From bikinis, booze and rock and roll to the hometown heroes that help keep Lex employees safe during the pandemic. A few months ago this sentence would not have made sense to any of us; now it means the difference between open and closed, sick and healthy at their company.

Daily life has changed for many during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Businesses are forced to close and workers are made to stay home during quarantine mandates. However, businesses deemed essential to the fight against the disease cannot close, and Lex is one of these.

Lex Products is a U.S. manufacturer of power distribution solutions. They remain open to support critical facilities such as temporary shelters, hospitals and testing facilities. But remaining open meant they had to increase their employee safety measures in what seemed like an impossibly short timeline.

In just a matter of days, they had to assemble the proper protective gear for employees that remained on the factory floor and implement the social distancing practices recommended by the CDC.

Hand sanitizer seemed to become as precious as gold overnight; however, one of our employees heard on the local news that a nearby distillery in Bridgeport, CT had started making hand sanitizer. Soon Fifth State distillery sanitizer was stationed in bottles all around Lex headquarters.

By the beginning of April, the CDC recommended cloth masks to help prevent community spread of the virus. FJ Swim, a bathing suit manufacturer that an employee passed everyday on his commute to work, became our source for face masks.

Lastly, PPE shields were added to their lineup. Lex was fortunate to gain access to the shields through their business relationship with Upstaging Inc., a theatrical lighting company with roots in rock and roll that, like Lex, had pivoted to serve the emergency response sector.

Hand sanitizer from a distillery in Bridgeport, masks from a bathing suit manufacturer in Miami and face shields from a theatrical lighting company in Sycamore, IL. These are the trio of businesses whose ingenuity shined brightly in the darkness.

At Lex, over thirty years of experience innovating and overcoming to meet power distribution needs has taught them how to rely on each other, our teams and our communities. Together we can get through even the toughest of times. We’re in this together.