WESTERLO — Like all businesses, Hannay Reels, one of the largest employers in the Hilltowns, has had to adjust its operations to accommodate new health regulations related to the coronavirus pandemic. But, according to the company’s president, Eric Hannay, the company’s “essential” designation by the state, the layout of its facility, and a small-business loan have each allowed for a level of stability in the face of uncertainty. 

At its 15-acre campus on Route 143 in Westerlo, Hannay Reels makes and sells hose-and-cable reels. Hannay told The Enterprise that the company has 157 full-time employees, roughly 70-percent of whom work on the “shop floor,” while the rest work in office settings. Approximately half of those employees are local to the Hilltowns, Hannay said. 

When the state began freezing activity in mid-March to prevent the spread of the virus, it allowed services that were deemed essential to continue operating, of which Hannay Reels was one. 

“As an essential manufacturer serving critical industries such as defense, rescue/first responder, and transportation infrastructure, we have remained open through most of the last several weeks serving those customers,” Hannay said. “Even so, like the vast majority of manufacturers, revenue is down considerably at the moment.

Hannay explained that, through a small-business loan, the company was able to retain all 157 of its employees and provide them their paychecks and benefits as usual. 

Like the businesses now allowed to open in the Capital Region as part of its phased re-entry plan, essential servicers have had to take steps to protect its employees and the public. 

Hannay said that, while it was “difficult” to obtain these new items, the company is now equipped with automatic hand sanitizers and motion-sensing towel dispensers, along with new cleaning practices carried out and logged across the facilities, and posted notices that keep employees vigilant of hygiene. 

Because Hannay Reels’ operations are spread across approximately 15 buildings — two office-buildings and “perhaps a dozen manufacturing buildings,” Hannay said — social distancing wasn’t as hard as it may have been for other businesses with a similarly large workforce. 

The Hannay campus has buildings with 200,000 square feet of  interior space, which works out to over 1,200 square feet of space per employee on average, Hannay explained.

“A majority of our workers, shop and office, are able to maintain at least 6 feet social distance with their co-workers throughout the day,” Hannay said, “but of course in those few instances where it is not possible, such as when employees walk through a different department or to a restroom, we have a masking requirement.  Several weeks ago, we were able to distribute several washable cloth masks with the Hannay Reels logo on it to each and every employee.” 

And when contractors stop by the facilities, Hannay said, they are required to follow those same requirements; all other visiting is restricted.

Meanwhile, some office workers were asked to work from home, which Hannay explained was facilitated by a virtual private network installed by the company’s information technology staff. 

If the Capital Region, of which Albany County is a part, is able to continue to meet the state’s benchmarks for coronavirus containment and recovery, many office workers will be allowed back to their jobs on June 3 as part of the second phase of reopening, out of four phases overall.

“Our employees have been very understanding of the rules and guidelines that are in place,” Hannay said, “and we are all looking forward to the day when more effective treatments and/or vaccines are widely available.  Again, because of the size of our facility relative to our employee count, it has been somewhat easier for us to practice social distancing without major reconfiguration of our facility compared with other businesses, particularly in the retail sector.”