Marine Fabricator September/October 2020 - 22

re-pandemic, SewLong Custom Covers in Salt Lake City,
Utah, focused on interior and exterior marine textiles and
boat covers. But when the pandemic hit and the state shut
the company's normal operations down, it almost immediately started producing masks instead, says Clint Halladay,
lead fabricator and production manager for the company. Then, when
Utah began offering masks for free, SewLong quickly transitioned
into making isolation gowns, teaming up with nearby Jack's Do It
Shop, an upholstery maker. Because of this ability to rapidly pivot,
SewLong didn't have to lay off any of its seven employees. In fact,
since it began making these gowns-nearly 200 a day-the company
has expanded to 13 full-time and six part-time staff, says Halladay,
adding they went back to marine work in April.

RIGHT: To keep employees connected,
appreciated and on the same page,
Sewlong Custom Covers holds short
meetings on Monday and Wednesday
mornings. Here, Clint Halladay, project
manager, leads the team at one of
these meetings, asking if anyone has an
employee recognition they'd like to share.
Photo: Sewlong Custom Covers.

SewLong's company culture, built
around two core principles, made
this possible, Halladay says. The first
principle is people matter. This is
very broad, he explains, and includes
customers, employees and families.
The second principle is to work like a
predator, not prey.
"In other words, be proactive,"
Halladay says. "We want to go out, show
up and get things done. These values
enabled us to go out and get the orders
for these gowns."
Staff morale has remained high,
even during the pandemic. As soon as
it hit, Halladay and SewLong owner,
Justin Jones, pulled team members
in and expressed concern for their
safety, encouraging those who were
uncomfortable coming into work to
remain at home. One employee initially
opted not to come in but has since
returned. Another is still working from
home, as of this writing.

COVID-19 has also brought the
employees of Canvas Innovations LLC
closer together. Located in Holland,
Mich., the company specializes in custom marine canvas and has upholstery,
flooring and commercial divisions.
Canvas Innovations also segued
into making personal protective
equipment (PPE), teaming up with
a nonprofit to provide more than
50,000 masks, says Chris Ritsema,
owner of Canvas Innovations. This
allowed the company to bring back
about half of its 10 employees. Now,
it's doing only marine work and is up
to full staff.
"The pandemic underscored the
success of the culture we've built," says
Ritsema. "We kept in close touch with
those employees who had not been
called back. We tried to be sensitive to
the employees' concerns. We pulled
together and got through it and now
we're back to business as usual."

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Marine Fabricator September/October 2020

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