Kathleen Bravo, CEO of East Road Beverages, LLC

Business owners James and Matthew Patterson of Orchard Valley Air Solutions have worked with the Western Regional Office since 2019. Their new company, Future Air Filters, was born out of necessity for clean indoor air during the COVID outbreak. They watched as the tragedy unfolded at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home. Within a week, James built a prototype and developed a solution to combat indoor air pollution and help keep the Veterans safe. The company donated units to the Soldiers' Home and others.

In CARES Act services to help small businesses pivot their marketing & operations during COVID-19

Lucas Hoffman and Marco Fenu are engineers who own Inline Motion, which specializes in designing and manufacturing product handling systems for food processing. In 2020, with their engineering expertise and their machinery, InLine Motion shifted production to manufacturing much-needed face shields, using social media to develop an entirely new customer base. The SBDC worked with InLine Motion on avoiding debt and overhead while developing a new product in response to market needs.

Home goods manufacturer Clairmont & Co from Laurel, MS retooled their manufacturing line to produce masks and other PPE when the Covid-19 shutdown first hit. This quick pivot allowed the owners Stephen and his wife Deshawn to bring back their 36 employees and fill a need locally for PPE equipment. As other national suppliers got back in the game, the Clairmonts repurposed the sewing machines they purchased to make PPE to add a pillow and soft goods line to their permanent catalogue.