Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277960
Summer 2020 – LOCAL695.ORG 15 BACK BACK BACK ROAD by Richard Lightstone CAS AMPS As productions all around the world began shutting down in mid-March, we were faced with a sudden and unprecedented work stoppage. It was a chaotic time with the expressed belief that this was only a two-week thing, or maybe a month, but no longer. Some four months later, the industry is making eff orts to wake from its dormancy, but defi nitive start dates are still theoretical. All of us struggled to fathom the sudden hardships and navigate applying for unemployment or other means of fi nancial aid, as well as keeping ourselves and our families whole. Forgotten for the moment in this pandemic was our friendly, reliable sound equipment sales & rental houses, and equipment manufacturers. These businesses are part of our family too. I decided to survey them and fi nd out how they dealt with the sudden closure orders and what the future of their businesses might look like. I spoke at length with: Glen Trew of Trew Audio; Gene Martin, Audio Department; Mike Paul of Location Sound and Peter Schneider of Gotham Sound. Amongst our manufacturers: Charles Parra, Denecke, Inc.; Gordon Moore of Lectrosonics; Brenda Klemme of K-Tek; Ron Meyer of Professional Sound Corporation, and Jon Tatooles of Sound Devices. I did reach out to both Zaxcom and Wisycom, but I received no responses. All of these companies were considered "essential businesses," as they supply the broadcast industry, but the reaction to the shutdown orders and the threat of COVID-19 forced all of them to completely reassess their business needs. Glen Trew explains, "We never shut down Trew Audio, but we furloughed a lot of the sta probably eighty- ve percent, and kept on all of our service technicians. They haven't missed a beat since the beginning, primarily doing repairs and custom parts for broadcast video. We decided to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help us, and it allowed us to hire everyone back in the United States on April 20." "Our initial response was the hard one," said Gordon Moore of Lectrosonics, "we furloughed the entire plant, and told them to apply for unemployment. We continued to pay all of their health insurance. There were about eight people coming in on a daily basis; payroll still had to be processed, there were shipments still in transit, critical parts, a normal load of repairs, and a lot of it from the news divisions of NBC, ABC, CBS, all sending gear in to be serviced. We called in our Service Department and said you guys can keep working." The Audio Department were by appointment only. K-Tek immediately considered the safety of their employees and had only essential sta come in to the shop to make sure vital orders went out. "I had to set up a home o ce so I could manage the kids being out of school while trying to keep the company going," said Brenda Klemme. "It's been a huge challenge and I am grateful that my employees have been so understanding. We also had to put our new product launches on hold, which has been frustrating. Sales will be back and new products released, but we have to wait for our customers to go back to work. ROAD THE