COLUMBUS, Ohio — We introduced you to Dana and Chet Peters — brothers and both Marine Corps veterans — last year when they told us about their Columbus based metal company, Milspin, that makes everything from custom grill grates to firearm and motorcycle accessories.
But the brothers may have found a new niche with their brass Covid Key, which they say is the "key" to help flatten the curve.
- The pandemic has people thinking twice about every door knob, countertop and surface they touch, but it's also led to some clever innovation
- Columbus-based Milspin switched gears to design a product to do the dirty work for you
- Milspin is producing and fulfilling a thousand orders per day of their brass Covid Key
Others seem to think so, too, as Milspin is producing and fulfilling a thousand orders a day, with even more orders coming.
“Extremely high demand, I can only scale up so quickly. So, I've been able to not only employ the 16 people that we have, but I'm also outsourcing work to manufacturers here in Columbus. Absolutely, it's a good feeling,” said owner Chet Peters.
Covid Key's brass hand extension means no contact with doors, switches, or push buttons.
The device is also compatible with touch screens and credit card machines.
I had a first-hand look at the process, which begins with a laser cut before the keys are cleaned and dried, and then tumbled around to remove extra metal.
They get a final rinse and dry, then checked and packaged — all in the span of 8 hours for a batch of 1,000.
And with health and safety literally being the bulk of their business for the time being, the brothers and their employees are ever mindful of the importance of social distancing and sanitation.
“We spray down all our work stations, all the high touch services, we're taking as much precautions as we possibly can, next to shutting down and going bankrupt, which is just not an option. I can not let this ship go down. There are too many people relying on us,” said Peters.
The two brothers and fellow employees say now, more than ever, it's important to buy American.
“Labor costs are definitely a factor why a lot of companies moved, we've never been about that here. They employ veterans, they employ civilians and we're all about manufacturing in America and bringing it back here,” said employee Ezequiel Perez.
For more information visit the company's website.