El Paso businesses following through with new reopening phase
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) — Some businesses in the Borderland will be allowed to bring back more employees starting tomorrow.
One of those businesses will be manufacturers, who say the jump to 75% capacity is a lifeline for both companies and their employees.
“We’re excited, we’re excited for the opportunity to bring people back to work,” Larsen Manufacturing business unit director Jeff Olsen said.
On Monday, Texas will take the next step in its reopening process, with many businesses across the state jumping from 50% to 75% of their capacity.
One of the businesses included in Governor Abbott’s latest step forward will be manufacturers.
“The increase from 50% to 75% would probably relate to an increase of about 15 to 20 more jobs inside the facility,” Olsen said.
Larsen Manufacturing in far east El Paso makes a range of products for different companies.
But unlike restaurants or retail shops that could make up for limited capacity by making sales curbside or online, a spokesperson for the company said it couldn’t meet demand unless everybody was allowed back in the building.
“The jump is good, going from 50% to 75% definitely is a huge impact for us, from a business standpoint,” Olsen said. “But we do definitely need to get back to 100%.”
A spokesperson for the factory said while getting back up to 75% of the workforce would be big for their bottom line, it may be more important for their employees who have been furloughed for months.
“Most of the manufacturing staff has been stuck at home since March, so we’ll be excited to get them back and get them going,” Olsen said.
Although it won’t be a complete return to normalcy just yet, the company said Monday would take them another step closer to the light at the end of the tunnel.
“We’re looking forward to a sense of normalcy, we’re looking forward to getting everything back to where it needs to be,” Olsen said. “So that we can continue doing what we’ve done for years, which is manufacture product and give people jobs.”
