Made-in-Manitoba safety

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This article was published 04/06/2021 (1624 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Amid the hum of machinery, a team of five technicians oversee two production lines assembling disposable face masks – layer by layer, all day, five days per week.

Winnipeg-based Continental Enterprises opened a new mask production facility last December at 961 Powell Avenue. The company employs five mask-makers full-time and hopes to hire more producers and supervisors in the upcoming months.

When the pandemic hit, Charleswood resident Greg Cornell, co-owner of Continental Enterprises saw that PPE suppliers were “badly broadsided” by pricing and availability issues.

Cornell has a background in the medical and dental supply industry and jumped at the chance to bring reliable production close to home.

So, he and his long-time friend and business partner Dave Haldane, along with other investors founded the company, imported the machinery – which was approved by the Canadian Standards Association – and began scouting staff.

The first mask came off the production line in Dec. 2020, and now, the company sells masks to the medical, dental and industrial sectors throughout the province.

“We were able to bring pricing stability to the market, somewhat, and we were also able to create five jobs and counting in the Manitoba marketplace during a time in which job losses were quite significant,” Cornell said. “We felt good about restoring the supply chain of some of these critical products.”

The company makes two different types of disposable masks: level 3 masks (designed for health care professionals working in environments with a high exposure to airborne particles) and level 1 masks, for everyday use.

Both products meet an internationally-recognized standard set by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

“We’re very transparent about the integrity of our testing. (The masks) are third-party tested by a variety of laboratories within Canada,” he said.

The company’s ability to accept small volume orders under private labels distinguishes it from many overseas manufacturers, Cornell said.

Continental Enterprises has received decent support from the private market, Cornell said, adding that he’s always on the hunt for new distribution partners. He hopes to sell more masks to the public sector and get the brand on a number of approved vendor lists.

“We’d love to get in with people like Shared Health and the (Winnipeg Regional Health Association,” Cornell said. “It’s a little more intense in terms of connecting all the dots to get into some of these places, but we’re still working hard at it.”

The company plans to scale up when it lands additional buyers. With the current business model and facilities, Haldane could see the company fire up a third production line and grow the team by 10 or more employees.  

“The optimism is just knowing that there’s so much out there (about) people saying they’d rather buy Canadian… especially locally,” he said. “Hopefully there will be some level of support from the City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba.”

For Haldane, the best part about this new company and his entrepreneurship is being able to put an end to the job search for people living in his community.