​See 5 Oakland County Businesses Making Gear For First Responders

Joey Oliver
·2 min read

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI — Five more Oakland County manufacturers will share $147,000 in “Saving Business, Saving Lives” grants to make personal protective equipment such as masks and face shields used in the fight against the coronavirus.

Oakland County Executive David Coulter announced the grants this week, which come from a $1 million fund created to incentivize Oakland County manufacturers who can shift production to include personal protective equipment. More than $660,000 has been shared by 18 companies, the county said in a news release.

“Oakland County manufacturers continue to step forward to help in this fight against the coronavirus,” Coulter said. “Personal protective equipment remains critical for our recovery. Health care workers, first responders and others have an ongoing need for this important protective equipment. I applaud these companies for their willingness to help.”

The “Savings Business, Saving Lives” grant is part of larger job stabilization effort by the county, which has committed more than $100 million to small businesses, communities and residents who have been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The companies receiving grants are:

Charm View Beauty and Sew, Southfield
Owner: Bridget Grier
Traditionally a beauty shop and sewing instruction business providing classes for youth and adults in how to sew, the shop pivoted to produce face masks with N95 filters and cloth gloves.

AC Steel Rule Dies, Madison Heights
Owner: Randy Genord

Manufactures custom design, manufacturing and assembly of steel rule dies for automotive suppliers, die cutters and printers. During the pandemic, the shop switched gears to produce tooling and fixtures for companies that produces N95 masks, face shields, gowns, ventilators. It also builds custom partitions and barriers.

iMBranded, Pontiac
Owner: Jim Whitehead
Traditionally produces architectural mill work, the businesses changed things up to produce sneeze guards, floor and tabletop signage, hand sanitizer stations, social distancing floor signage and floor strips.

Novi Signarama, Wixom
Owners: Beth Powers, Mike Powers
The businesses normally produced signage for marketing and wayfinding as well as vehicle graphics. During the pandemic, it began to produce desktop, countertop and hanging acrylic shields, specialty signage for social distancing and hand washing stations.

D’Still, Royal Oak
Owners: Rich and Tonya Lockwood
Traditionally produced a variety of small batch whiskies in house at their tasting room in Royal Oak, but started to create hand sanitizer.

This article originally appeared on the Royal Oak Patch