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March 31, 2020

East Hartford co. begins making face shields for medical use

By Zachary F. Vasile, Journal Inquirer

An East Hartford packaging company is answering the increasingly urgent call for face masks as supplies of personal protection equipment at area hospitals dwindle due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Officials at Ardent Display Group say they hope to be producing up to 32,000 disposable plastic face shields per day by the end of the week. About 10,000 will be donated to local hospitals where the need is greatest, and the rest will be sold at a cost for as long as the company is able to continue making them, or until the COVID-19 crisis ends.

According to Ardent President and CEO Donald Budnick, the effort came together in only a week’s time.

Budnick said he realized the severity of the shortages after seeing an online post from state Sen. M. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, a pulmonologist, showing a physician using a plastic bag as a shield over his face.

That image, together with Anwar’s plea to entrepreneurs to come up with innovative solutions to the scarcity of personal protection equipment, prompted discussions with Budnick’s youngest son, Justin Budnick, who as a financial adviser specializing in physicians had heard first-hand about the shortages of masks in health care facilities.

Donald Budnick said Ardent employee Chris Meyer sent him a text message asking if the company had the resources to make face shields of its own, and within hours, a team of designers and engineers, including Budnick’s older son Aaron, were exchanging ideas and drawings over their cellphones.

The working group pooled resources from Ardent’s various business units — which design and manufacture store displays and fixtures, digital signage, and food packaging — and found they would be able to plan, engineer, and produce the shields all in house.

Material sourcing began on Monday, and prototypes were completed the following day. Justin Budnick then arranged for local doctors to inspect and critique the equipment.

Production on the doctor-vetted design began on Thursday.

“The synergies were just amazing with everyone contributing to the final result,” Donald Budnick said. “Each person involved, from the laser operator to our sourcing and logistics team, is grateful to be able to contribute to the safety of those working so hard to protect the rest of us.”

Anwar heaped praise on the firm for responding so quickly to his appeal.

“The incredible innovation and selfless dedication to the local community Ardent is showing through these donations shows that we can all make a difference during these difficult times,” the senator said in a statement.

Ardent isn’t the only local company joining the private sector’s war on COVID-19.

On Wednesday, construction materials distributor NEFCO Corp. donated 5,000 N95 respirators to Hartford Hospital.

“I grew up in Hartford, I raised my family in Hartford, and we built our business in Hartford,” said NEFCO CEO David Gelles. “On behalf of the Gelles family and the broader NEFCO family of 350 associates, we are honored to play a role in supporting the heroic nurses, doctors, and first responders as they fight against this awful virus.”

According to a statement from Gov. Ned Lamont, Gil’s Drywall of Plainville and PW Power Systems of Glastonbury have also donated N95 respirators. The specialized filtering masks were handed over to the state Department of Public Health, which will distribute them to hospitals in need.

Businesses with supplies available for donation are asked to contact the state Department of Public Health to determine the best way to make such donations.

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1 Comments

Anonymous
March 31, 2020

Wonderful wonderful news and thank you

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