Click for Video by Mitsu Yasukawa. NorthJersey.com
By Richard Cowen, NorthJersey.com
The textile mills and dye houses that gave Paterson the nickname Silk City are almost all gone, but one that has survived the endless trade wars is now stepping up in America’snewly declared “war” on the coronavirus.
Until two weeks ago, LBU Inc. was cranking out tote bags with corporate logos at a 130-year-old factory in Paterson’s Bunker Hill section. Then the virus invaded America and shut down much of the economy, and suddenly there wasn’t much demand for the company’s products.
So heeding the calls of state and federal officials, LBU has hastily switched to more precious merchandise. Repurposed in a matter of days, the factory is now churning out 100,000 cloth face masks and gowns a week, items in desperately short supply for health care workers fighting the outbreak.
“We were very busy before this, but once the coronavirus hit here, everything just stopped,” owner Jeffrey Mayer said during a tour on Wednesday. “But we were able to repurpose quickly. I didn’t have to lay off my workers, and we’re proud to be making protective gear that hospitals, nursing homes and other medical workers will need.”
Nationwide, hospitals dealing with the outbreak face a severe shortage of masks, gloves and other “personal protective equipment” needed to keep medical staff safe. “We are in desperate need of more PPE,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday, as he repeated a plea for more equipment from a federal stockpile.
LBU’s white, woven masks won’t replace the most in-demand N95 masks, the type that filter out 95% of airborne particles. But they’re still useful for local nursing homes, doctor’s offices and support staff in hospitals and can help relieve the demand those workers have put on the N95 stock, Mayer said.
The quick switch at LBU caught the attention of Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, who on Wednesday paid a visit to Mayer and his 100 workers with the factory in full throttle. Each mask is made by hand, so there was little time for celebration, and the workers spent most of the time hunched over sewing machines or cutting fabric.
Sayegh echoed President Donald Trump’s recent assertion that America is “at war” with the coronavirus. Paterson manufacturing once played a big role in World War II, cranking out military hardware for planes, tanks and artillery, he noted.
“We helped to win one war, and we’ll do it again,” Sayegh said.
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