Maine businesses pitch in to help meet need for emergency supplies

Courtesy / Ocean's Balance Mitchell Lench, CEO of Ocean's Balance Inc., is one of several Maine businesspeople working to gather supplies for Maine health care providers.

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By William Hall

Maine businesses are pitching in to supply health care providers with personal protective equipment and other essential gear during the current public health crisis.

Several grassroot drives have sprouted on social media, aimed at gathering donations of PPE and other materials.

Mitchell Lench, CEO of Portland-based Ocean’s Balance Inc., launched a Facebook page on Saturday asking for donations. Lench, whose wife is a nurse at Maine Medical Center, started the effort after realizing his company had some extra respirators of the type used by health care personnel.

Ocean’s Balance is a seaweed aquaculture company, but some of its products include seasoning with spices that require workers to use the N95 masks.

“I thought, if we have this, there must be a lot of other companies that also have this type of equipment,” Lench told Mainebiz by phone Tuesday.

Construction companies, dental practices and other types of businesses also use the N95 respirators, which are designed to provide a highly efficient filter against tiny airborne particles. (The “N95” means the respirator blocks at least 95% of test particles that are 0.3 microns in size.)

Since the weekend, Lench has reached out to several other companies, and is starting to collect supplies. He hopes to channel them to Maine Med, the state's largest hospital, or other providers — wherever the need is greatest.

"This is the time to get involved. The more we can do right now, the more we can prevent our hospitals from getting overrun," he said.

Another Maine business, Cumberland-based Casco Systems, is also working to get supplies to the front lines of the state’s COVID-19 response.

Kevin Mahoney, president of the power-grid engineering firm, has volunteered to coordinate the gathering of supplies and hopes Maine manufacturers may even be able to produce some of them.

“N95 masks are already in short supply worldwide,” he wrote in an email. “We would like to make a call to action asking Maine-based firms to assist with production and/or sourcing of the materials and components necessary to make up for these supply chain limitations.”

At MaineHealth, the parent health care system of Maine Med, officials are grateful, but also cautious.

"Given the reports of shortages across the country, and the fact that a disease outbreak of this kind is inherently unpredictable, we have instituted conservation measures and have started to look for new sources for supplies,” spokesman John Porter said in a statement.

"Part of that includes outreach to manufacturers to see if any in our region are able to make equipment that would supplement our usual sources. This outreach is at the earliest stages and, while promising, there still needs to be additional dialogue before we can determine if an area manufacturer has the ability to support our efforts."