In a sign of the times, a St. Paul-based company has now shifted to producing personal protection equipment for health care workers.

Until recently — very recently — The Vomela Companies were best known for designing, printing and installing specialty graphics that many of us have seen displayed in stores, wrapped around buses and buildings or commanding our attention at sporting events like March Madness.

This pandemic has changed the signs of our everyday life, though.

“Our regular business has definitely slowed,” says Mark Auth, president and CEO of Vomela, which has more than 20 locations across the United States and Canada.

That slowdown was especially apparent at Fusion Imaging, the company’s Utah location, which is traditionally focused on event and trade shows.

“With large gatherings canceled or deferred,” Auth said, “they sat down and regrouped.”

The question they asked was this: “Using our equipment and people, what products can we help to provide essential businesses?”

One answer was clear: “They started with the face shield,” Auth said.

A face shield — part of the personal protection equipment needed by today’s health care worker to help prevent exposure to coronavirus — was definitely within their production capabilities.

“The equipment used in the manufacturing of our products is similar to the processes needed to manufacture face shields,” Auth said.

In fact, with their design capabilities, Vomela is also able to produce shields with superhero themes, among other fun themes, for medical personnel working with children.

The biggest hurdle might have been securing the supply of Velcro and foam padding they needed to complete these shields using American-made components.

“It’s been challenging,” says Vomela Executive Vice President Tim Wieland, “but we’ve been able to do it.”

Now, about a month after that regrouping in Utah, Vomela employees at 12 locations around the country – including on the East Side of St. Paul — are now producing between 60,000 and 70,000 shields a day, with expectations to increase that daily total to about 100,000 beginning next week.

The face shields protect health care workers — but it’s also important to keep the people who make the PPE safe.

Vomela — which is designated as essential — is using practices such as social distancing, staggered shifts and cleaning and sanitizing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. To date, the only employee known to have COVID-19 was in Colorado and that employee was quarantined, Auth says.

In addition to face shields, Vomela employeees continue to make signage — although some messages are slightly different these days: Less sporty, more safety.

“The retail graphics we are producing right now are mainly associated with social distance,” says Wieland.

If you see new curbside pick-up signs, or directional signs about where to stand in a store, or “sneeze guard” screens in front of a cashier’s station, in addition to pop-up medical tents — those might have been made by Vomela.

Locally, Vomela produced some new signage for Second Harvest Heartland, including their volunteer center.

“Our work — to get nutritious food to our neighbors who need it — is more important than ever, so we’re thrilled to continue to welcome our volunteer workforce safely,” Second Harvest Heartland’s Allison O’Toole said in a email to the Pioneer Press. “Strong social distancing practices, including good visual reminders to remain six feet apart like those created by our partners at Vomela, are critical to these efforts. Our ability to respond has allowed our volunteers to continue packing emergency food boxes while staying healthy themselves.”

While reduced workweeks, layoffs and furloughs are just as much a reality at Vomela as elsewhere, the recent pivot has meant some employees already have been called back to work. It definitely feels like an essential assignment.

“People feel good about what we’re doing,” Wieland said.

A sign of that was evident online: Fusion Imaging took to social media to post a photo of two health care workers in scrubs wearing the face shields and giving the thumb’s up sign.

“Our face shields just arrived at Sloan Kettering Memorial in Manhattan!” Fusion Imaging announced. “It’s such a great feeling to see that these products are hitting the front lines!”

Previously: This St. Paul company directs our everyday lives (with signs).