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OMA Launches Exchange to Help Facilitate Access to PPE

The Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19 has launched the Ohio Emergency PPE Makers’ Exchange, an online marketplace where organizations that need personal protective equipment (PPE) and related equipment can find a wide selection offered by Ohio manufacturers.

“Nearly 2,000 Ohio manufacturers have answered the call to fight COVID-19 by repurposing and retooling to make PPE and other urgently needed equipment,” said Eric Burkland, president of The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association. “The online exchange will enable the Alliance to speed up the process of connecting sellers and buyers with equipment to help protect our protectors and keep Ohioans safe.”

The Exchange is not an e-commerce site and the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance will not be involved in transactions between buyers and sellers. The platform is more like Craigslist than eBay. In this way, the Exchange enables PPE makers to list items they are ready to sell or give away. Those looking for local PPE can search listings and connect with makers to procure items for their organizations. Manufacturers that want to list products on the Exchange must first complete a short survey.

The Alliance was announced by Governor Mike DeWine on April 1. The public-private partnership was formed to help meet the urgent need for more PPE used by health care workers and first responders. The Alliance is led by The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (and its partner organization MAGNET), the Ohio Hospital Association, and JobsOhio, in partnership with the Ohio Development Services Agency, the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, and the Ohio Department of Health. 

A list of practical items manufacturers need to be thinking about and do today to prepare for COVID-19 can be viewed at manufacturingsuccess.org/covid-19.