Woodmere owners of East Rockaway business aim to make ventilator parts

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An East Rockaway-based business owned by two Woodmere residents is looking into the possibility of manufacturing ventilator parts to help with the current ventilator shortage because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Arnie Gordon, president of Circuits and Systems, which has a brand label Arlyn Scales, initially contacted the of office of State Sen. Todd Kaminsky and has made his offer known to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer and Rep. Kathleen Rice.

“I received responses back from all, said Gordon, who has owned the company for nearly 37 years with his wife, Lynne. “Most of them forwarded my note to the governor’s office. His office forwarded a few suggestions, and I finally ended up in contact with the industry manager of Empire State Development.”  

Arlyn Scales designs and develops technology for what is called the weighing industry. Gordon’s business is in operation because it was designated an essential business by New York state as it currently supplies precision weighing equipment to the biopharmaceutical, semiconductor and chemical industries. To minimize exposure to COVID-19, the 27 employees are working in three shifts.

“To be clear, we cannot build ventilators,” Gordon said, “but we can certainly build some parts for ventilators. We have 5 CNC machining centers, and electronic assembly capability. My goal would be to partner with other small companies, similar to ours, along with an existing ventilator manufacturer, to see if we can provide components that would allow the ventilator company to quickly increase their production. Depending on the component, we could probably make a few thousand.”

CNC stands for computer numerical control. The fairly large-sized machines cut metal into varied sized. Gordon noted that if the companies that manufacture ventilators need to ramp up production they will need many more parts. “We have the ability to make components of various sizes," Gordon said. "The manufacturers of ventilators are limited by their ability to make components.”

He said he is not looking to make a profit just break even and is willing to volunteer his time to contact other manufacturers, who would be “willing to join such an effort and they would,” Gordon said, adding that the window to manufacture the ventilator parts remains open an is still waiting for a decision.   

“I was astonished by the number of Long Island businesses that contacted my office asking to help make and supply masks, gowns and other equipment,” Kaminsky said. “Circuits and Systems Inc. offering their resources and expertise during this health crisis is an inspirational example of neighbors stepping up and trying to help one another.”