Originally published May 2020 at https://www.cityofvista.com.
As San Diego county continues to flatten the curve and find its way back into society, Vista companies are still working to help the community deal with the new outlines for safety.
“We have seen many Vista companies rise to the challenges when it comes to helping during the pandemic,” said Vista Mayor Judy Ritter. “Their spirit and determination which is an integral component of the Vista community is still helping our city continue to grow and prosper.”
Mayor Ritter also credits the City Council and City leaders for their efforts in continuing to support business owners and investors in the community, including developing a resource guide available on the City’s website. “Our city leaders have stepped up to provide assistance and information for our business community which will continue as we begin to reopen our city.”
Meanwhile, for many Vista businesses, their shift from helping during the crisis will continue as the City moves into the post-crisis phase and adjusts to new standards of doing business.
Helping First Responders
Those iconic red shorts worn by lifeguards on nearly every beach in the United States come from Vista located Watermen. This lifestyle clothing company started making swim shorts for lifeguards in the 1970’s and now suits 85 percent of lifeguards throughout the US with board shorts, women’s suits, hoodies, sweatshirts and tee shirts. “We basically move about 200,000 board shorts to lifeguard agencies all across the US,” said Ken Miller, founder of Watermen.
Watermen also provides suits for government agencies such as the Coast Guard, the Seal Team, and parts of the US Navy. “Our roots are with beach lifeguards, from there it just kind of grew. It’s a funny little niche, the perfect little niche.”
Now the company is fitting these same First Responders with face masks that work well in the wet environment that lifeguards work in daily. “We came out with a mask that could get wet. When you’re a lifeguard, you are wearing shorts all the time, and you have to be able to pull out a mask and put it on your face quickly,” said Miller.
Watermen reversible masks and gaiters
The Watermen mask is made out of a Lycra/Poly mix so that it can be completely submerged in water and used while wet. It is also a two-ply, reversible mask with a pocket insert if users want to add a filter between the materials. They are machine washable, reusable and come in an assortment of colors.
These masks have been created using the specifications given by Kaiser Permanente and are made with fabrics and protection outlines for a non-medical grade mask.
In addition to the masks, Watermen has also made gaiters, a neck tube that lifeguards and fire departments wear around their necks to prevent sunburn. These can also be pulled up to cover the mouth and nose in lieu of a face mask.
Because of the versatility of these masks, lifeguard agencies are purchasing these masks for their staff. “It’s safe to get wet. It’s the rage. We have sold to 10 different fire departments. We’ve sold gaiters too,” said Miller.
In the month that Watermen has been making the protective gear, the company has shipped out 68,000 masks.
Watermen facility stocked with gear ready to ship.
“We are able to make about 10,000 masks a week and have new contractors in San Diego and Los Angeles,” said Miller, adding that he was surprised at how well they have been received. “We had no idea it would catch on like this.”
Watermen has given away a portion of its masks to the International Surf Lifesaving Association as well.
While First Responders on the front lines including lifeguards, fire, Coast Guard, and military are the priority when it comes to orders, Watermen face masks and gaiters are also being sold to the public on the company’s website #stayathomeessentials.
This shift of business has helped keep Watermen in business since overall sales have been down. However, Miller said he is seeing a shift as beach cities are trying to figure out how to reopen and begin their Junior Guard training programs Miller said, “What we keep hearing is that they aren’t going to open up until July 15 or 30 and that leaves about a month and of the lifeguard season.”
Even as an essential business, Miller said the rules in place for employee safety are very strict. While the company is making mostly masks right now, he said one of the factories which usually has over 50 sewers is down to 25 right now. He also said all sewers are wearing protective gear and their spaces are being cleaned twice a day.
Watermen’s main offices are a 10,000 square-foot standalone building in Vista’s Business Park that provides enough space for all employees.
Miller has been doing business in Vista for eight years and said, “The City of Vista is a great place to have a business. They are just there for you if you need them.”
Miller went on to say luckily, the company is pretty self-sufficient and doesn’t need any help right now. Currently making masks is not only helping others, it’s also helping Watermen stay afloat. “You have to recreate what you are doing if you are going to make it work,” said Miller.
Making Hand Sanitizer for the Community
Jesse Fanning, co-founder of Henebery Whiskey in Vista is the great-great-great grandson of Matthew Henebery, who owned his own distillery in Peoria, Il. back in 1851. Henebery immigrated from Ireland to escape famine and follow the American dream. He became a distiller and a prominent, well-liked member of his community. Community spirit was important to Henebery, who lived by his family motto: “Dare Maximus Virtue — Giving is the Greatest Gift.”
In 2012, Fanning decided to follow in Henebery’s footsteps and began brewing Henebery Whiskey to honor his great-great-great grandfather. Henebery Whiskey opened its doors with its first product in Vista three and a half years ago.
“We do everything in-house,” said Fanning. “We make the whiskey, we age it, we do everything right here in Vista.”
From start to finished bottle, it takes anywhere from one-to-five years. “After we do our distillation run, we proof down the spirit and put it into brand new American Oak barrels and let it rest. Depending on what we are trying to output, it sits in barrels and ages for a certain amount of time.” said Fanning. “Whiskey is a tricky game because you make it for the future.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected Henebery in many ways, but luckily because of the way whiskey is produced, the distillery is still able to plug away without affecting the production schedule too much.
However, with the closure of bars and restaurants, sales have been down and Fanning and his partner, David Lizarraga decided to use their space to help create something useful — making hand sanitizer.
“The first week of this pandemic, my partner and I were wondering what we were going to do,” said Fanning. “I just had a feeling we had to do something to make our community feel safer.” Fanning wrote a letter to the Henebery membership club telling them they were going to make hand sanitizer and offer it to them first. He received several emails of thanks and asking when it would be available.
“With our hand sanitizer program, we definitely pivoted our world,” said Fanning. “We have done a lot less bottling and distributing of our whiskey to our distributors and that has taken a huge part of our business. So now we are using our production facility to produce two-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer.”
Working with local Vista and North County breweries such as Latitude 33, Wild Barrel, Rip Current Brewing and Fall Brewing, Fanning takes their spent or expired old beers and turns them into sanitizer. “We’ve partnered with Shadow Ridge Distilling in Oceanside and we do the stripping.” This means emptying the kegs and bottles, taking out any carbonation in the beer, and distilling it. Next, Shadow Ridge takes the stripped beer, distills it again, and using giant stills, they bring the proof up to 190, which creates the medical-grade hand sanitizer.
“We built a relationship with Shadow Ridge and we share the output. They supply to people in Vista and we supply to people in Oceanside,” said Fanning.
So far, all the hand sanitizer Henebery has made has been donated to the bars, restaurants, and patrons who have stood by them as they began to build their business. “We give all the sanitizer away for free and if anybody wants to donate, 100% of the donations go directly to service industry relief funds,” said Fanning. “To date, we have donated $15,000 to Another Round, Another Rally, an organization that gives $500 grants to out-of-work service industry workers.”
Recently SDG&E approached Fanning asking him to make sanitizer for the utility. He politely declined only to be offered a $30,000 donation to the charity of his choice if he could promise 10,000 bottles for the company. “This money was split into local 5013c charities in the community,” said Fanning.
Keeping employees safe during the pandemic is a top priority for Fanning. When his company first started making hand sanitizer it was only Fanning, his wife, and daughter taking shifts to bottle the sanitizer. Then they would clean up their stations and his partner and his family would come in and take the next shift.
As regulations became clearer, Fanning offered hours to any employees who wanted the work. “We’ve created stations in our facility that are more than six feet apart. Each person is wearing a mask, gloves, and of course, since we are bottling sanitizer, there is sanitizer available to clean their stations every 30 minutes or so,” said Fanning.
Orders for the hand sanitizer are up as many bars and restaurants are preparing to reopen in Phase 2. “I’m getting more orders from restaurants that are readying for a limited opening.” As far as liquor sales, Fanning said, “We are too small of a brand to get orders yet.”
However, thanks to some changes in laws since the stay-home orders, Fanning has been able to open a whiskey window at his distillery. “We open two days a week. Many people were asking how they could support us and that they would rather buy locally, so we built a walk-up counter.”
Another law that has been lifted during the pandemic is ordering alcohol online. For Fanning, this has been a big help, Fanning explained as this helps make up for some of the lost revenue from bar and restaurant closings. “That has helped us tremendously, it has really kept us alive.”
For now, with the hand sanitizer in production and continuing to build the Henebery Whiskey brand, Fanning is feeling positive and hopes to continue the spirit of giving his great-great-great grandfather instilled in him. “As we build our brand, we want to speak to that ethos.”
Repurposing Materials for Healthcare Providers
Solatube has been making tubular skylights that bring natural light and fresh air and fans into homes and businesses since the 1980s. Originally developed in Australia, Solatube relocated its offices to Vista, California in 1990.
When the pandemic hit, part of Solatube was considered essential and part of the company was able to keep running. “In the early stages, we reduced hours for our staff, and they were very understanding,” said Robert Westfall, President of Solatube International. “We are all in this together to make sure we survive as a company.”
Many staff members are working from home at this time, while the limited on-site staff is following all the CDC guidelines. For those entering the facility, they are all screened and following social distancing and PPE guidelines.
Even though Solatube is running on a limited staff, the company has still found a way to help. “When the COVID-19 outbreak happened, supply chains for PPE healthcare workers were not established.” said Westfall. “There was a major shortage of the plastic that is used for face shields.”
Because Solatube had the materials needed to make face shields, they were able to repurpose those materials and make thousands of face shields for healthcare workers and donated them to hospitals and first responders throughout the United States.
Solatube employees preparing face shields
“Donating just felt like the right thing to do since healthcare workers are putting their lives on the line,” said Westfall.
Supporting the community is something Westfall and Solatube have woven into the business. “We are avid supporters of the Vista Community Clinic, “ said Westfal, who also serves as the Chairman of the VCC Board of Trustees. “It is an incredible organization that really helps so many of our citizens who are socially and economically disadvantaged.”
Even though the business, especially the commercial sector, was greatly impacted by the shut-down, Solatube has seen a rise in residential business. Westfall said, “I think so many people are spending so much more time at home and realize the benefits of our products.”
Nurses wearing Solatube-made face shields.
Westfall is seeing the economy begin to start up again and is happy to and is happy to see the City of Vista has been supporting local businesses and encouraging everyone to act responsibly, saying, “I think the best thing the City can do is encourage everyone to act responsibly, but get back to shopping, eating out, and enjoying life.”
He went on to say he feels people want to work and earn money again, “so let’s let them, and support them with our spending.”
Economic Development contact for the City of Vista:
Kevin Ham
Economic Development Director
