NJMEP and Face Shields Help Put Hatteras Press Back on Track

Background

Hatteras Press has been manufacturing in New Jersey for over 30 years. Located in Tinton Falls, this full-service print shop is committed to providing clients with the highest quality print solutions which are produced 95% in-house. Hatteras Press is a strong believer in establishing true relationships with their customers and community.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced local governments all over the United States to begin mandating the shutdown of businesses deemed ‘non-essential’. Many state governments oversaw the selection of which manufacturing companies should be considered essential. This proved disastrous. All manufacturing is essential, especially in the case of a pandemic. Closing a manufacturing plant that a government official deemed ‘non-essential’ would cause a domino effect that impacts an untold number of other manufacturers up and downstream.

Challenge

At the very beginning of the pandemic, factual information was difficult to come by. Business leaders were being bombarded by executive order after executive order. Oftentimes, these executive orders seemed to contradict themselves or provided sets of guidelines without any specific details.

Fear and uncertainty surrounding the manufacturing industry during the first couple weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic created a challenging business landscape for Hatteras Press. They were fearful that their business would close, and they couldn’t find the information on the executive orders that were being released each day.

Sales began to dip and uncertainty on which businesses would be deemed essential continued to put even more pressure on Hatteras Press.

Solution

Immediately upon discovering that businesses were going to be shut down by state government, NJMEP sprang into action. NJMEP is not a lobbying group, but advocacy is a large portion of the business’s efforts. By bringing together the New Jersey manufacturing community to highlight the importance of keeping all manufacturing open in the state, the Governor ultimately allowed these businesses to continue operating.

To address the misinformation that was prevalent during the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, NJMEP made it a mission to examine and summarize the governor’s executive orders. These summaries were reviewed by NJMEP affiliate attorneys then shared with every manufacturer NJMEP could reach. Only the facts were provided.

Hatteras Press began manufacturing face shields and temporary bedframes out of materials that they would normally print on.

Participating in the NJMEP COVID-19 supply chain database allowed Hatteras Press to get their newly manufactured face shields in front of state officials. This connection between the state and Hatteras Press was facilitated through the NJMEP COVID-19 supply chain database. New Jersey’s state police needed face shields and Hatteras Press was able to connect with them through the NJMEP COVID-19 supply chain database. This resulted in the state of New Jersey placing an order with Hatteras Press for 100,000 face shields.

Results

Collaborating with NJMEP benefited Hatteras Press in the following ways:

• New Sales: $1,500,000
• New Employees: 50

“I got in touch with Chris [Account Manager, NJMEP], I got in touch with Rob [COO, NJMEP], and they helped get the company’s name where it needed to be.” Bill Duerr, President, Hatteras Press stated. He explained what this engagement with NJMEP helped produce, “We got a nice order from the state of New Jersey to create 100,000 face shields.”

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