District 50 State Senate candidate Bo Hatchett delivered another 750 face shields to Habersham Medical Center this week to help protect frontline healthcare workers.
Hatchett’s father, Dr. Tommy Hatchett, joined him in making the delivery on Friday.
The face shields were produced and donated by companies managed by Norcross-based Mix Tape Ventures. At the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak as the firm watched its sales dwindle “from 100 to 60 to 30 to 10 percent” the socially-conscious owners, brothers Dave and Shaun Brautigan, adapted to keep their workers employed. They retooled their plants in Norcross and Alabama and began producing the low-cost, plastic, disposable shields.
“The whole reason we did it was to save our employees,” says Shaun. They even set up a special operation in Rabun County where Shaun lives.
Clayton Mayor Jordan Green offered the Brautigan brothers free use of the Clayton Civic Center for thirty days. The Brautigan’s management firm secured funding to employ 47 people in the region to produce the shields as the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) skyrocketed.
The temporary worksite closed on Friday, May 15, but for a month it kept dozens of Northeast Georgians working, including many from Habersham County.
“For us, this was a mission where we didn’t make any money but we were able to get more people involved and help them get through these tough times,” says Shaun.
Brautigan and Hatchett delivered 1,000 of the face shields to HMC back in April. Now, with this latest donation, Mix Tape Ventures – which includes the companies Gasket Guy, Carved Solutions, and Cutting Board Company, among others – has donated 2,500 face shields to help protect healthcare workers in Northeast Georgia.
They’ve donated tens of thousands more across Georgia and in other states.
“Our goal was to get to a million masks and donate 100,000 by the end of May,” says Shaun. “We’re trying to get them out to the hospitals, but if they’re not using them and there’s a second wave, they’ll have them.”
As states start to reopen, the Brautigan brothers are again adapting, manufacturing and marketing their PPE to restaurant workers.
Adapting is something Shaun’s good at – he has to be to stay alive in business and in his chosen sport, aerobatics. Shaun competes in aerobatic competitions around the globe and is frequently seen piloting his aircraft through thrilling stunt sequences in the skies over Habersham.
It’s clear, Shaun Brautigan is a man who likes a challenge. And when the challenge of COVID-19 surfaced, he and his brother stepped up to meet it. “So many people made it happen,” he says, “I just wish we could say thanks.”
