March of 2020 changed Californian lives, starting with the Mayor’s declaration of local emergency and ‘Safer at Home’ orders taking place. Applied Companies, a Veteran-Founded and Woman-Owned Small Business, was one of many small businesses who had to think and work fast in-response to the pandemic to keep employees calm and safe as well as continue to serve the defense industry and make deliveries of mission-critical military equipment on-time. A combination of regulation compliance and safety measures were taken right away, and Applied Companies’ leadership made the decision to not only respond to the pandemic internally, but to also put engineering and supply chain resources toward finding solutions to expedite our nation’s recovery. These responsive efforts led Applied Companies into new business ventures that continue to grow.
On March 23rd, Applied Companies’ declared its ‘Essential Business’ status to partners, customers and suppliers: “We are open, operational and ready to support critical programs! Applied Companies’ services for the defense industrial base fall within the definition of essential as outlined in California’s Safer at Home Order.” Human resources took to the CDC and OSHA’s guidance to ensure safety throughout our factory. All salary workers had the new ability to work from home, and warehouse workers received a new 4/10 schedule to reduce indoor population. To ensure safe conditions, safety measures were taken such as: social distancing, hand washing, limiting visitors, moving internal meetings onto web-based communications, PPE and sanitation supplies offered to all staff, and improved air filtration throughout facility.
After adhering to the new adjustments, Applied Companies’ immediately brainstormed ways to contribute to the emergency response. As a family-ran company who is proud to serve the United States and be in business since 1958, Applied’s leadership felt it necessary to offer their 60+ years’ experience in manufacturing and supplier base to increase output and capacity for emergency-response needs. A notice went out on May 8th to offer our services including but not limited to rapid-production of CDC-compliant HVAC equipment in support of Mobile Hospital/Mobile ICU shelters and ventilation equipment. Discussions related to first responder vehicle safety, mobile medical operations and more were worked on by our engineering and design teams during this time.
In July, our Vice President, Joe Klinger, presented the idea of our Cleanroom Classroom product offerings. The impacts of distance-learning in education is a major stressor on parents, kids, and the economy alike. As environmental control experts, Applied Companies decided that Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a critical topic in the conversation of recovery from the pandemic. Rapid-production started for a medical-grade, but commercially accessible Filtration Unit that can be used in the classroom to advocate for reopening and in-person learning with improved and safe IAQ. Outreach to local government officials, economic development councils, air standard experts, commercial contractors, public and private schools, and more was facilitated in order to absorb knowledge and details to incorporate in our design and product offerings. Group efforts were made with local school districts, the city council, and local HVAC technology experts to advocate for re-openings on the basis of clean IAQ using pandemic-response and IAQ equipment.
Today, we have multiple plug-in mobile filtration units in development and plan for a busy 2021. An LLC for Applied Filtration is underway with plans to emerge into commercial markets from schools to gyms, theatres, nursing homes, movie studios, airports, and more. Applied offers free consultation to those seeking guidance to reduce COVID transmission and reap the many benefits of having clean breathing air.
