Pivoting to Making Masks

MILFORD, NH - With medical personnel and first responders in desperate need of personal protective equipment, Alene Candles in Milford and Peak Achievement Athletics in Exeter turned from producing candles and athletic equipment respectively to crafting face shields.

To date, Alene has made 30,000 face shields in NH and 30,000 in its Ohio facility. “I’m so incredibly proud of our team for banding together to give back to those in the community who are working on the front line to battle the coronavirus pandemic,” says Rod Harl, president and CEO of Alene. “In just seven days, we went from an idea about how we can harness our resources to positively impact the greater good to producing face shields and delivering them to hundreds of community organizations. We are thankful that we can play a role in fighting this pandemic, no matter how small.”

Company leaders brainstormed ways to put manufacturing resources to use during the pandemic. After having discussions with several industry peers, Alene located a face shield design from John Hopkins University and then got to work identifying suppliers, eventually partnering with Thermoformed Plastics of New England in Biddeford, Maine.

Early in the pandemic, Peak Achievement Athletics, the parent company of Bauer Hockey, Easton Baseball/Softball, Cascade Lacrosse and Maverik Lacrosse, was able to shift production to medical-grade masks at the Cascade and Bauer manufacturing center in Liverpool, NY as well as at the Bauer Innovation Center in Blainville, Quebec.

“Our team is built around an athlete’s mentality and the ways we can enhance performance and protection. We viewed the virus as the competition. When this pandemic hit, it was a natural shift to figure out how we can fight back and help the larger cause,” says Ed Kinnaly, CEO of Peak Achievement Athletics.

When orders topped one million, the company shared the manufacturing instructions online making it possible for other firms to join the effort.

“I’m so proud of the way our team responded. We pivoted almost instantaneously to manufacture medical shields. It didn’t take long for orders to exceed capacity, so we made our designs and supplier info public,” says Kinnaly. “Through the media, we urged other manufacturers to step up and help us protect the medical community on the front lines helping others despite not having proper equipment. In the end, we viewed it as a part of our ‘One Team’ mission.”

For more information, visit alene.com and bauer.com

https://www.businessnhmagazine.com/article/pivoting-to-making-masks