It’s Great to be “Essential” … and Working!

While health officials talk on TV about “flattening the coronavirus curve” – a geometrical reference to slowing the virus’s rate of infection – we’re still curving metal at Max Weiss Company.

Our company is deemed an “essential business” under Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order. We qualify based on work involving infrastructure, defense, transportation and health care. Our steel fabrication, metal forming and tube bending processes continue unabated.

Make no bones about it, though: The COVID-19 crunch has hit us. Workers who felt unsafe coming in, whether for their own health or their family’s, were given leave. Employees who can work from home are doing so. Those who travel to our plant were provided authorization letters as working for an essential industry.

An outside company will deep clean as many areas of the facility as possible. We’ll continue to follow the coronavirus guidelines for employers issued by the Centers for Disease Control.

Yet, the (steel bending) show goes on. Everyone pitches in to keep metal fabrication operations as normal as possible.

Recognize the guy on the forklift in the photo? It’s Dave Gregg, our Director of Operations. It’s not his typical role. Yet he’s demonstrating a principle often applied to riding a bike: Learn how to do it once, and it’s a lifetime skill.

We’re thankful to keep going during a trying time for our state and nation. Rest assured, we’re familiar with the concept of “essential.” The principles of top-notch customer service, high-quality production and on-time delivery are essential to how we do business – day in and day out, regardless of extenuating circumstances.