Coronavirus in Pa.: How a plastics maker helps companies get safely back to work
Candy WoodallTwo days before WellSpan Health opened its drive-thru testing site at the York Fairgrounds, Bill Frantz got a call.
The call was one of many that Frantz, the CEO of Plastic Fabricators Inc., had received from businesses throughout various industries since mid-March.
WellSpan was already a customer of the York manufacturer, but last month it was looking for something different: 58 plexiglass shields that would separate nurses and patients at COVID-19 testing sites.
The demand for plastic barriers is so high at Plastic Fabricators that Frantz said he called a major supplier and "wiped them out" of all their clear polycarbonate.
"I don't know how long this will continue or if it's the new norm," he said.
WellSpan engineers painted the framing blue and deployed the 58 panels throughout six counties in southcentral Pennsylvania, according to WellSpan spokesman Ryan Coyle.
Other local companies, including the U.S. Postal Service, Stauffer's, BAE Systems and Spring Grove Dairy Bar, have asked for shields and separators for their businesses to keep employees and customers safe. The plastic barriers aid in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
"Providing plastic shielding is a step that will help protect employees," said Nate Wardle, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health. "This is spelled out in the recent order for workplaces, specifically speaking to those in retail, but I believe it also would be beneficial in other contexts as well."
The virus in Pennsylvania has sickened more than 34,000 and killed more than 1,500. Nearly 2,800 patients remained hospitalized on Tuesday, and 667 were on ventilators, which are life-saving machines that help patients breathe or breathe for them.
As Pennsylvania leaders discuss the right time to reopen the state, business owners are figuring out how to protect employees when they return to the workplace and provide safe spaces for customers.
Frantz's company, which was started by his father more than 50 years ago, is getting calls from people all over the region and in other states.
The panels his company makes are similar to the shields you see in grocery store checkouts these days, but the sizes are made to fit the customer's needs.
Postal workers at the White Street post office in West Manchester Township are using the plastics as separation screens between workers and customers. Stauffer's is using them to separate food industry workers. Spring Grove Dairy Bar is using them to separate tables.
"Every application is different," Frantz said.
The plastic barriers are helping BAE employees get back on the job. Workers returned early Monday after a one-week shutdown because of a coronavirus outbreak. At least five employees, who worked in the same area at the defense contractor's West Manchester Township facility, tested positive for COVID-19, according to BAE spokeswoman Alicia Gray.
About 60 plastic barriers are being used at BAE to separate workers on the manufacturing floor.
The company makes a mix of combat and amphibious vehicles for the U.S. military.
Frantz said he's happy that Plastic Fabricators can fulfill this need if it helps getting people back to work.
"It is a feel-good thing, but I don’t want to be a profiteer of war either," he said.
He's referring to the war against the coronavirus.
Frantz can tell by some of his product lines that some of their customers don't have any customers right now.
But his business is "pretty steady and strong," though some of its projects came to a standstill in the HVAC industry and health industry, he said.
"This virus turned the world off," Frantz said.
As Pennsylvania and other states try to reopen, there's a demand for protective panels throughout the country.
The demand is high for the plastic used to make those panels, and it's hard to get. But Frantz said he has been getting it where he can and has a good supply.
"People who are needing them from us are getting them," he said. "We have procured enough material that we can keep on helping."
Candy Woodall is a reporter for the USA Today Network. She can be reached at 717-480-1783 or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.