Hartford Business Journal

20 Hartford Business Journal • April 6, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Sean Teehan, Matt Pilon and Greg Bordonaro steehan@hartfordbusiness.com; mpilon@hartfordbusiness.com; gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com T he coronavirus pandem- ic continues to bring un- precedented disruption to Connecticut busi- nesses, but after nearly a month of upheaval, many companies have adapted to a new norm. There is still much uncertainty ahead, but Hartford Business Journal tried to take a step back from the chaos and share the stories of how three very different companies — North Haven-based Connex Credit Union, Hartford-based accounting and consulting firm Whittlesey and Plantsville sign manufacturer Sign Pro Inc. — have coped with COVID-19. No company has all the answers to what lies ahead, or how to respond, but we hope your business may be able to take away some continuity-plan- ning pointers from these firms. WEATHER-RELATED DISASTERS PREP SIGN PRO INC. FOR COVID-19 Pete Rappoccio didn't specifically see the current coronavirus crisis coming, but preparations his Plants- ville sign manufacturer Sign Pro Inc. made for weather-related disasters are proving sufficient for COVID-19. "Thank god we've always been on the proactive side of always thinking forward," said Rappoccio, Sign Pro's founder and owner. "Whenever we were buying new computer systems we always bought laptops so we had the crisis control of working remotely if we had to." That forward thinking came as a result of a winter storm about five years ago that knocked out power around the region for nearly a week, and left Sign Pro unable to work at full capacity on orders for signage, fabrications and other work. "How do you run a manufactur- ing facility and continue to meet those deadlines?" Rappoccio said. "That inspired us to come up with a disaster plan." The plan kicked into high gear in March when the spread of coronavi- rus shifted from a far-away problem, to Gov. Ned Lamont ordering busi- nesses to shutter and residents to shelter in place. About half of Sign Pro's 70-person workforce has been working remote- ly using laptops, Rappoccio said. And while he didn't anticipate an emer- gency requiring social distancing, he rejiggered schedules for manufac- turing employees, staggering shifts so fewer people work on the floor at once and extending workshop hours (the first shift now starts at 2:30 a.m. and the plant closes at 9 p.m.). At the moment, Sign Pro isn't seeing much drop-off in business because of a backlog of already- ordered projects like signage for a Nashville airport and a Yale New Ha- ven Hospital parking garage, Rap- poccio said. Those orders will keep the pace of work running without any changes for the next six weeks or so. However, he's seeing some national clients put orders on hold. For example, some of Sign Pro's university clients are now putting off fall, 2020-semester order deci- sions, Rappoccio said. Other sectors could experience similar delays. "It's definitely going to affect the economy moving forward," Rappoc- cio said of coronavirus. Family affair Rappoccio isn't currently con- cerned about having to reduce his workforce like many other busi- nesses across the state. He said he makes it a point to treat employees like family, but when the company started 30 years ago, the staff consisted of a 19-year-old Rap- poccio working out of his parents' house. At the time, he was working for a construction company that needed someone to paint letters on its trucks and cranes. After handling that job, Rappoccio noticed an un- filled demand for such services. From there the business grew from Rappoccio painting signs for local companies out of his parent's house, to a couple of people doing work for race car crews out of a garage in Berlin, to today, a business that built two of the state's most recent visible signage projects — the New Britain Beehive bridge and UConn's eight-foot tall in- dividual metal fabricated sign in Storrs — out of a custom-built facility in the Plantsville section of Southington that Sign Pro moved into five years ago. And those projects are produced and distributed by employees work- ing from home and coming into Sign Pro's headquarters. Rappoccio him- self isn't afraid to roll up his sleeves. He regularly works on the manu- facturing floor. His wife, Suzanne, is SignPro's vice president, and sons — Joseph, a UConn sophomore, and Vincent, a sophomore at Xavier High School — intend to join the company full time once they finish school. For the moment, Rappoccio said, Sign Pro's disaster planning has panned out, as operations run smoothly, and orders remain on time. Further, Rappoccio credited the Lamont administration for clearly communicating with busi- nesses like his, and leading them through the COVID-19 crisis. "Everyone has done a tremendous job," Rappoccio said. "We as a commu- nity have to stand together, and we really have to show that we're willing to support our local [businesses]." • • • WHITTLESEY'S 'PROFESSIONALS' HELP MAKE WORK-FROM-HOME A ROUTINE It was Tuesday, March, 17, and the 165 employees at Hartford-based ac- counting and consulting firm Whit- tlesey were preparing for something they've never tried before: A full- scale work-from-home policy that would kick in the next day. Dealing with Disruption Here's how 3 Greater Hartford CEOs have dealt with the coronavirus Sign Pro Inc. Founder and Owner Pete Rappoccio on the company's Plantsville manufacturing floor. HBJ PHOTO | BILL MORGAN Whittlesey Managing Partner Drew Andrews said his Hartford-based accounting and consulting firm has adjusted well to a work-from-home policy. PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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