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JUNE / JULY 2020 • IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT SPOTLIGHTS PAGE 13
Cargo Bikes to Face Shields
SMALL LOCAL BUSINESS SHIFTS GEARS FOR SURVIVAL
Face shields are crucial, because they
provide a second layer of protection and can
be disinfected. Large hospitals used as many
as 1500 disposable shields each day before
the pandemic hit this country.
Today demand has increased, and supply
is critical, because one COVID-19 patient
may require healthcare workers use as
many as 30 sets of PPEs each day.
Coaster Cycles grabbed the opportu-
nity to make these shields, because its
workers were already comfortable working
with foam and plastic materials. Within
two weeks, the company brought back the
workforce, retooled the plant, and settled on
a supply chain to buy and receive materials.
They are now making 50,000 face shields
a day and shipping them out to a variety of
customers, one being the New York City
Department of Health.
This is quite a shift from the focus of
their original business. Prior to the pan-
demic, Coaster Cycles made pedicabs and
cargo cycles.
Ben Morris, CEO and owner of Coaster
Cycles, first had the idea to create a business
using pedicabs in 2005 when he was in San
Diego and saw them used to tour people
through the Gas Lamp Quarter. Pedicabs
are human-powered taxis—three-wheeled
cycles with a seat and canopy between the
back two wheels for passengers and a seat
toward the front for the cyclist.
Morris decided pedicabs would be con-
venient for transporting people to and from
venues, like from large parking lots to ath-
letic stadiums, or in congested areas where
special interest-sites, such as museums,
have limited parking.
Morris purchased five pedicabs, hired
drivers, and found events along the east-
ern seaboard where pedicabs would fill a
need. As each season passed, the pedicab
business expanded.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
Beth Enloe, R.N., models a face shield produced by Coaster Cycles The Missoula, Mont., company adapted Boise Valley Monument Co.
its product production to make face shields, providing protection, and possibly survival, to individuals
caring for patients. Enloe works for Benefis in Great Falls. Photo by Jonathan Rimmel.
Serving
Families
BY SUZANNE WARING economic survival of a Montana business since
and the people who work there. 1963
Huge firms, like the automakers, have When the pandemic brought orders
stepped up to meet critical needs during for the products manufactured by Coaster Boise 208-343-0471 • Caldwell 208-454-9532
the Coronavirus pandemic by retooling Cycles to a stand- BoiseValleyMonument.com
and hiring to provide ventilators and still in March, the
personal protective equipment (PPE), company began to
but they aren’t the only ones. A small lay off its workforce
Missoula, Mont. manufacturing firm, for the first time in
Coaster Cycles, retooled in late March to 15 years.
make disposable, transparent face shields About a week
for healthcare workers. later, a design com-
This adaptability in product production pany published a
is providing protection, and possibly sur- drawing of an open-
vival, for those who are caring for patients source, clear-plastic
with the virus while also reinforcing the face shield for hos-
pital workers.
