The path that led Lloyd Armbrust to launch a high-tech, high-capacity surgical mask startup in Pflugerville started long before the pandemic.
In a Bytes with the Beat interview, Armbrust said he's had a dream to work in manufacturing since growing up in Duluth, Minn. and seeing his dad manage crews and huge equipment at a manufacturing company.
He's had an interest in air filtration, too, since his college days when he recognized the safety measures necessary for crews to do demolition on structures with mold.
But his entrepreneurial path led to software, including the 2010 founding of OwnLocal, an automated digital ad platform. Then, the pandemic emerged and he dove back into researching air filtration and manufacturing. In a matter of months, he had surgical masks being produced by the tens of thousands each day.
Now, Armbrust American is among the largest producers of surgical masks -- and on course to hire 60 new employees and become the most productive mask maker in the U.S.
But shifting from software to manufacturing hasn't come easily. From buying and assembling huge machines, to developing faster packing methods, this startup journey is unique.
"Everything -- like every tiny little thing that you do in manufacturing -- is hard," Armbrust said in the interview. "You want to make a tiny change. That's really hard. You want to change colors, it seems obvious. I mean, think about it, like, if you're selling a digital product, right, you want to change colors change... I could literally in one second, change the color. No problem. You take that for granted."
Learn more about Armbrust's journey and what's next for his company, which is hiring 60 people currently, in the video below:
