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disasters, terrorist attacks and other emergencies.
During World War II, cities like Detroit became
known as the “Arsenal of Democracy” after auto
makers transformed their plants to assemble war
planes, tanks and other heavy equipment.
To tackle COVID19, government agencies such as
the departments of Defense and Health and Human
Services have made use of some of the act’s contracting
and loan provisions. But the biggest tool at the Presi
dent’s disposal, nationalizing equipment production,
remains unused. “We’re a country not based on na
tionalizing our business,” Trump said March 22. “Call
a person over in Venezuela, ask them how did nation
alization of their businesses work out. Not too well.”
His faith in markets as a more efficient means of
allocating resources is supported by the business
community, which dislikes the idea of being forced
to manufacture products. The DPA “isn’t a magic
wand to immediately solving medical supply short
ages” and won’t result in producing “highly special
ized manufacturing equipment overnight,” the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce argued.
Instead, Trump is convinced that the best way
to meet demand for equipment is by cajoling auto
makers, medicaldevice manufacturers and other in
dustrial firms to step up. In some cases, it’s worked.
After Vice President Mike Pence made a highpro
file visit to 3M, the firm said it would nearly dou
ble mask production to an annual rate of 2 billion
worldwide. Honeywell also committed to boosting
its capacity to make masks. General Motors is ex
ploring a partnership with Ventec Life Systems, a
small Seattlearea company that makes ventilators.
“The phone has been ringing off the hook, and ourteam has been working literally around the clock,”
says Chris Brooks, chief strategy officer of Ventec.
But manufacturing experts say the Administra
tion’s attention to big corporations hasn’t extended
to smaller manufacturers, who often can switch gears
more quickly. There’s no centralized database of com
panies or nationwide mechanism for identifying sup
pliers who could help produce crucial equipment.
Industry and state officials are building their own
“matchmaking” services to connect manufacturers
with suppliers, but small companies have struggled
to figure out how to pitch in. “A lot of the confusion
out there is, ‘I’m willing to do this, but I can’t do it for
free, I need some training and some new equipment,
and I need to find the regulations,’ ” says Carrie Hines,
president and CEO of the American Small Manufac
turers Coalition. “It’s mass confusion.”
Without a federal clearinghouse, manufacturers
don’t know what needs to be made and to what speci
fications. That could leave hospitals with an influx of
donated equipment they can’t use. “The companies
might say, ‘I can really make this,’ but they’re not sure
what requirement or standard they have to perform
to in order to get that done,” says Carla Bailo, presi
dent and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research.
Standardization is especially important for medical
equipment, she adds, because it could hurt someone
if it’s not correctly made.
Dadabhoy’s Tshirt factory has added 30 machines
to ramp up facemask production despite the lack of
government direction. When California officials an
nounced an email address for companies to help, “I
responded to the email address immediately,” Dadab
hoy says. “And nobody has responded to my email.” □^
An employee on the
assembly line at
Ventec Life Systems
in Bothell, Wash.,
which is ramping
up its production of
ventilatorsLINDSEY WASSON—REUTERS
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