Company Repurposes Massachusetts Manufacturing Facility to Produce Needed Medical Supplies

Sparx Hockey, inventor of the revolutionary Sparx Skate Sharpener, has announced it will begin manufacturing protective face shields to assist the medical community in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.  The company recently completed the design and development process and will begin manufacturing the shields this week in its Massachusetts facility.

“We currently have unused capacity in our manufacturing facility and after talking to colleagues at other companies and learning of efforts to make protective face shields, we realized that we too could repurpose a portion of our manufacturing facility to make protective shields and help the medical community,” said Sparx Hockey Founder & CEO Russ Layton. “We immediately began prototyping, sourcing materials and we will begin building as many units as we can this week.”

The company expects to produce approximately 10,000-15,000 face shields a week and is currently taking orders via its website at www.sparxhockey.com/safetygear. According to Layton, who worked for over a decade as a mechanical engineer in the medical device industry prior to starting Sparx Hockey, the company will prioritize orders for medical personnel on the front lines of the Coronavirus battle and will ship orders as soon as the product is available.

“We are facing unprecedented times and while hockey is paused throughout the world, it only made sense to help support the fight against COVID-19,” Layton said. “I’m so proud of the incredible team here at Sparx Hockey for turning the idea of a Sparx Protective Face Shield into an actual product in the matter of just a few days. We are also grateful to our colleagues at Cascade Lacrosse and Bauer Hockey for sharing their face shield information, which allowed us to quickly get into production.”

For more information about the Sparx Protective Face Shield, including the ordering process, visit www.sparxhockey.com/safetygear.  

About Sparx Hockey

Sparx Hockey is a privately held corporation located in Acton, Massachusetts. Sparx Hockey is a developer and manufacturer of skate sharpening equipment and related accessories for ice hockey, figure skating and sled hockey. Sparx Hockey products are currently being used by thousands of players and skaters from youth to professional levels. The company is focused on building a leadership position in skate sharpening by providing customers with the most advanced, accurate and easy to use skate sharpening equipment on the planet. For more information, please visit www.sparxhockey.com