ONE OF THE BIGGEST LESSONS WE LEARNED THROUGH THE PANDEMIC WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING FLEXIBLE , ADJUSTING PLANS AT A MOMENT ’ S company ’ s new board and owners were left wondering about their future . On March 16 , 2020 , the company had no choice but to halt production as a non-essential business per the governor ’ s order – but only temporarily . A few weeks later an Akron , Ohio-area Plexiglas ® material manufacturer reached out to P . Graham Dunn for help with the assembly of personal protective equipment ( PPE ).
The PPE project allowed P . Graham Dunn to retain the majority of its employees and resulted in the production of more than 1 million face shields during a six-week period . Then , on May 5 , 2020 , the company received the green light to open its doors once again . After about one more week of PPE assembly , P . Graham Dunn was able to get back into the groove of manufacturing its own products .
“ One of the biggest lessons we learned through the pandemic was the importance of being flexible , adjusting plans at a moment ’ s notice and keeping our expectations in check ,” said Patrick . “ Also , recognizing and adapting to the sensitivity of our workforce . Everyone has different opinions , responses and concerns related to the pandemic and we ’ ve had to navigate a wide range of expectations .”
Leading into the 2020 holiday season , demand for P . Graham Dunn products had never been higher . In fact , Patrick said the company had to embrace an “ all-hands-on-deck ” approach as many employees found themselves doing jobs outside of their normal scope of responsibilities just to keep up . Fortunately , perhaps due to the tight-knit family culture and willingness to pull together when times were tough , the company wasn ’ t just able to survive during this time , it thrived .
NOTICE , AND KEEPING OUR EXPECTA-
TIONS IN CHECK .
Patrick Helmuth , CEO P . Graham Dunn
“ Thinking back over the past year and what we have all lived through , we are ever grateful to our hard-working employees who were – and still are – willing to pivot and persevere ,” said Patrick . “ We traveled through a lot of peaks and valleys to get to where we are today , and we ’ re excited to see what lies ahead for P . Graham Dunn .”
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