Page 16 - THE SOUTH CHINA BUSINESS JOURNAL
P. 16
c. tODAY
How 10 Small Businesses
are Fighting Coronavirus
in Creative Ways
Article by Lindsay Cates
Associate Manager, Communications and Strategy
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Small businesses producing everything from 3. Sweaty Bands, known for their no-slip
lip gloss to fuel cells have pivoted their entire
operations in just days to produce all types of activewear headbands, is taking the materials that
personal protective equipment. Read how these once ended up as headbands and making them
agile companies are creating new products—or into face masks. They’ve already sent a bunch to
turning up the dial on their everyday efforts—to Tennessee hospitals, and although the masks aren’t
do their part: medical grade, owner Doug Browning believes the
same people who buy headbands will want to buy
1. Kitsbow, a cycling apparel company masks to protect themselves in the general public.
The brightly colored masks are also washable and
in North Carolina, quickly switched their reusable
production teams from making cycling jerseys
to making PPE. “We have a computer-controlled 4. Emily Walker, plant manager at Brookville
fabric cutter, and computer-controlled laser
cutter, and are able to make all the parts in just Glove Manufacturing in rural Pennsylvania, was
a few hours for a thousand face shields,” said prepared to furlough production workers last week
Kitsbow CEO David Billstrom, who was a first when the state closed all non-essential businesses.
responder for 38 years. Production of 26,000 face Then, she got a call from a senior care provider
shields and face masks began Monday, and they asking if Brookville Glove could make face masks.
already have a backlog of orders. “They’re doing everything they can to prevent the
virus from coming in their doors and they needed
2. Three years ago, cosmetics company protection yesterday,” Walker said. Brookville
Glove is now humming with orders for masks
Garb2Art did a one-off product line making hand that offer front-line health care workers some
sanitizer for local hospitals and subscription protection from getting COVID-19.
diabetes kits. Two weeks ago, owner Dawn
Andrews was asked if she could make hand 5. Last week a hospital in New York City asked
sanitizer again. “Customers were begging for
it,” Andrews said. She went to work completely Kathlin Argiro, a professor at the Fashion Institute
changing her production process, expanded of Technology and the chief product officer at
her staff from five to 25, and made her $20,000 Altress, a small dressmaking company, if Altress
investment in alcohol and bottles back in one could make face masks. “The masks themselves
day. Garb2Art sold 50,000 bottles during the are actually pretty easy to make, especially for an
first week of production, and this week plans to experienced sewer, they’re really quite simple,”
double that. Argriro said. Altress pivoted, and the company’s
seamstresses (all working from home) will churn
out 1,000 masks this week.
13 AmCham South China
How 10 Small Businesses
are Fighting Coronavirus
in Creative Ways
Article by Lindsay Cates
Associate Manager, Communications and Strategy
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Small businesses producing everything from 3. Sweaty Bands, known for their no-slip
lip gloss to fuel cells have pivoted their entire
operations in just days to produce all types of activewear headbands, is taking the materials that
personal protective equipment. Read how these once ended up as headbands and making them
agile companies are creating new products—or into face masks. They’ve already sent a bunch to
turning up the dial on their everyday efforts—to Tennessee hospitals, and although the masks aren’t
do their part: medical grade, owner Doug Browning believes the
same people who buy headbands will want to buy
1. Kitsbow, a cycling apparel company masks to protect themselves in the general public.
The brightly colored masks are also washable and
in North Carolina, quickly switched their reusable
production teams from making cycling jerseys
to making PPE. “We have a computer-controlled 4. Emily Walker, plant manager at Brookville
fabric cutter, and computer-controlled laser
cutter, and are able to make all the parts in just Glove Manufacturing in rural Pennsylvania, was
a few hours for a thousand face shields,” said prepared to furlough production workers last week
Kitsbow CEO David Billstrom, who was a first when the state closed all non-essential businesses.
responder for 38 years. Production of 26,000 face Then, she got a call from a senior care provider
shields and face masks began Monday, and they asking if Brookville Glove could make face masks.
already have a backlog of orders. “They’re doing everything they can to prevent the
virus from coming in their doors and they needed
2. Three years ago, cosmetics company protection yesterday,” Walker said. Brookville
Glove is now humming with orders for masks
Garb2Art did a one-off product line making hand that offer front-line health care workers some
sanitizer for local hospitals and subscription protection from getting COVID-19.
diabetes kits. Two weeks ago, owner Dawn
Andrews was asked if she could make hand 5. Last week a hospital in New York City asked
sanitizer again. “Customers were begging for
it,” Andrews said. She went to work completely Kathlin Argiro, a professor at the Fashion Institute
changing her production process, expanded of Technology and the chief product officer at
her staff from five to 25, and made her $20,000 Altress, a small dressmaking company, if Altress
investment in alcohol and bottles back in one could make face masks. “The masks themselves
day. Garb2Art sold 50,000 bottles during the are actually pretty easy to make, especially for an
first week of production, and this week plans to experienced sewer, they’re really quite simple,”
double that. Argriro said. Altress pivoted, and the company’s
seamstresses (all working from home) will churn
out 1,000 masks this week.
13 AmCham South China
