FREDERICKTOWN, Ohio — We first introduced you to Zach Myers just two months ago. The Fredericktown man, and owner founder of Zace Brand is just one of a half dozen in the United States still producing denim.
But oh, how times have changed since then, not only for Myers, and small business owners alike, but all of us.
- An Ohio man has shifted production of denim jeans to surgical masks to help protect those on the front lines of the coronavirus fight
- He’s currently reaching out to medical professionals in Ohio to help fulfill demand
- He’s s also taking orders from residents via his Facebook page
“People started to send me messages about mask shortages and things like that, and I kind of tried to dismiss it, you know, as much as I could consciously, and it just really just started to kinda of build up inside to the point to where I realized we needed to take action,” said Myers.
So Myers decided to halt production of denim products and one week ago, decided to put his resources to work making masks for medical workers.
He read up on CDC guidelines, calling for 100% cotton, similar to the N-95 masks, and came across a stock supply of government issued, Army ripstop fabric.
“Extremely tight, so the fabric that we're using matches those requirements, and double-layered. And as you can see here, they have pleats in them, so that they expand open,” said Myers.
Myers and his crew of three, and 12-year-old son Diesel, have developed three different varieties — two traditional face masks with elastic and tieback ear straps and a button bandana — in a variety of form fitting sizes.
He says he has enough elastic to produce 1,000 of the traditional face masks and 10,000 of the button bandanas in two weeks.
Right now he has orders shipping to Arizona, Indiana, Las Vegas, Georgia and New York.
“Assistant directors at ERs, anesthesiologists, just different sectors of health care, have reached out to me and placed orders because you know, some have zero supplies, some have limited supplies, and the ones who have limited supplies are told to reuse these N95 masks,” says Myers.
Myers says he's currently reaching out to medical professionals in Ohio to help fulfill demand.
And he's also taking orders for $5 dollars each item from residents via his Zace Brand page on Facebook.
He says he'll continue along this path as long as it’s needed, and believes this calling was a no-brainer.
“This isn't a for-profit effort. What we'd like to have is enough to just enough to cover our material and our labor and do what we can to try to curb some of the exposure for people. The hope has to come from within and I think that humanity as we communicate throughout the world with each other through social media each day, knowing everybody is impacted the same, but also is responding in a positive way, that gives us hope," said Myers.