A commentary by the owner of Esquimalt-based Bauco Access Panel Solutions Inc. One of a series on how local businesses are dealing with the pandemic.
Like other businesses, my company 鈥� Bauco Access Panel Solutions Inc. 鈥斅爓as rocked by the sudden onset of COVID-19. We are still alive and kicking and I want to share some of our unique ups and downs and give credit where it is due.
Bauco is a locally owned firm with 60 employees that has been designing, manufacturing and selling access panels for the North American construction industry from our plant on Devonshire Road in Esquimalt since 1996. We sell world-wide, but 80 per cent of our business is to the United States.
On Friday, March 13, the phones stopped ringing.
It was an anxious weekend.
We looked at our company assets: We had orders for a few weeks鈥� work (we were wondering, though, if these would be honoured. Could our customers still pay? Could we still ship into the U.S.?)
We had some money in the bank. We had an employee benefit plan that included sick days (but not 14 days).
We had raw materials in stock. More broadly, we had access to robust public health. And, most important, we had 60 employees who are the foundation of our business.
There were many unknowns: What if our employees got sick? What would it take to stay healthy? Would our local and distant suppliers continue to operate? How long was this going to go on?
The access doors we manufacture are often customized. They allow access into ceiling and wall cavities, for maintenance to pipes and HVAC systems, in projects such as hotels, condominiums, museums and shopping malls. Orders can be 1,000-plus pieces for a hotel tower in Florida, or a single door for a residential renovation in New York, Toronto or Saanich.
As a factory-to-jobsite supplier, our business model depends on accurate advice to architects and contractors, and fast and reliable service to job sites.
To make all this happen, we have engineers, production staff, a logistics/shipping team and highly skilled customer-service staff, as well as marketing, HR, finance, IT and management. When taking inventory of our assets in mid-March, we included a company culture that promotes innovation, supports employee well-being and cultivates a positive work environment. I trusted this would help lift us up through the times ahead.
So, on Monday, March 15, the Bauco COVID-19 plan started to take shape.
Our employees were very anxious about their jobs. This needed to be addressed first.
The finance team said we had enough money to guarantee all jobs at full pay for at least one month. We also could, and did, extend our paid-sick-day policy and told people to stay home when sick without fear of job loss. We gave a transparent timeline for updates to these policies and followed through on all commitments.
To address health concerns and ensure we were all on the same page, we brought in a health expert to meet with the whole staff. She answered questions and explained what COVID was, how it spread, and what people could do at home and work to reduce risks.
We committed to taking all steps possible to prevent infection, and encouraged employees to bring forward their ideas, since they know their routines best.
We set up office workers to work from home and, like everyone else, became familiar with Zoom and Google Hangouts. We reduced bottlenecks in our buildings (for example, removing the chairs from the coffee room), and set up hand-wash stations and barriers.
We divided our manufacturing crews into three time-staggered shifts. Each worked a reduced load, but was paid for full time (thanks to that money in the bank) to allow for physical distancing. Team spirit has developed from this, with friendly rivalry between the green, purple and yellow crews.
We started working on new marketing opportunities, including options to support health-care needs. HR posted a new job in marketing.
In April, revenue dropped by 60 per cent and we gratefully qualified for the federal wage-subsidy program, which further stretched our reserves and reduced anxiety.
And then, the phones started ringing again. Many of our U.S. customers are still operational. They need reassurance that the U.S.-Canada border remains open to shipment of goods, and then they order. Weekly, customers take the time to contact us with thanks for excellent service.
Our employees are innovative and hardworking and great company to have.
Maybe that鈥檚 the secret to a great company.
We don鈥檛 know what the future holds. Much depends on how the U.S. is affected by COVID-19. But for now, no one has lost their job. We are busy, healthy and grateful for every productive day at work.
I want to thank my team, our vendors, all frontline workers and our provincial and federal officials for taking such a level-headed approach.
