By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The healthcare industry's burgeoning market reaches beyond life sciences and medical technology. Healthcare workers need comfortable, sustainable, 'green' office furniture to keep them and their environments healthy. Enter izzydesign.
The Spring Lake-based furniture designer and manufacturer recently entered a strategic alliance with Wisconsin-based healthcare furniture maker Nemschoff to bring izzydesign's office furniture to the healthcare industry.
The alliance allows Nemschoff to focus on what they do well—create furniture for patient care rooms, hospital lounges, and special healthcare seating, such as chairs for patients recovering from bariatric surgery, said Chuck Saylor, izzydesign's founder and president. And it allows izzydesign to introduce their simple, functional furniture to healthcare offices through Nemschoff's sales and distribution channels.
"Izzy will provide furniture for nurses' stations, office areas, and cafeterias," Saylor said. "Healthcare training areas is a growing market. We'll offer freestanding powered tables that let students and trainers plug in their laptops and connect to the Internet. And we'll provide the seating for those tables.
"One of our innovations is that we mold a urethane edge around a work surface, making it anti-microbial," Saylor said. "Spillage can't seep into the edges to grow bacteria. That's highly valued in a healthcare environment."
While the two companies have not made any sales projections, Saylor hopes that the alliance will increase izzy's employee base. The company currently employs 120.
Source: Chuck Saylor, izzydesign; Clare Wade, Clare Wade Communications
Deborah Johnson Wood is the Development News Editor for Rapid Growth. She can be reached at [email protected].
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