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In a generous act of kindness and support for the community Wieland Designs, Inc., a local furniture and transportation interiors manufacturer, donated enough sewn masks to cover all City employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City received 275 masks, which will protect employees who must continue providing essential government services to the community from transmission of the new coronavirus. The masks also help safeguard residents who interact with City staff.
Mayor Stutsman said he was grateful for the donation, and that the act is an example of the ways the Maple City comes together in times of need.
“We want to emphasize that the City is taking every measure necessary to protect our employees from transmission at their workplace as much as possible,” he said. “This gift from Wieland Designs will help get us closer to our goal of protecting both staff and residents. I thank them for their generosity.”
Wieland’s Industrial Sewing Specialist, Sandy Phebus, worked on several prototypes until specifications were met by Dr. Dan Nafziger, Goshen Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer, along with the Materials Management Department, IC Team and an infection prevention doctor.
Kip Wieland, CEO of Wieland Designs, Inc. made the following remarks:
“It’s a gift to be able to do something like this for our community,” he said. “Initially we figured it was just for Goshen Health; and, now it’s going from there. It seems like it’s the right thing to do; and, we’ll keep going. I don’t know for how long. Like so many others, we’re taking it one day at a time.”
Wieland Designs (est. 1976) engineers and manufactures furniture for Fortune 500 companies, including many hospitals and healthcare facilities. They have been deemed an essential business during Indiana’s stay-at-home order, and have been able to transition some production lines to making face masks to donate to those in need.
In addition to equipping every City staff with face masks, the Mayor’s COVID taskforce is creating a set of safe work practices to help mitigate the viral spread as more municipal employees return to work.
Grace Bonewitz, Director of Recruitment and Retention at Wieland Designs, said the company also has implemented practices to mitigate contagion.
“Wieland Designs has a COVID-19 Leadership Team that meets daily to ensure the continued health and safety of our team members,” she said. “To date, we have implemented temperature checks, visitor restrictions, remote working when possible, sanitation stations, social distancing, hand washing reminders, increased janitorial services – and of course, wearing face masks.”