Northwest Aerospace News June | July Issue No. 15 | Page 37

When the COVID-19 virus hit, it became immediately apparent that
the world didn’t contain enough personal protective equipment (PPE).
Seamstresses, from homemakers to sewing manufacturers, jumped into
action to determine if they could help solve the problem of how to cover
the faces of our frontline healthcare workers.
Kaas Tailored was one of the companies that quickly responded to the
call from Providence Health & Services to sew both face masks and make
face shields. Representatives came to Jeff Kaas’ business in Mukilteo —
which normally produces products for the aerospace industry, furniture
for Nordstrom’s stores, and a personal line of furniture called Design on
Stock USA — asking how the volume of masks and shields could be
produced rapidly?
Kaas, a Christian man and business owner with the philosophy of “growing
people for a living,” said “yes” to the imperative and jumped into
planning.
“It’s my calling in life to grow people for a living. It makes for really
good products because if you focus on the people — helping a human being
to reach their full potential — the by-product is of course a financial
profit. The more we focus on growing people, the greater the results.”
JUNE | JULY 2020 ISSUE NO. 15 37