Blizzard Lighting Secures KN95 Masks for Community and IndividualsBlizzard Lighting is a developer and manufacturer of LED lighting products for event production, entertainment, theater, house of worship, and architectural markets, as well as the IRiS brand of LED video wall display panels, and has been innovating and creating for over ten years. In the midst of the modern world's longest "intermission" in history, the Blizzard team is doing what they can to help on as many fronts as possible. Closest to home, Blizzard is doing all they can to keep their entire staff employed and paid until the curtain rises and the stage lights come up again. "The team at Blizzard is my family. I miss my goofy brothers and sisters terribly, and cannot wait to run around the house again, accidentally knock over a 'Precious Moments' figurine or two, and ruin the carpet," says Will Komassa, chairman of the board. "I will move heaven and earth to make that a reality." Outside of the internal team, Blizzard is working hard to identify opportunities where they can help the community at large, and to that end, for over the past six weeks have been working with hospitals/medical professionals and state/local governments to leverage their considerable expertise in global sourcing to backfill PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) stocks while the demand continues to skyrocket. Blizzard purchased more than 300,000 high-quality KN95 masks from an FDA-registered facility. Their team worked with trusted, long-time suppliers in China to manufacture and transport the masks despite daily regulatory upheavals in both the US and China. On April 27, shipments started to arrive at their warehouse in Wisconsin, where they began fulfilling customer orders. Blizzard is offering ten-packs of the masks for sale on their website (with volume discounts and free shipping) to the general public and has already seen an overwhelming, positive response as they also continue to seek out additional community partners to help distribute them to the front lines. They have partnered with The United Way of Greater Milwaukee, who is set up to quickly receive large numbers of purchased masks -- along with 10,000 masks donated by Blizzard -- and will be able to distribute them efficiently to medical professionals in need, smaller community organizations, nursing homes, and other places where vital work is being done. While most of Blizzard's staff works at home now, essential team members report to headquarters to maintain business operations for their LED lighting and video inventory, processing new orders and supporting current customers. Plus, somebody has to feed the fish. Staff members continue to produce new, creative resources for customers, such as product demos, and maintain their dedication to technical services on the front end. Behind the scenes, design, and development of new products and software continues, along with a now video-conferenced version of Blizzard's weekly Friday happy hour. Wisconsin started its "safer at home" mandate on March 25 -- originally running to April 24 -- but has since extended the order to May 26. More details about Blizzard's KN95 mask offerings and their core products can be found at the link below.
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