In a time of crisis, the Chattanooga Tent Co. is changing direction and putting its stakes down in a new field.
Instead of preparing tents for big events such as Bonnaroo and the Kentucky Derby that have been postponed, long-time family owned tent company is helping hospitals and businesses fight COVID-19.
At Erlanger hospital, the company put two 800-square-foot tents in the parking garage that are being used as triage areas. The weather proof tents have side walls that can slide like a shower curtain and have plastic flooring installed that can be disinfected and cleaned as needed.
“We have created drive-thru testing centers and have provided tents for Erlanger and Memorial hospital,” Chattanooga Tent owner and president Mike Holland said. “We have heard great feedback from the area for our help, but we aren’t the ones in the line of fire. It’s the staff at the hospitals and the first responders who we really owe it to. The community has stepped up and rallied around each other to work as a team.”
Chattanooga Tent has also provided tents for the corporate industry around town to help them check their employees for temperatures before going into work. They have also had to manufacture some of the fabric walls and vinyl curtain doors for some of the 2,000 triage units that will be placed in the New Orleans Convention Center. Holland said they made their first delivery to New Orleans last week.