MIAMI VALLEY — A Miami Valley company has developed a protective solution for restaurants and schools to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The Miamisburg-based company, C Pathe, normally creates retail store displays. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, their sales stopped, so the business came up with a new plan and started creating protective barriers.
Using plastic, wood and special machinery, workers at C Pathe make barricades used to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
When the pandemic started, the business was faced with uncertainty. They decided to come up with a solution to help both their business and others in the area.
“Essentially it’s the same as a sneeze guard,” said Brett Holdeman, vice president of sales and marketing at C Pathe. “We don’t want any droplets that are sprayed to land on something or someone who’s not sitting next to them.”
“We saw some of these sanitation and barrier options as an opportunity to not only keep us and our employees working but also to allow for restaurant workers and business workers to get back in the office and restaurants,” Holdeman said.
C Pathe’s orders are based on their customers. For restaurants, they’ve made bar and table divider, and in schools, they’ve developed individual shields for teachers and students.
Holdeman said they can make approximately 50-70 partitions per day. Within just a few months, C Pathe has developed thousands of barriers.
But this new adventure has come with its challenges.
“We’ve had to rely on a national network of suppliers to be able to fill the need, especially clear plastics,” Holdeman said. “They were very hard to find. Prices increased on them due to demand.”
With demand for these barriers on the rise, Holdeman told News Center 7′s Katy Andersen the company has no intentions of slowing down.
“Anywhere we can help and as long as there’s a need, we are certainly going to fill that need,” Holdeman said.
Holdeman explained they hope to make store displays again soon. Until then, they will continue to make barriers to help protect people from the coronavirus.