A Newburgh, New York-based company has avoided layoffs and possibly going out of business by changing gears during the COVID-19 pandemic. It all started with a Facebook post that connected one of the company’s executives with a friend who works for a nonprofit organization that was in need of personal protective equipment.

Orange Packaging is a design, engineering and manufacturing facility for point-of-purchase displays for many Fortune 500 companies. With so many retail stores closed during the coronavirus pandemic, orders for such displays eroded. Michael Esposito, vice president of Orange Packaging, saw a need for personal protective equipment, or PPE. He says the company his grandfather started has the machinery to be able to produce plastic parts to make face shields.

And he credits ACCESS: Supports for Living — a nonprofit organization that offers disability and mental health services in the Hudson Valley — for being able to keep them on the payroll. Ron Colavito is Access president and CEO.

He says there is still a need among certain organizations, especially smaller ones.

Esposito posted a YouTube video April 21 thanking ACCESS for being the first to reach out and help with getting the face shield project off the ground, and keep his company afloat.