There's a war on. At least if you're in Guilford, Maine.

There's only so much gloom, so much doom, one human can take. With millions signing up for unemployment - you know, all those goldbrickers that Lindsey Graham is afraid will never go back to work once they realize how cushy being on the dole is - it's good to know that there are some businesses that are faring pretty well.

Guilford, Maine - population 1,500 and small change -  is in the middle of nowhere. I.e., in the middle of Maine. It's a far piece form Portland. A far piece from Augusta. It's even a far-ish piece from Bangor. So, middle of nowhere.

And out there, in the middle of nowhere, Puritan Medical Products Company:

...is one of two companies that make essentially all of the swabs used for coronavirus testing. (The other, Copan Diagnostics Inc., is in Italy, an epicenter of the deadly virus.) If swabs are necessary for testing, and if testing is crucial to slowing the virus’s spread, then it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that the world’s future depends, at least in part, on Puritan. (Source: Bloomberg)

(Their swabs are also used in home DNA kits, so if you've ever asked Ancestry.com to let you know whether your German ancestors are actually from Belgium, you've probably used a Puritan swab. They also make tongue depressors.)

Business is booming. 

“We are ramping up to produce and wrap a million swabs a week that we need to put into the supply chain across the U.S.,” [sales EVP Timothy] Templet says.

The company is starting to run 6 days a week, 20 hours a day. And is hiring.

...The company has 535 employees total. It’s continually looking for more machine operators and mechanics and is hoping it can get some extra hands from college-age workers returning home early and recently laid-off workers from nearby employers. The medical side will also borrow from the Hardwood side to the extent possible, Templet says.

“The whole labor shortage [exacerbated by clampdowns on immigration] has created difficulties to have enough machines and build equipment,” he says. “I could use 60 people tomorrow.” 

If only there were more people in Guilford. Or even near Guilford.

I'm sure it's not all that exciting (or well-paid) to sit or stand there making swabs all day, but a job's a job. 

As for the Hardwood side of the biz, Hardwood is Puritan's sister company. They make popsicle sticks, but there's a war on, and right now, we're more in need of nasal swabs than we are of popsicles. Not that popsicles aren't good for morale, but still...
So, a shoutout to the swab makers at Puritan. And to the popsicle stick makers across the street. Rosie the Riveter's got nothing on you folks.