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Glass company pivots to fill need

Businesses seek barriers to meet new health rules
VanGo Glass
Andrea and Murray Engelsjord from Tsawwassen's VanGO Glass are producing counter guards and COVID-19 barriers for businesses that must reconfigure operations in order to reopen.

It’s a made in Delta solution for businesses needing to revamp their operations as they begin to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tsawwassen-based VanGO Glass, which specializes in glass shower doors, has begun producing counter guards and barriers for businesses that must modify their premises to meet health guidelines.

VanGO Glass is offering a temporary solution made of acrylic and a longer-term one made from tempered safety Plexiglass.

Owner Murray Engelsjord said the company recently decided to shift its product line as demand picked up for COVID-19 solutions.

“We started getting phone calls from local doctors’ offices. Some didn’t want the Plexiglass ones, but wanted glass options, so it’s what we do, all the same hardware with our shower doors so it was pretty easy to get into that,” he said. “The acrylic one is harder because the supply isn’t there because everyone wants that.”

Andrea Engelsjord said VanGO Glass, which has been in business since 2008 with an online storefront and fabrication done on Annacis Island, wanted to come up with a solution that allows businesses to get something in place quickly so they can reopen as soon as possible.

“It’s an uncertain time for all of us, but we are trying our best to get out there and advise them what is going to work best given the circumstances,” she said. “Our specialty is, of course, more of the glass ones because that’s what we can do the most efficiently. The turnaround time is quicker, but some of the messaging we are trying to get out there, not in all applications, but in a lot of circumstances, frameless, tempered, safety glass barriers are probably more cost-effective for the longer term.”