An amazing American phenomenon during World War II saw huge portions of the private sector step up to manufacture materials to keep the nation safe during a critical time of war. The replication of that dedication from the private sector in recent months right here in Michigan’s Great Southwest was deeply applauded today when Cornerstone Alliance and the Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber of Commerce invited Congressman Fred Upton to publicly recognize some of those private sector firms who stepped up to help the war against the coronavirus by pivoting their everyday operations to manufacture safety devices to help get the region and the nation back to work.
More than a dozen local businesses and organizations were invited to the market pavilion at Dwight Pete Mitchell City Center Park in downtown Benton Harbor today to personally receive the thanks of a grateful community and a certificate of appreciation from Congressman Upton recognizing the amazing work they did to help fellow businesses across the landscape find a way to get back to business in a safe manner.
Rob Cleveland, President & CEO of Berrien County’s lead economic development agency at Cornerstone Alliance says simply, “What we wanted to do was acknowledge some of the many businesses in the community who are providing Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, for the companies, residents, and everyone in our region in order to get back to work safely.” While a baker’s dozen were cited today, Cleveland says, “There are a lot more businesses out there, there’s no doubt about it, with all sorts of people providing PPE, but these are some of the businesses that are providing masks and shields and hand sanitizer – the things that ultimately make the consumer feel confident that they can trust in what the business community is doing to keep everyone safe.”
Cleveland told the small group assembled along Main Street in downtown Benton Harbor, “Each and every one of your companies here today is responsible for getting Berrien County workers and residents back to work safely, and quicker. You’ve either manufactured PPE, or you’ve been able to procure PPE for the companies and residents in our community. What I think is important is the diversity in the PPE that’s here with us today. Whether you were manufacturing shields to help patrons get back to their favorite restaurant, or manufacturing hand sanitizer, or procuring the masks that each of us is wearing here today, you’ve each played a critical role in getting our economy back up and going again and that’s incredibly important. So we’re here to celebrate all of you today.”
Arthur Havlicek, President & CEO of the SW Michigan Regional Chamber told the honorees today, “You guys have saved lives. The quick actions you’ve taken to help make sure that our employees, our consumers, and our front liners are protected and safe, are amazing and on behalf of all our Chamber members I want to thank you, because we wouldn’t be where we are today without you.”
Congressman Fred Upton then stepped up to make the presentations to each company or organization involved, jokingly noting, “I’ve been wearing a mask since Halloween. I appreciate everyone who is doing what they’re doing, but let’s face it, life is a lot different these last couple of months. As we struggle to get through this, we’ve all made major adjustments. We know that every business is struggling with this as well.” He went on to say, “We’re all trying to help not only our friends, our colleagues, our peers, but also the people that we serve, to make sure that they don’t get this COVID. We also continue to progress to find better testing, more immediate testing, as well as, obviously, the vaccine.”
On that note, Upton says, “Pfizer in Kalamazoo will actually have two production lines up and running in the next couple of weeks, producing a vaccine that has yet to be approved by the FDA. Pretty exciting.”
Before turning to the certificates, Fred said, “There is light at the end of the tunnel for where we want to be.”
Taking up the certificates, Upton noted with pride, “It was so important to see our district step up. It’s like World War II with the private sector stepping up to get the work done necessary for life to continue. This is just a pat on the back to these fine folks who did the work.”
These are the companies that received the pat on the back today and what they provided to the community:
- Doubleday Office Supply – Hand sanitizer, paper toweling, building plastic shields to protect workers…
- Edgewater Automation – Worked with several other local firms to craft PPE equipment and supplied thermometers and masks…
- Eagle Technologies – PPE manufacturing collaboration with Edgewater…
- Thayer Products — Unable to attend today…
- Competitive Edge – Importing and making domestically masks, shields and producing hand sanitizer, and isolation gowns…
- Adams & Sons Heating and Cooling – Manufactured floor stands for dispensing hand sanitizer…
- Pearson Construction — Unable to attend today…
- Iron Shoe Distillery – Manufactured hand sanitizer during the shutdown in 5-gallon buckets and 8-oz bottles…
- Journeyman Distillery – Manufactured huge quanities of hand sanitizer…
- Lake Michigan College – Utilized the Hanson Technology Center’s Fab Lab to create face masks, face shields and ear protectors…
- JR Automation – Continue to make automated assemblies in very short order for companies making PPE…
- Whirlpool Corporation – Secured huge quantities of PPE materials from China in the form of surgical faces masks, gowns, sanitzer and more through global supply chain partners…
- Berrien County Sheriff’s Department – Instrumental in getting Eagle and Edgewater together for the collaborative efforts locally.
Following the session, Congressman Upton was still pumped, saying, “We’ve had a number of businesses, particularly small ones, but they’ve really stepped up, and there is a real need, let’s face it. No one ever thought that when you go to the grocery store you’d have to have a Plexiglass shield between you and the clerk, no one ever thought you’d have to have all of this hand sanitizer and the need to continually wipe everything down throughout the day at retail stores, the post office or virtually anywhere. We want our workers to be safe, and until we really get the right testing, the therapeutics, and the vaccine, we all have to take steps to protect each other.”
Fred noted, “We’re one of 27 states now with a face mask mandate to protect ourselves as well as others, and in the workplace you have to do that, too. At least in our area, our workplaces are asking, ‘How can we help make this here, create jobs here, but also keep everybody safe?’ It’s a marvelous thing, the hard work, the imagination, and the work to get things done for businesses not only throughout our own communities, but people have been driving for hours to obtain some of the products our companies have been crafting. That’s a good thing for us.”
The best part of today’s recognition, according to Cornerstone’s Rob Cleveland, is that, “You can get everything that your company needs from sources right here in Berrien County. There’s a wide diversity of materials available here, face shields, restaurant partitions, hand sanitizer, face masks, and all of those are critical pieces in making the consumer feel confident that we’re taking the steps necessary to ensure their safety.”
Reminding everyone that back in World War II, it was the private sector that stepped up, Fred said, frankly, “We have an enormous struggle ahead, there’s no question about that, but the certainty is we’re gonna get it done.”
