South Huntsville manufacturer making masks for Valley hospitals

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - A south Huntsville manufacturer is juggling federal contracts and producing masks to take on the global coronavirus pandemic.

South Huntsville nonprofit Phoenix is manufacturing protective masks for Huntsville Hospital and Crestwood Medical Center.

The nonprofit provides job placement and employment for people with disabilities, and contracts with the federal government to provide goods.

President and CEO David Perez said roughly 10 professional sewers have been moved toward making masks for local hospitals without impeding the organization’s Department of Defense contracts.

“We have simply done some creative shifting of personnel, we’re still meeting those deadlines, we also have some other ideas about contacting the customer about some potential delays, but at this point we are on time," he said.

He said over the last two weeks, Pheonix has produced more than 1,000 masks and plans on reaching a pace of 2,000 masks a week.

“We need to maximize those numbers, we are local, if something happens where the ability to get masks in shuts down again, we’ll be operational," he said.

He said the company is considering keeping a smaller force of sewers to produce the masks after the pandemic ends.

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