The ingenuity of the many Westchester small business owners, who continue to think about ways to help keep our first responders safe and how they can keep their employees on the job and the company afloat in the middle of the COVID-19 epidemic shows us that Made in America still means something and can help save lives.
Rye resident Billy Draddy recently appeared on Fox News to talk about the recent changes at his company, Summit Golf Brands. Draddy, a Rye resident, is creative director of Summit Golf Brands and B. Draddy golf apparel. Draddy’s companies make their golf clothing here in the USA, at a factory in Wisconsin, which shows that you can still make it in America, provide manufacturing jobs for workers here, and still turn a profit.
Draddy explained to Gold Digest that last month, “we got an email through our customer-service department from one of our customers who had suggested that we could make masks for emergency-care workers. I spent the weekend developing a first prototype. We got on a conference call to discuss, then looped in our Wisconsin warehouse team who would be responsible for executing. I sent my first prototype out to them. Then through our in-house embroidery and heat-sealing machinery developed two prototypes that we then took to the Wisconsin Emergency Management Agency.”
Using their existing inventory of golf polo shirts, Summit Golf Brands, (SGB) began making protective masks that were needed for the Wisconsin county hospital, fire, and police departments where the SGB manufacturing plant is located.
“In the protective mask shortage, we saw an opportunity to use our existing product and design skills to help fight the pandemic and the entire company has rallied behind this effort. I continue to be overwhelmed at the resiliency and resourcefulness of our entire team and even more so by those who are battling this pandemic on the front lines.” said Chad Delp, CEO, Summit Golf Brands
We tip our cap to Billy Draddy, and his company for doing the right thing for America. The companies advice will be needed in the months and years to come, as we begin the process of relocating critical supply chains for medical equipment and pharmaceuticals back home from China.
Also when this is over, we will be looking for SGB golf shits and clothing apparel because they are made in the USA but also because of the efforts you made to keep first responders and medical staff safe. As we write this story, thousands of surgical masks have been shipped out from the SGB facility in Wisconsin to first responders in Iowa County, Wisconsin.
If you have a local person or company who is making a difference, we would like to thank them in our newspapers. Send your ideas to dmurphy@risingmediagroup.com .
