The city of Syracuse is getting help from a Pulaski company to keep air clean for some essential city workers.
Once the weather gets colder, DPW employees will crowd into a big meeting room to start the day. To ensure their safety in the era of COVID-19, a brand new air purifier from HealthWay Products in Pulaski will sit in the corner, quietly doing its job, according to company president Vincent Lobdell.
"It’s filtering the air as it comes in. In a space like this, it will filter the air six times an hour. And it’s collecting everything down to .007 microns, which is 10 times smaller than that of COVID-19," said Lobdell.
HealthWay donated two of the machines to the city to used at the DPW headquarters, because so many essential employees work there. Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh expects this won’t be the end of the collaboration between the city and company.
"The school district has been in active discussions with HealthWay about their equipment and making good progress with that, and we’re evaluating all our facilities to make sure that they’re safe," Walsh said.
HealthWay recently signed a deal to supply New York City schools with portable air filters.
Lobdell admits his business of air purification technology, which has been operating in Pulaski since the early 80s, is perfect for these times. He said combined with mask wearing and social distancing, the air purifiers can be very effective.
“If you put this in the space and to the other things, it’s a lot less likely that COVID could be transmitted in the space."
Lobdell said sales at HealthWay are up substantially, and they’ve been hiring additional staff to keep up the supply of the air filtration products.
"We’ve been in a fortunate position to grow during this time, but more importantly we’ve loved the fact that we’re making a positive impact," he said.
