Jostens, JR Automation and Oxco honored by lieutenant governor

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High school and college graduates aren’t the only ones who turned to new alternatives during the (now virtual) graduation season.

Laurens’ graduation apparel Jostens facility pivoted to cut and sew personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies for schools this spring as COVID-19 cut into critical needs supplies across the country, making 8,500 medical face masks for health care systems every week, according to a news release.

On Monday, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette toured the Upstate site and thanked the company for their work.

“You’re what makes South Carolina successful,” Evette said following the tour of both legacy and new product displays, according to the release. Evette also visited Liberty’s JR Automation on Monday, followed by Fort Mill textile manufacturer Oxco Inc. today in response to the companies’ creation of automated systems to make N95 masks, gowns, hospital beds, swabs diagnostic kits and nonwoven medical products.

“The Jostens team is encouraged and inspired by Lt. Gov. Evette’s remarks Monday,” Nickey Reddix, manager of operations at Jostens, said in the release. “We want to continue to provide our employees and the community the best chance to fight against COVID-19. We thank her for all of her support.”

Jostens announced the shift of its production line to PPE in late March after a few experimental production runs of reusable surgical masks, according to a news release.

“The Jostens Laurens team deeply appreciates the support of Gov. McMaster, Lt. Gov. Evette, Laurens County and city officials and the Laurens County Economic Development Corp. team which allowed our operations to work throughout this pandemic and provide masks for front-line workers and those in need in our community,” Paul Dowden, vice president of global operations at Jostens, said in the release.