NEW ULM — Phil Vorwerk, owner of United Com-
mercial Upholstery, had a rough week recently
when he had to lay off some employees as the
market for his marine seat cushions and furniture
fell amid the coronavirus crisis.
“I’ve been in
business 35
years and
that was the
toughest week
I ever had.
I’ve always
been proud
of employing
people.”
Now, UCU in
New Ulm has
pivoted its
production
to making
protective
face shields
and isolation
gowns for
healthcare
ation gown on a table after it was cut out by a
workers,
lstery in New Ulm. The front and back parts will
allowing him
lation gown for medical staff that are combat-
to keep his
remaining
45 employees busy and providing gear in high
demand.
“We were watching all this when it started in New
York and everyone was begging for stuff. At first
we said, it’s too bad we aren’t set up for that. But
then we said, we have the equipment, we have 30
sewing machines, we have the knowledge.”
But first he needed a pattern for a face shield and
gown.
“We have a friend who works in an ER and we
went over and got one from her and patterned it
and started cutting them.”
Vorwerk’s regular suppliers didn’t have the clear
vinyl for shields or other materials for gowns so
they started checking with other suppliers. “We’re
keeping our purchasing agent busy.”
They were able to find raw materials from a vari-
ety of suppliers, but Vorwerk said most suppliers
are facing some shortages. “People that had two
months of inventory on Monday were running out
by Tuesday. That tells me there are a lot of others
like us out there doing this. That’s heartening.”
For the isolation gowns, they use a laser cutter
that seals the seams and then there is some sew-
ing to do. “We can make 160 gowns an hour.”
Late this week they were focusing on the face
shields. “We’re getting a lot of calls for them,
mostly from Minnesota. A lot of calls are from
nursing homes.”
“We can make a lot of them in a day. Right now
the bottleneck is getting the clear vinyl for the
shields.” Vorwerk said they are pricing items to
just cover their costs.
They continue to make some of their marine
products, but it’s taken a back seat. “I think cus-
tomers will understand if we have to delay some
orders,” he said.
“We’re just glad we’re in a position to do this.”
United Commercial Upholstery
2009 North Broadway | PO Box 126
New Ulm, MN 56073
Phone: (507) 359-2277
www.ucuinc.com
MAY 2020
63