"Not only is our sanitizer benefiting workers on the frontlines, but it is also supporting our local neighborhood by securing jobs for our 300 employees who need to take care of their families during this pandemic," said Director of Manufacturing Antone McIntyre.

Left with its WellStix products on hand after the cancellation of trade shows in the wake of the pandemic, the Parsippany-based manufacturer was able to give 10,000 packs to two police departments in the state, and it's looking to do more.

The company's Washington location is the first for the Florham Park-based business to supply the sought-after disinfectant in the U.S., which it does not usually produce.

“This is the most important thing we have ever done or will ever do,” CEO Gairl Friedberg Rottenstrich told NJBIZ.

“A lot of these distributors and logistical operations who are receiving imported goods are obviously being hit hard,” Nick DePaolera of NAI James E. Hanson told NJBIZ. “Even if consumer demand is still there, getting these goods to the consumer is the issue.”

"When the opportunity arose we realized we were uniquely suited to make these because it combines the sweatband used in baseball caps with the clear vinyl we use in the binders and portfolios we manufacture so we had almost zero learning curve or tooling," Unionwear founder and President Mitch Cahn told NJBIZ.

The state’s manufacturers continued to work as the COVID-19 outbreak took hold.

Supply chain platform Suuchi Inc. and mattress maker Eclipse International are shifting some of their operations to manufacture masks and other equipment in short supply.

The CEO of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program argues that the governor should resist calls to create a hierarchy of manufacturing firms, some of which would be forced to close.

"If we could 3-D-print a mask that you can replace the filters instead of having to replace the whole mask, then all you have to do is alcohol-swab it down once you put a new filter in it," Frank Cornachiulo, one of the nonprofit's co-founders and operators, told NJBIZ. "In other words, you do not have to throw away the masks."

New Jersey should learn from past mistakes and make investments that will prevent future crises, by NJMEP CEO John Kennedy.

Amid coronavirus, manufacturers safeguard supply chains.