Parents are completely unaware,” she said. “Children line up every day for germ gel, while teachers disinfect their desks. That’s our mission: the children matter.” ■

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2021-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://ocbusinessjournal.pressreader.com/article/281754157592870

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