\u201cThat\u2019s been a lot of fun, and customers really seem to enjoy it,\u201d president Eric Sinclair said. \u201cYou can imagine the auditorium sale was truckloads of product, and our warehouses are beyond full, so we take the products in small segments. It\u2019s been amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a business that can trace challenges throughout history back to Native American wars when it opened in 1888, the current pandemic is a reminder that better times will be coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just continue to find ways to survive by care of our customers,\u201d Sinclair said.<\/p>\n
Family businesses statewide are doing the same, from adjusting their business models to finding ways to support their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is so much innovation occurring among our family businesses,\u201d said Stephanie Larscheid, executive director of the Prairie Family Business Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done our best to connect them with the resources they have needed at every stage of this pandemic, and they definitely have taken it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Montgomery\u2019s, design services have gone virtual, doing Skype sessions with customers, looking through rooms and going through options.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been fascinating to see how well that\u2019s working,\u201d Sinclair said. \u201cOne thing that\u2019s been fun is consumers at home looking at their surroundings and having extra time on their hands are starting design projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
The stores\u2019 large square footage also allows in-person shopping, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe might have one or two customers at a time, so we\u2019re not on top of each other,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve found these might be times for consumers to get the best deals. If they are comfortable with it, they can save a lot purchasing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Montgomery\u2019s also has changed its delivery approach to ship and inspect the products while leaving them in customers\u2019 garages without entering homes.<\/p>\n
To give back, the store hosted blood mobiles in its parking lots to encourage donations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always trying to figure out how to give back to the communities that are good to us,\u201d Sinclair said.
\nHigh-demand time<\/p>\n
In Watertown, Moffatt Products has the same mind-set, even as it juggles unprecedented demand for its products. The third-generation family business designs and manufactures a variety of flex-arm products.<\/p>\n
\u201cImmediately, we saw several of our top customers are definitely making extra products right now to meet the surge capacity nationally,\u201d said Mark Moffatt, the third generation to help lead the business, who serves as its general manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cHospital beds and ventilators are two of the product lines we\u2019re supporting components for, and they\u2019re both surging to keep up with demand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moffatt manufactures a line management kit consisting of two flexible arms that attach to the headboard of a hospital bed on both sides of a patient\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese beds are transport beds,\u201d Mark\u2019s father and company president Dave Moffatt explained. \u201cTo meet demand, our clients have had to streamline the product line down to four beds, and they aren\u2019t doing anything else unless there\u2019s an emergency. Our products are used on two of the four beds, so the volume is soaring on those.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company also makes a flexible arm that holds a junction where breathing tubes come together in front of a patient, holding it in a comfortable position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made sure we had inventory, and sure enough, after two weeks the orders really began to flow,\u201d Dave Moffatt said. \u201cI think everybody\u2019s building ventilators are much as they can right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moffatt Products has reconfigured its production line to involve multiple people in processes that typically require one or two. And it has worked with suppliers to get a \u201cmuch higher flow of material coming our way and sustain it,\u201d Mark Moffatt said.<\/p>\n
The biggest concern is keeping the 20-person team healthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd not knowing how the crisis is going to affect our company and the community,\u201d Dave Moffatt said. \u201cThe picture can change so rapidly that\u2019s probably our biggest concern.\u201d<\/p>\n
They also are helping their community through the crisis. Mark\u2019s wife, Jenna, did her graduate studies in public health. She\u2019s part of the company ownership and is a stay-at-home mother of three who serves on several community boards.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was becoming evident there was a need for delivery of necessities to high-risk individuals\u2019 homes, so I started asking questions in the community and came up with a solid support network to create a volunteer system,\u201d she said. \u201cIndividuals purchase their necessities, and we provide a volunteer to do pickup and delivery to their homes contact-free.\u201d<\/p>\n
Family Enterprise USA<\/a> is the organization that represents all family businesses on a national level in DC; it is not unique to any industry. FEUSA is different from other organizations because it represents and advocates for the families of family businesses and the issues, they face running their businesses every day. Our sole mission and purpose is to promote family businesses and their job growth in America. We also support the work of Family Business Centers across the country. We hope your family will choose to be a member of FEUSA. Family Enterprise USA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Family foundations can donate.<\/a><\/p>\n
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