Production to Resume in Support of “Critical” Infrastructure

March 30, 2020

To our Valued Distribution Partners and Field Sales Team,

The Governor of the State of Michigan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic executed a “shelter-in-place” order that took effect on 12:01 a.m., March 24th. This order required that all non-essential businesses suspend operations. Sections 8 and 9 of this directive references the guidance offered by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”), under the Department of Homeland Security, when defining “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers”. This guidance by CISA provides an important definition and call to action of “Ensuring Community and National Resilience in the COVID-19 response” and speaks to the “special responsibility” in maintaining your normal work schedule in support of our critical infrastructure.  These Critical infrastructure areas are as follows:

  • Healthcare/Public Health
  • Government, Federal State and Local
    • Department of Defense
    • Police and Civil Support
    • Water/Wastewater/Public Works
  • Food and Agriculture
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Energy
  • Transportation and Logistics
  • Communication and Information Technology
  • Chemical
  • Financial Services

Prior to our state of Michigan order taking effect and in support of the CDC’s guidance on “social distancing” our team worked diligently to move all inside sales, order processing, detailing, and technical support and customer service team members out of our Decatur and Benton Harbor facilities. As previously shared, these important and pre-manufacturing support functions remain in operation. Each of these team members can be reached by phone or email and this guidance and information can be found on our website (special-lite.com) as well.

We have been communicating with various State, County, and Local government authorities to ensure our understanding of the Executive Order issued by Governor Whitmer. While we are doing everything possible to keep our employees and partners safe, we also have a responsibility to do our part in support of the critical facilities and infrastructure that must be there to serve our communities at large. To that end, effective April 1st, Special-Lite will return to work a limited workforce to resume production. We will do so while taking all necessary precautions in the protection of our team and following the CDC “best practices” for protecting our employees from the virus. Members of our leadership team will partner with our stakeholders and review our current backlog and incoming orders to determine “essential” orders and prioritize as appropriate. Based on this input and the need to support critical infrastructure while prioritizing employee safety, we will review incoming order volume on a daily basis to assess the scale of our production operation. 

While our team will likely be reaching out to you in the coming days, please review current orders that you have with Special-Lite and determine those that you feel fit the description and have a critical install date. Currently, new orders are being scheduled for shipment in approximately 6 weeks.

Thanks for your understanding and support.

Very Sincerely,
Steve Benscoter
President & COO
Special-Lite, Inc.

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