When the pandemic struck, manufacturers of all types turned on a dime to produce PPE and other critical supplies. Now the goal is to keep them coming.
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The pandemic took many businesses by storm last year, sweeping many to the wayside.
But others emerged stronger.
The word of the year was “pivot,” and Maine had a number of businesses that quickly changed their business model to provide essential goods.
Small manufacturers like Westbrook-based American Roots, which makes fleece sweaters and other apparel, started making protective masks, as did Gorham-based Flowfold, a maker of wallets and backpacks. Distilleries like Newcastle-based Split Rock Distilling and Portland-based Maine Craft Distilling started producing hand sanitizer.
But no company had a larger impact than Guildford-based Puritan Medical Products. And its impact — with a new production facility in Pittsfield, hundreds of new jobs and $140 million in CARES Act funding — will continue into 2021.
Puritan was an example of what author Malcolm Gladwell talks about in “Outliers.” It had its 10,000 hours (and more) of experience producing medical swabs. When the Trump administration came to Puritan and asked it to produce literally millions of swabs, to be used in COVID-19 test kits, the company was able to quickly adapt.
With help from Maine’s largest construction company, Cianbro, which offered a vacant warehouse and construction services, and Bath Iron Works, which created manufacturing machinery, Puritan was able to expand production to a second major site, in Pittsfield, 33 miles from the Guilford headquarters and primary manufacturing site.
Maine’s congressional delegation was instrumental in coming up with $140 million federal aid to help with the rapid expansion.
If “pivot” was the word for 2020, “persist” might be the word for 2021.
Manufacturers that made major shifts in 2020 will this year face the added challenges of finding qualified workers, operating on tighter profit margins and struggling to sustain their original businesses.
