Baltimore Entrepreneurs Band Together To Make Special Face Masks, Earn Money During Pandemic
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- When a local group of entrepreneurs in Hampden saw business dwindling during the coronavirus pandemic, they decided to band together and create some very special face masks.
"At the beginning of the COVID crisis, we decided that three small local companies were going to pivot and we were gonna start making masks," Jill Andrews, Owner of Jill Andrews Gowns, said.
Andrews, a wedding gown designer, partnered with Kim Strassner of Words with Boards and Dan Janssen of Imperium Shaving to create Quality Mask Supply after they all experienced much less business when the pandemic began."
"All of our business was absolutely annihilated by the COVID crisis, but we also saw this huge need for masks for everybody," Andrews said.
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The masks are made with 100% organic cotton without harmful chemicals used in other fabrics. They also have special filters built in and feature unique designs from both local artists and fabrics from high-end fashion designers.
"We have a Gucci and we also have some Dolce & Gabbana that really was kind of fun," Andrews said.
The masks have been sold online all over the country over the past several months and have been rated as some of the most effective in a Duke University study.
Quality Mask Supply also has employed several people who found themselves out of work earlier this year.
"We just had this whole network, about 45 home sewers, and they told us they would've been out of work. So this was a way for them to make money and be at home and be safe," Kim Strassner, of Words with Boards, said.
You can buy the masks for as little as 15.99 and can buy them online at qualitymasksupply.com.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
