March 23, Carlson Coronavirus Update
The entire world has been impacted by the spread of COVID-19. It will take both global and local efforts to slow the spread of this virus and to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. Here’s how Carlson is doing its part:
At Carlson Illinois Headquarters
On Friday, March 20, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker issued a “stay-at-home” order to maximize COVID-19 containment and to ensure that the state’s healthcare system remains fully operational. The order took effect at 5 pm on Saturday, March 21, 2020 and continues through, Tuesday, April 7, 2020.
As a producer and distributor of nutritional supplements, considered to be essential services by both the state of Illinois and the federal Department of Homeland Security, Carlson and its employees are exempt from this order. However, at this moment, Carlson believes it is best to support Carlson employees and the community in helping to “flatten the curve” and slow the spread of COVID-19 by heeding the governor’s call to stay at home.
The Carlson home office in Arlington Heights, Illinois will be closed March 23 through April 7, 2020, and all production and distribution operations will be suspended. Carlson will resume production and distribution operations on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, with additional measures in place to protect the health and safety of their employees and customers, including measures to increase social distancing and enhancements to their already rigorous and extensive cleaning protocols.
For Carlson Retailers
Carlson knows you and your customers depend on Carlson products to help support their health and wellness, especially in times like these. News of the temporary shutdown of Carlson may be disappointing. But in anticipation of this eventuality, Carlson has been working overtime to help retailers fill their shelves and ensure a steady supply of Carlson products.
Grieving but Grateful
Leo Tolstoy wrote, “There is something in the human spirit that will survive and prevail. There is a tiny and brilliant light burning in the heart of man that will not go out no matter how dark the world becomes.”
There is no question that these are challenging times. Carlson grieves with the community of people around the world who have lost loved ones COVID-19. Our hearts are with our employees, their families, and our community as we band together and do our part to flatten the curve. And we are so grateful to the many bright lights, including first responders, nurses, doctors, researchers, public health officials, and public servants who are working tirelessly to save lives and put an end to this pandemic.
Carilyn Anderson, President
As the situation with the novel coronavirus COVID-19 continues to evolve, Carlson is taking measures to prioritize the health and safety of our employees as well as mitigate the risk of disruption to our business and yours.
As always, our employees are expected to adhere to the safety and standard operating procedures we have in place across our facilities. In our manufacturing areas, this includes our standard practice of donning personal protective equipment. Great care is always taken by employees to ensure full compliance with all our hygiene and safety protocols.
Precautions are now being taken to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission in our workplace and to ensure the continued safe manufacture of products, including:
Internal
- Employees are continuing to work to keep operations from being disrupted.
- Reinforcing hygiene guidelines outlined by the world health experts, including the CDC, urging employees to limit close interaction with others when in public places
- Increased frequency of surface wipe-downs with sanitizing solutions throughout our facilities and in all meeting areas
- Strict adherence to our policy of staying home if ill and to immediate seeking medical care as necessary
- Requirement for employees to notify leadership of the commencement and return of private travel
- Implementing additional cross-training initiatives to address any workforce impact thereby minimizing business disruption
External
- Implementing a forward purchasing plan to pre-buy all applicable raw materials and applicable PPE; suppliers are also expected to also have adequate safety stock levels in their warehouses
- Suppliers have been asked to immediately provide their business disruption avoidance plans to ensure continuity of supply. Additionally, they are expected to provide timely updates as they become available.
Please trust we are taking the threat of the novel coronavirus very seriously and will continue to do everything we can to minimize any supply disruption.
The safety of Carlson Laboratories’ employees, products, vendors and customers are paramount. We appreciate our business relationship with you and will continue to provide any applicable updates as warranted.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Service Department.
Carilyn Anderson, President