Udder Cream’s creator gets slot on ‘Today’ ‘Today Show’

Officials of the Valley lotion manufacturer say they believe in giving back.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

SALEM — The creator of Udder Cream is scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Today” show to explain why his Salem company has donated $500,000 worth of products to the show’s charity efforts.

In an interview Monday, Bill Kennedy Sr. said the reason is simple: “You’ve got to give back. If you don’t give back, you can’t take.”

His son, Bill Jr., said he was surprised when he got a call from a “Today” show staffer who invited his father to appear Dec. 3.

“I asked why we were getting air time, and she said, ‘Because you didn’t ask for it,’” said the younger Kennedy, president of Redex Industries, which makes the skin moisturizing lotion with the unusual name.

The Kennedys have been donating products to the “Today Show” Holiday Gift Drive since 2004. Donated products are given to organizations that help poor families all across the country.

“That’s always been instilled in us by our mom and dad — giving back,” Kennedy said.

He is joined at Redex by his sisters Linda Kuzior, technical director, and Lorraine Winterink, advertising and marketing director. They have a brother, Brian, who is a lieutenant colonel with the Marines.

Bill Kennedy Jr. said he called the “Today Show” right away when he first heard about the gift drive. He said organizers were happy that he called because they thought Udder Cream would be a good gift for adolescent girls, who don’t usually receive a lot of donated items.

Redex this year donated 40,000 units of Udder Cream, including four-ounce tubes and six-ounce bottles.

The company also has donated 3 million foil packs of Udder Cream to troops overseas and has provided about 2,000 tubes to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Mahoning Valley and Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley.

Kennedy declined to say how much Udder Cream the company produces, but it is sold in stores all over the country and in a dozen other countries. The company employs 22.

The elder Kennedy, a pharmacist, developed the cream more than 30 years ago while working for a farm co-op. He was asked to get the greasiness out of a cream that was used on cow’s udders. He then saw its potential as a skin moisturizer. He bought Redex, which was making veterinary pharmaceuticals, and eventually dedicated the plant to making Udder Cream.

shilling@vindy.com