California Moldmaker Remains Open During Coronavirus Shelter in Place Order

On March 4, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued executive order N-33-20, declaring a state of emergency in response the Covid-19 outbreak, followed by an order to shelter in place on March 19. On March 20, M.R. Mold, a maker of tooling for liquid silicone rubber and thermoplastics, announced that its support of the healthcare and public health sector as a critical manufacturer, exempted the company and it would remain open. The company stated that 95 percent of its business is in “medical silicone.”

On March 22, California’s State Public Health Officer designated a list of “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers”, including Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) and Critical Manufacturing. HPH covers:

Manufacturers, technicians, logistics and warehouse operators, and distributors of medical equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE), medical gases, pharmaceuticals, blood and blood products, vaccines, testing materials, laboratory supplies, cleaning, sanitizing, disinfecting or sterilization supplies, personal care/hygiene products, and tissue and paper towel products.

Critical Manufacturing entails:

Primary Metals Manufacturing, Machinery Manufacturing, Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing, Transportation Equipment Manufacturing Products made by these manufacturing industries are essential to many other critical infrastructure sectors.

M.R. Mold has 30 employees and recently moved from an 18,000-ft² facility into a 23,000-ft² space, which has given them more room to expands its shop and technical center. M.R. Mold’s Geri Anderson told Plastics Technology that the company is planning to hold an Open House and 35^th anniversary celebration once the Covid-19 crisis has settled.