Jacquart Fabric / Stormy Kromer

It was less than two months ago that Northern Michigan manufacturer Stormy Kromer was lauded in this space for its resiliency in manufacturing its signature hats into its 117^th year of production.

Manufacturing continues today at the Ironwood, Mich. facility, but it is face masks and hospital gowns that have taken over the production floor.

Stormy Kromer has joined a long list of American-made manufacturers that are helping with the fight against the deadly Covid-19 virus by making much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) for use in several upper Midwest rural medical facilities.

Stormy Kromer, a division of Jacquart Fabric Products, switched all of its operations into making the desperately needed protective gear on March 25 after having completed a prototype the previous Sunday.

After a Stormy Kromer team of engineers, pattern makers, sewers and production leadership completed a prototype mask, a company representative drove it immediately to a destination to Madison. Wis. for a rendezvous with a purchasing agent from the University of Wisconsin Health Systems, who took the prototype back to the Madison hospital for inspection.

A few tweaks and minor changes were suggested by hospital medical staff, and the Stormy Kromer team was quickly cutting and sewing face masks three days later.

“We really did it in conjunction with the hospital in Madison that was the first to contact us,” said Stormy Kromer President Gina Thorsen. “They had some ideas on design and fabric, so we were working closely with them last week and over the previous weekend. We had only just started on the engineering of the items on that Sunday and by last Wednesday, our first day of production, we completed 1,000 masks.

“Right now, we are shooting for making 2,500 masks per day and this week we just started on the gowns. Our first order went to UW Health Systems in Madison and a small community hospital near us, but we are taking orders from all over.”