Kaye Stone-Gansz of LaGasse Machine & Fabrication on Rochester In Focus with News 10's Emily Putnam
Local company expands to produce PPE during pandemic
Kaye Stone-Gansz worked in management at Xerox for 26 years before becoming the CEO of LaGasse Machine & Fabrication.
Before the pandemic, LaGasse, which was founded in 1954, produced a wide range of custom products used in agriculture like remote controlled tractors and dump boxes for salt and sand spreaders.
"If you can dream it, we'll build it," says Stone-Gansz of her multi-faceted business.
When the coronavirus reached our area in March, she and her team pivoted their operations to include the production of personal protective equipment or PPE. "We had to figure out how to keep the business going. I still had payroll, I did not want to lay people off," said Stone-Gansz. So, she added a fifth line of business, PPE manufacturing, to LaGasse's model.
The company now produces custom see-through polycarbonate windows which are flame resistant and impact resistant. They serve as a protective shield between staff and visitors at places like schools, banks, and office buildings. LaGasse also developed a touchless sanitizer station with a built-in thermometer.
To learn more about Kaye and LaGasse Machine & Fabrication, you can visit the company's website here.