x
Breaking News
More () »

Carver company cranks out face shields

Lakeview Industries suddenly switched gears in response to the unmet demand for face shields for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

MINNEAPOLIS — Until last Friday the people at Lakeview Industries in Carver, Minnesota had never made a single face shield.  Now, workers there are churning out thousands of them every hour.

For the past 40 years, Lakeview has made custom rubber, plastic and foam parts for a wide variety of industries - agriculture, automotive, lawn mowers, medicine and power generators, just to name a few.

The mad scramble for personal protective gear sparked by the coronavirus caught the attention of the company's owner, John Schwanke.

"I kept watching on the news the people on the front line had a shortage of PPEs, and I couldn’t understand why nobody could get them the product that they needed," Schwanke told KARE. 

"So, I researched what it was they were using and decided that this is something we could make."

Schwanke reached out to local officials in Carver who put him in touch with Rep. Jim Nash of Waconia.  Rep. Nash connected Schwanke to Carver County Sheriff Jason Kamerud, who said he'd be happy to get as many shields as he could.

Rep. Nash then started making introductions to others in the emergency response and medical fields.

"When I had the conversations with various emergency managers and hospital folks they said, 'We need them, we’d like to see a sample'," Nash told KARE.

"And they said, 'The sample looks like what we need, we’re going to buy them.' It was just that simple."

The masks seem simple enough to make - clear, flexible plastic attached to a foam strip with an elastic headband. They're designed for one-time use, so they don't have to last forever.

But the trick is making those shields in mass quantities, which Lakeview was equipped to do. The company has enough raw material to make 8 million of the shields.

"So far, we’ve made over 100,000 of them and we just started building these on Friday. And we anticipate shipping 250,000 a day starting Tuesday," Schwanke said.

Orders are coming in from across Minnesota and several other states.  The company has also donated thousands of the masks locally.

At a time when many companies have been forced to lay off workers, all 85 of Schwanke's have been able to keep working, with extra precautions against COVID-19.

"All of our people are working overtime, working three shifts a day, 24 hours a day. And they’re all very proud to be helping everyone who’s on the front line fight this virus." 

RELATED: Walz says equipment shortage is a concern, vows to supply front-line workers

Rep. Nash said this is reminiscent of companies that switched production during World War II to help the war effort. He said he was amazed how quickly the face shield effort went from mere concept to reality.

"That’s what’s so impressive about folks like them in industries around Minnesota, is they recognize they have the components and technology to do this and then they roll up their sleeves and go do it."

RELATED: Local kayak and paddle company pivots to making face shields for medical professionals

KARE 11’s coverage of the coronavirus is rooted in Facts, not Fear. Visit kare11.com/coronavirus for comprehensive coverage, find out what you need to know about the Midwest specifically, learn more about the symptoms, and see what companies in Minnesota are hiring. Have a question? Text it to us at 763-797-7215. And get the latest coronavirus updates sent right to your inbox every morning. Subscribe to the KARE 11 Sunrise newsletter here. Help local families in need: www.kare11.com/give11

The state of Minnesota has set up a hotline for general questions about coronavirus at 651-201-3920 or 1-800-657-3903, available 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

 

Before You Leave, Check This Out