Beacon Promotions at 2121 S. Bridge St. started up production again as of Monday.

NEW ULM — Beacon Promotions at 2121 S. Bridge St. started up production again as of Monday.

Vice-President and General Manager Brett Olsen said this week the business is trying to crank production back up. It started running a few people, with plans to be running at full speed by next week.

Olsen said the production part of the businesses shut down four weeks ago during the start of social distancing. A few staff worked from home taking service calls and orders, but nothing was being produced.

“The promotional industry was hit hard,” Olsen said. With many events being canceled due to the coronavirus, the need for promotional materials like those manufactured at Beacon has been limited. Olsen said the business completed a few orders for essential businesses still in operation, but only needed a few staff members for these runs.

The company has back orders from before the shutdown and is now working to complete these requests.

Olsen said Beacon does have a COVID-19 plan in place for workers safety. Sanitizing stations have been set up throughout the building and masks are available for employees. They are required to wear a fresh mask each day.

Regular cleaning of the facility was stepped up. Olsen said Beacon has always used Buntjers Cleaning Services and have brought them back to help. There are also maintenance workers regularly cleaning stations and break rooms.

Olsen was excited to get back to work. He said it was eerie to walk through the building with no production work.

Before the shutdown Beacon employed nearly 100 workers. Olsen said by next Monday, they should have 40 workers back. The company has long-term plans to phase all employees back to work, but this is dependent on the amount of work needed.