Molded Precision Components (MPC), a local company in Oro-Medonte that uses precision instruments and 3D printing to make automotive components, has been in freefall since the global COVID-19 pandemic has set in.
“I have a staff of 55 very talented people and instead of sending them home we figured it would be best to use our resources, our engineering, tubing and manufacturing expertise to help fight COVID-19,” said MPC President David Yeaman.
The company and their employees have shifted their focus to helping frontline workers risking their lives during the pandemic and are tasked with making 25 million medical masks for the protection of health-care workers.
MPC is also preparing to make components for ventilators and other products that are required for fighting COVID-19, Yeaman said.
To successfully aid front-line workers, MPC is going to need some more hands on deck.
They are looking to hire close to 15 people for very specific jobs. They are looking for project engineers, design engineers, tubing engineers, mold makers, precision machinists, production personal such as assembly operators and quality inspectors, electrical and mechanical technicians and set up personnel.
“A lot of talented people are at home laid off, thinking nobody is hiring and we have a lot of high-end, high-paying jobs that give people very meaningful work,” Yeaman said.
With no profits coming in for MPC, the company is taking a leap of faith; they are operating on a cash balance, a line of credit, and are working with the government for additional funding.
“The government is offering support in the form of a loan with interest and has to be paid back," said Yeaman. "We are hoping the federal and provincial governments will come forward with a little bit more than just lending us money out of profit."
Yeaman, his business partner and the MPC staff have spent 15 years building their company and they are putting it all at risk to help those combatting the pandemic.
“The way we look at it is we are either going to make it or we are not and we don’t plan on not making it,” Yeaman said.
“We might as well, in the interim, do something to support those working against COVID-19," he said.
Yeaman hopes MPC will come out of the pandemic a stronger company than they were when it started.
