Hartford Business Journal

HartfordBusiness.com | January 11, 2021 | Hartford Business Journal 23 stimulates him with constant challenges, including getting his product to customers. Most online retailers have blocked ads from mask suppliers due to scams and profiteering in the early days of the pandemic, so he relies on local customers and word of mouth. "The biggest thing is when I hear the thanks from the doctors and the dentists," he said. "We plan on staying in [the mask business] as long as there's a need." PPE pivots abound TicketNetwork is one of at least 15 businesses statewide that pivoted to making or distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic, said Matthew J. Pugliese, associate state director at the Connecticut Small Business Development Center. "Pivoting is the word of 2020," Pugliese said. At the start of the pandemic, Connecticut manufacturers, retailers and even brewers started making or dealing in items like masks, face shields and hand sanitizer to meet skyrocketing demand. Now the center's business advisors are starting to get calls about recent PPE businesses planning to pivot back to their original products or services. "There was a major hole in the supply chain in the state, now that immediate need has gone away," Pugliese said of PPE. "They are shifting to doing what they were doing." Beyond PPE, many businesses are looking for pivots to a different type of customer relationship in response to the pandemic, like restaurants going from dine in to takeout or retail shops starting curbside pickup. Calls for advice and support have almost doubled at the Connecticut Small Business Development Center over the past year, Pugliese added. "Everything comes back to COVID — it's touching your essential business, it's touching your workforce, it's touching your customers. I think everybody is going to be looking at how do we adjust and be resilient and adapt." "They're making a huge markup and a huge margin on the masks, which is ethically questionable," Vaccaro said. He said he makes just enough on the masks to keep his workers on the job. Meanwhile, TicketNetwork software engineers are packing masks into boxes and other workers are tracking down supply chains and other tasks. More than 1 million masks have gone out from a climate-controlled South Windsor warehouse. "It's not profitable, but it somewhat at a very low level offsets expenses of having employees sit idle," Vaccaro said. "We have a software company where people are sitting around just waiting for the entertainment business to come back," he added. "People are happy we're doing it. People are happy to be working here knowing that we are going through these lengths to keep people employed." For Vaccaro himself, the new endeavor keeps him busy and advantage in settings like surgery suites. But Vaccaro's focus has shifted in recent months to providing the masks themselves, specifically the approved N95 masks needed by dentists, doctors and certain trade workers. Vaccaro's own dentist told him during an appointment this spring that he was having trouble locating masks at any price, much less at a cost approaching pre-pandemic levels. Using Connecticut Biotech's contacts at pharmaceutical manufacturers in India, the company was able to secure a supply of N95 masks that it sells at $1.25 apiece. By contrast, some suppliers were charging Connecticut buyers as much as $13 for a single N95 mask in late March and the first weeks of April, according to a recent report by the Associated Press. Prices remain as high as $6.50 per mask at some major suppliers. from the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, according to federal data. Vaccaro formed Connecticut Biotech in May and soon set out to license face-mask-frame technology from UConn's Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering. Star UConn scientist Dr. Cato T. Laurencin and his team at the institute had designed a method to build custom-fit frames to optimize the masks' usefulness while protecting wearers from COVID-19. The SecureFit mask frames cost $40 apiece and are selling well, Vaccaro said. "The technology's great; it's definitely going to be in my opinion standardized in the future where a lot of folks who are wearing surgical masks will wear the mask frames around them," Vaccaro said. The frames allow for better voice quality and also prevent the mask-wearer's glasses from fogging up, a big Matthew Pugliese PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED MEMBER FDIC Commercial banking that begins with listening. "Putnam Bank… a division of Centreville Bank." Those words do more than describe a relationship between financial institutions. They introduce you to a larger team of commercial banking experts who are eager to listen to your business's needs, challenges, and goals. And with our expanded array of commercial banking products and services, we can help your business — no matter the size — continue to be a vital part of the eastern Connecticut community. putnambank.com | Contact Kim Bushey at 860.753.8516. That's part of what it means to be a division of Centreville Bank. left to right: Clara Angelos Vice President, Commercial Portfolio Manager Mark Light Vice President, Relationship Manager Robert F. Hannon Vice President, Commercial Lending Scott Sheppard SVP, Commercial Services & Government Banking Robert Trivella SVP, Senior Commercial Loan Officer Kim Bushey SVP, CT Commercial Market Head CB/PB 38222 - HBJ ad10x325.indd 1 CB/PB 38222 - HBJ ad10x325.indd 1 1/6/21 9:04 AM 1/6/21 9:04 AM

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