Page 16 - spaces4learning, Spring 2021

Meeting Pandemic Challenges with Innovation Keeping Spaces Safe with Portable Sinks, Table Divider Shields, and More from Jonti-Craft.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we’ve all heard the “wash your hands often and stay socially distant” public health guidance and advice. The team at Jonti-Craft has stepped up to the challenge and worked hard to not only develop new products, but to adapt current ones to answer new needs in classrooms and beyond.
Located in the small town of Wabasso, MN, Jonti-Craft has been designing and manufacturing furniture for the education market for over 40 years. The company’s product lineup is known for quality, durability, and innovation.
Nick Schwarz, Jonti-Craft’s COO explained, “We’re known as a leading provider of children’s furniture for schools and daycares and now, we’re seeing rapidly growing demand from the healthcare sector for our Clean Hands Helper Portable Sinks, See-Thru Dividers, and other products. For more than 10 years, our portable sink solutions have answered a growing demand for hand washing in classrooms without plumbing. This product helped many of those schools and daycares meet standards and achieve certification requirements associated with sanitation and handwashing.”
Jonti-Craft Clean Hands Helper Portable Sinks go wherever frequent hand washing is a priority, and without any plumbing required. These mobile sinks meet licensing requirements and give users the flexibility of moving them quickly to areas of need. The sinks feature electric on-demand water heaters to warm water to a safe 40°F above room temperature, but there is also a non-electric option for areas where plugs are not accessible.
Jonti-Craft’s Director of Sales, Matt Hinkle, explained, “By the end of March 2020, we saw a significate increase in the demand of our portable sinks. Adding to the urgency, customers were— and are continuing to—ask for immediate shipment. We needed to look ‘outside of the box’ to scale quickly while maintaining manufacturing best-practices. Our production team worked with customers to develop a re-configured shipping schedule so that we could build and ship smaller batches of sinks versus waiting until the entire order was ready. This method allowed us to ship partial orders faster so facilities could start using them right away.”
Since March, Jonti-Craft has supplied portable sinks to sites all over the United States, including several military bases. One of the company’s newest customers is Illumina Corporation, a biotech company that equips laborato- ries to support testing and research for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
Along with portable sinks, Jonti-Craft has also seen a surge in demand for its newly added See-Thru Table Divider Shields. “The need for products to help schools achieve social distancing in tight spaces has, understandably, skyrocketed. Most schools do not have the budget to refurnish every classroom to meet new health guidelines. They need a way to convert rooms and products they already have into spaces where children can be separated, yet still engaged in learning,” adds Matt Hinkle.
The See-Thru Table Divider Shields are designed to separate tables with a physical barrier so children and adults can be placed closer than 6 feet apart. Constructed of a sturdy see-thru acrylic, these dividers provide maximum visibility and make wiping down easy. Jonti-Craft designs a wide variety of sizes and setups to accommodate most table and counter configurations. The line also offers an option with a small opening at the bottom for sliding papers through making it ideal for teachers and a great solution for restaurants, reception desks, and office environments.
For more information about Jonti-Craft Clean Hands Helper Portable sinks and See-Thru Table Shield Dividers, visit www.jonti-craft.com,
email sales@jonti-craft.com, or call 507.342.5169.
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