A local manufacturer is lending a hand to help area businesses keep their staff healthy and safe.
Schott Gemtron Canada is offering up to 10 sheets of tempered glass free-of-charge that businesses can use to shield their staff members who interact with clients and customers.
"We produce flat-tempered glass mostly for the appliance industry," said Russ Barron, supply chain manager. "We noticed that a lot of the stores and stuff in the local area were putting up plexiglass in their businesses for production, so Klaus Schneider, our plant manager, came up with the idea last week that perhaps they should be putting glass in instead of plexiglass."
Earlier this week, the Midland facility produced 120 pieces (sized 30"x42") that are available for pick up at the factory located at 125 Albert Street.
Barron said the response has been very positive, both internally and externally.
"We've given out up to 35 by Friday afternoon and have more scheduled for pick up Monday or Tuesday," he said. "When the guys found out about this, they were really excited and proud that they were able to do this."
Those reaching out to Barron are coming from a variety of professional fields.
"We have manufacturing facilities that are looking to put this in their break-rooms and lunch-rooms and doctors and even restaurants," he said, noting tempered glass lasts longer in comparison with plexiglass.
"A lot of companies are putting in plexiglass and everybody is in cleaning mode right now," he said. "With plexiglass, once you clean it a few times, it's going to start to fade and get cloudy. Tempered glass is going to last a lot longer, and be crystal clear for a much longer period of time."
The factory, which has about 120 employees, worked to produce these sheets during regular production hours.
"We've opened it up to the community for the next month, so if it takes more than that, we'll make more as needed," said Barron, who noted the company wanted to support the community in some way during this crisis.
"We all live here," Barron said. "We're all going to the same stores. We want them to stay open and we want people to stay healthy. It seemed like a really logical thing. I'm really happy that it has taken off as well as it did."
He said he knows everyone will feel the current situation's economic impact.
"Our sales are going to be down," Barron said. "They already are for April and they will be going into May. We're already feeling the brunt of it as well."
Despite that, he said, the consensus was that this was a necessary step to be taken.
"The material itself isn't terribly expensive and production time is available right now as manufacturing altogether is slow right now," Barron said. "We wanted to take advantage of our guys availability and try to do something good for the community."
Those interested in taking advantage of this opportunity can reach Barron at [email protected].
