Page 38 - BusinessWest February 7, 2022

ment is being relocated to Westfield, where Mestek will manufacture the company’s radiant heating baseboard products sold at Home Depot stores across the U.S. This opportunity means Letendre needs to hire at least 50 more employees.
“Orders for our fasteners continue to stay strong at home centers and retail lumberyards. In the last year, demand has also picked up in our flat-roofing business, so instead of slowing down, both divisions grew in sales.”
“In addition to trying to keep a healthy workforce here, we also have to expand, and that’s a real challenge,” Letendre said.
On top of attendance and retention bonuses, Mestek has expanded a program that encourages employees to increase their wages by developing additional skills.
“We want to have people with a variety of skills so they can fill in for each other in a pinch,” he said. “Of course, that versatil- ity has become even more important dur- ing the pandemic.”
Of course, the pandemic has also
generated increased demand for Mes-
tek HVAC products that circulate large amounts of air. Whether it’s for new con- struction or replacing an existing system, Letendre said this area of the business is booming. “We’re seeing an onslaught of orders for these products, which has been great.”
When the pandemic first hit, McGov- ern anticipated a slowdown in business for his company, but the exact opposite happened. OMG’s fastener division makes several types of screws used primarily
in residential housing and on backyard decks. The first year of the pandemic saw a huge increase in backyard projects and home renovations, which drove demand for all those fasteners.
“Orders for our fasteners continue to stay strong at home centers and retail lumberyards,” he explained. “In the last year, demand has also picked up in our flat-roofing business, so instead of slowing down, both divisions grew in sales.”
Toner has manufactured the elastic used for N95 masks for years, long before anyone had heard of COVID. Graham explained that his company’s produc- tion was for a vendor who supplied the masks to U.S. Navy hospitals around the world. At the beginning of the pandemic, when demand for N95 masks exploded, he ramped up production from one line to three.
Workforce
Continued on page 43
Peter Letendre says lead times for some products have been extended because of a lack of raw materials or people.
38 FEBRUARY 7, 2022
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