INTERNATIONAL RACING SAFETY GEAR MANUFACTURER SHIFTS GEARS
Published on Fri, Apr 3, 2020
By: Doug Stokes
Stand 21 Responds To Crisis…Converts Factory to Production of Surgical Masks
By John Kilroy | www.eparttrade.com via Racer.com
Stand 21, the worldwide supplier of driver safety gear, has put its factory in France to work making surgical masks to help address the shortage amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Established in 1970, Stand 21 has been a pioneer in saving the lives of racers for 50 years. The company told the story of its new mission via Facebook posts.
“Stand 21 set out focus on helping out, rather than simply remaining passive or fatalistic,” it wrote. “Stand 21 has an exceptional and experienced workforce in France, ready to volunteer. One person, Nadine, had already produced surgical masks, and Romain Morizot worked to find the material, allowing this project to be implemented under the blessings of Stand 21 founder Yves Morizot.
“And now, Stand 21 is producing surgical masks to help reduce infections in this pandemic, especially for medical personnel and paramedics, but also for factory workers and anyone else.”
The initial goal was to produce about 1000 masks in a week, and the Stand 21 team, based in Talant, France, was actually able to surpass that figure.
“Thank you very much to all of you for your kind messages regarding this initiative. Still thinking that wasn’t such a bad idea to fight to keep manufacturing in France. Our exceptional workers haven’t hesitated one-tenth of a second to volunteer for this, and we even had to limit their number because of the safety measures we have to respect to fight the virus.”
With 150 employees worldwide, Stand 21 products are handcrafted within Stand 21’s own factories, exceeding the most rigorous safety and medical standards required by the FIA, SFI and the Snell foundation. Stand 21 offers its products to race car drivers through its exclusive Stand 21 network. This strategy delivers Stand 21 products in over 50 countries. Stand 21 supplies safety equipment to top racing teams in FIA, NHRA, NASCAR, off-road and more.
For more information, go to www.epartrade.com
EDITOR’S NOTE: This a reprint of an article originally published in epartrade.com which LACar picked up from Racer.com. And yes, the mask are really being made in the (above) bright colors, all in the spirit of the French fashion industry. -DS