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From Home Furnishing Business
Eclipse Now Producing Face Masks for Healthcare Professionals
March 27,
2020 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
Mattress manufacturer Eclipse International will start producing an initial batch of 38,000 face masks from its New Jersey factory that will be donated to healthcare professionals to help them battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The three-layer masks are being made from two materials currently used to make the company’s mattresses.
The first run of masks will be donated to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, a New Brunswick, New Jersey, network of hospitals. The North Brunswick factory will produce the masks and is committed to producing more as needed.
The company has shared a mask pattern, specifications and source information for the elastic bands with its network of 17 domestic licensees, some of whom have already begun their own mask production programs.
“When I first learned about the shortage of medical masks, we started looking at what solutions we could provide. When I started seeing the hoarding and price-gouging going on in the marketplace, I was taken aback and we fast-tracked our own production,” said Stuart Carlitz, president and chief executive officer. “No healthcare professional in this country should go without proper protection and once we determined we had an adequate solution, we put the gears in motion to make this happen.”
Carlitz said he has approached hospital administrators who are thrilled to learn that the company is going to help with the shortage.
“We’re happy to be able to help, and see that some of our partners will be donating to their local hospitals, too,” Carlitz said, adding that he shared the plan on his social media pages over the weekend. “Since then, I’ve seen a number of companies step up and get involved in helping fill the void. That’s what our industry does. We jump in and help when there’s a crisis.”