Signs of the Times - May 2020 - 32

The masks sewn by JDS Sign Supply employees
are for friends and family who work in frontline positions, as well as local hospital staff.
announced that his company had
sent 500,000 respirators to Seattle
and New York City, two areas of
early COVID-19 infiltration. Days
later, the company said it would not
increase prices for the respirators it
was manufacturing. Per Bloomberg,
by late March, 3M doubled its global
production of N95 masks - a form of
protective equipment that is used to
shield the wearer from about 95% of
airborne particles and liquid that can
contaminate the face - to 100 million
a month.
Another company, Provis Graphic,
has converted its 3D-printing capacity
- typically meant for illuminated
signage - to produce face shields for
frontline healthcare and law enforcement officials. With its present
injection-molding process, Provis can
generate 1,000 face shields per day.
Provis initially focused distribution
in the regions around Sarajevo, the
capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
where the company's production is
based. (The US branch is located in
Minneapolis.) Provis expected to
32

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

MAY 2020

export face shields to the US by midApril, and has made its 3D-printed face
shield production files free to anyone.
(Contact egd@provisgraphics.com to
request the files.)
It's also possible to affect positive
change on a smaller scale, and that's
what JDS Sign Supply employees
have done, led by call center director
Patti Moberly. They've sewn masks
for hospital staff, as well as for JDS
employees with friends and family
who work front-line positions at
nursing homes, clinics and other
medical facilities. Summa has cut
masks for first-line caregivers with
the help of volunteer seamstresses,
and the company has also used its
flatbed cutters and laser cutters to
cut surgical aprons.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
International Sign Association
President/CEO Lori Anderson stressed
the importance of sign companies'
continuing to provide products and
services to areas such as healthcare
and food markets. "Mandates and

guidelines regarding which businesses
are deemed 'essential' are rapidly
changing and often confusing as
cities and states have issued stay-athome orders," Anderson said, "[but]
our industry has been agile enough
to offer products or adapt their
equipment use to assist hospitals,
restaurants and to meet other
communication needs."
Specialty Graphic Imaging Association President and CEO Ford Bowers
noted that most states have recognized print as an essential business.
"This has helped stave off forced
shutdowns in many areas," he said.
"There are also numerous government
programs that, although a work in
progress, also aid to preserve staff
and continue operations long enough
for businesses to return to a normal
level of activity."
Both Anderson and Bowers
encouraged businesses to use
government programs for help,
with each highlighting the Families
First Coronavirus Response Act, and
the Small Business Administration's
Signs of the Times - May 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - May 2020
