Running an essential business during a pandemic brings with it a host of new issues and challenges. However, when workers can be kept safe from COVID-19, there are certainly upsides to keeping workers on the job and doing business, if not as usual, then at least at a level that many companies would love to see.

Since the pandemic hit this country, PIA Automation US, part of a larger, German-owned business, has increased production at its Evansville, Indiana, facility. The PIA plant makes machines that manufacture medical supplies such as masks, and according to Stacey Gilles, director of human resources, the pandemic has her company scrambling to meet demand. One upside, says Gilles, is the feeling of contributing to the greater good.