Local suppliers, county work to fill PPE gap as businesses begin to open up

Several local manufacturers are making personal protective equipment such as masks and hand sanitizer. (Public Domain)

Before many businesses can open, owners first must secure personal protective equipment with two local agencies stepping up to the challenge to help owners find and purchase what they needs.

This week, Kent County announced the Kent County Back to Work initiative where the Kent County Board of Commissioners has allocated $2 million of the County’s CARES Act funding to provide person protective equipment at not cost to qualifying small businesses and other employers. Available PPE includes eye and face protection, gloves, hand sanitizer and thermometers.

“We need to focus on getting our economy back on track, making sure employers have what they need to safely reopen and employees fee safet to go back to work,” said Kent County Board of Commissioners Chair Mandy Bolter. “Our Board listened to countless business representatives who were concerned about the ability to source PPE. We ant to remove that roadblock and use the County buying power to help where we can.”

To quality, employers must be located in Kent County and must employ 100 people or fewer. Qualified employers may place PPE requests either online or by calling the PPE fulfillment center at (616) 245-3636 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. Calls will be taken in English or Spanish.

All qualifying requests received by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, June 4 will be entered into a random selection process. The first-round selection will take place on Friday, June 5, and a third-party fulfillment center will begin filling requests on that date.

Those selected in the first-round selection process will be contacted after their requests are filled, and they will be told where they can pick-up their order. Requests not picked up by employers within five business days of notification will be returned to inventory.

The program will continue accepting employer requests and running daily random selection process as long as program funding is available. If an employer is not selected in the initial drawing, they will remain eligible either until they are selected or until funding is no longer available.

Face shields are another PPE product available from local manufacturers.

Local PPE manufacturers

The Right Place, Inc. has developed and launched the West Michigan PPE Supplier Directory. This directory features West Michigan manufacturers who are producing high-demand PPE supplies, along with contact information to procure the supplies.

As West Michigan begins the process of a phased reopening, including today’s restart of manufacturing operations, companies can use this directory to fulfill their critical PPE supply needs and ensure a safe workplace reopening.

“As the region’s employers begin the process of restarting operations, we are proud to offer this resource to assist them in securing PPE from local manufacturers,” said Birgit Klohs, President and CEO, The Right Place, Inc. “The depth and breadth of the PPE available showcases the manufacturing prowess of our region. We are still a community who makes things, and this expertise has served us well as the community navigates this crisis.”

Companies can use the directory to source a wide variety of commonly needed types of PPE such as face masks and shields, gowns, googles, gloves, sanitization products, thermometers and more. More than 60 local companies are featured in the directory.

The West Michigan PPE Supplier Directory lists several Kentwood and Wyoming business that are making PPE productions. Some of the Kentwood and Wyoming businesses listed and the products they have are: