BEAUMONT, Texas — The need for personal protection equipment is at an all-time high for doctors and medical personnel, and some industrial companies are stepping up to meet that need.
About 30 employees at Hexa Containment are focused, around the clock, on one thing. Masks.
President Casey Hall knows the fight against the coronavirus is bigger than he is.
"This isn't a Texas problem or a Beaumont problem, this is an America as a whole problem," Hall said. "So, we say 'hey, what can we do to help out with this?'"
He says the idea to help supply what's become an urgent need across America was an easy one.
"We just went to the drawing board, got our engineering and operations department involved. Came together and said we can manufacture these facemasks," Hall said.
They created a 'face shield' and starting selling them Tuesday.
"Put it to you this way, we listed this for sale yesterday and our guys worked super late last night fulfilling orders. I can already tell you, we're planning on another late night tonight," Hall said.
He said more than 2,000 masks sold on Wednesday.
The company typically makes products for oil spills.
"We're an oil and gas company, I never would've dreamed we'd be selling face masks to dentists, doctors and firefighters," Hall said.
Hexa's face shields are being sent across the country. They have also partnered with the state of Texas and Gov. Abbott.
"It's been a really cool process. We're just trying to do our part," Hall said.
HEXA Containment is making 7,000 masks per day on top off their normal workload on the industrial side that they're still manufacturing for.