Private-sector heroes are stepping up to save the day

Victory over the coronavirus pandemic will not come from the government. Victory will come from the efforts, sacrifices, and ingenuity of private businesses and individuals doing what they have always done in America: fighting for one another in times of crisis.

Government tools are powerful, but they cannot solve this pandemic. Stay-at-home orders, criminalizing handshakes, and shuttering businesses can only buy time for our health care system to respond and private labs to find a treatment. Trillions of dollars in rescue payments can only prop up — and barely — an economy devastated by fear and uncertainty stemming from the spread of the virus and made worse by government orders.

We don’t need to look to D.C., the domes adorning states’ capitols throughout our country, or the televised news coverage of politicians to see those who will ultimately help us through this time of challenge. We need to only look in our own communities for the stories starting to be told of the greatness of Americans and our free enterprise system being turned loose to help win this battle by using private companies for the public good.

A one-time alcoholic and crack addict who found his faith and sobriety as recently as 2009, has dramatically shifted his $300-million-per-year company into a maker of masks. Without any invocation of the immensely powerful federal Defense Production Act of 1950, the owner of My Pillow, Inc. has shifted 75% of his company’s workforce to producing 50,000 potentially life-saving masks — each day.

In 1995, a mattress maker ventured deep into the private sector by opening their very first store in Denver. Twenty-five years later, the Denver Mattress Company operates in 30 states and is the largest privately-held mattress company in America. Their business, and the many stores who rely upon their quality mattresses, did not make the list of “essential” businesses under Gov. Jared Polis’ broad order. Instead of waiting to be rescued or instructed by the government, the company developed fifteen prototypes of protective masks, before settling on one they intend to produce to the tune of 10,000 per day.

In the 26 years since their small alterations store opened in thensmall town Parker, Esther and John Lee have worked late into the evenings during the February to June rush, preparing clothes for prom, weddings, swimsuit season, and all the other events that now have been lifted off our calendars.

The virus-caused downturn in business and their decision to close their doors — temporarily — came before any government mandate to do so. Esther and John immigrated here in the early 1980s, worked in sweatshops and held janitorial jobs saving their money until, in 1994, they could afford to start their own alterations shop. Their decades of tireless work in their small business has not made them capable of withstanding a lengthy forced economic shutdown.

Whether it is an entrepreneurial spirit, a compulsion to serve their community, or indefatigable industriousness, the Lees now spend their days and efforts producing masks and mask covers for all who ask, including police, pharmacists, and nursing homes. No money comes in, but what has gone out since they began are more than 300 masks and covers. If pressed to explain “why,” they would likely smile and humbly say “we were bored.” Sure. Bored.

Their businesses may not be deemed to be essential, but their character and American spirit are.

Despite the frequent vilification by some, those who risk their futures and invest their lives into earning a living — and yes, a profit — through their businesses, will be among the many we will thank for getting us through this pandemic. For these private sector champions, it didn’t take government directing them to act or seizing their businesses. They did it because business has never been just about profit; it is also about service, despite what the detractors of our free enterprise system would like us to believe.

George H. Brauchler is the district attorney for the 18th Judicial District.