VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Virginia Beach small business is meeting big demands spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
News 3 got an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at Premium-PPE, a company that’s made millions of masks for folks around the country.
“We're helping millions of people, and we're protecting millions of lives,” Premium-PPE CEO Vitali Servutas said.
The company began around the start of the pandemic.
“The idea of having the opportunity to bring a product back into the states from a manufacturing perspective is super exciting for us,” Brent Dillie said. “How could we be resting when you see these stories about these front line workers that are in hospitals, and they're washing masks, reusing masks? It had to happen quickly because the need was quickly.”
Dillie and Servutas said it takes, on average, 10-15 seconds to make a mask from start to finish on their machine. Currently, they’re producing 1 million masks a month, and with a new machine, the company told News 3 they soon expect to be making 2 million masks a month.
“We're doing everything we can to source as much of the product, and ideally all of the product, from the United States,” Dillie said.
Dillie and Servutas said they’ve sold masks to several workers and healthcare groups, as well as food, service and manufacturing industries.
Related: Up to 80,000 N95 masks a day can now be sterilized in Newport News for front line workers
They'll continue producing for people around the country.
“Small businesses can still manufacture [and] can still do it well in the United States,” Dillie said.
They’re staying prepared with a clear message.
“Get the products that are for Americans, by Americans,” Servutas said.
