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On October 17, 2020, Kona Mask CEO Nicolas Garcia held a grand opening for the first N95 mask factory in Hawaii.
It’s an interesting origin story as Garcia was retired when he was inspired to jump back into the workforce. A former United Airlines pilot with more than 45 years of experience, Garcia and his fiancé, Amy Colombo, a flight attendant, were looking for masks when the pandemic hit. They came up empty.
With Hawaiian residents reliant on a failing supply chain thousands of miles away, Garcia was inspired to bring mask production to the big island.
To make it happen, Garcia liquidated. He raised about $750,000 by selling his home and cashing in his retirement.
Garcia used the money to transform an old, 4,000-square-foot body shop into a plant floor designed with FDA and USDA spec materials. The company plans to make one million masks every three weeks.
Kona Mask will manufacture both N95 and flat-pleated masks on a pair of automated machines Garcia sourced from China. He had to overhaul the equipment to work in the very corrosive sea air environment. Another challenge has been materials and trying to get his hands on enough raw materials to keep a two-month supply on hand at all times. Garcia also ran into multiple difficulties as China declared certain materials a protected resource and placed restrictions on shipments.
While the plan is to hire ten employees initially, Garcia plans to double his workforce as a preventative measure to make sure Kona Mask remains staffed in an outbreak. The average wage will range from $18 to $20 per hour.
Before the company officially opened its doors, it already had enough firm orders to be virtually sold out.
Garcia is no stranger to manufacturing. During the 1980s AIDS crisis, he ran a successful airline soap factory.
After the pandemic, Garci hopes to keep operating to feed future stockpiles and supply PPE to medical and construction professionals. He says Kona Mask has a simple motto, “Let’s save some lives.”
Image Credit: Thomas Industry Update
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