Pandemic Leads to Higher Demand for Bosma
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe unemployment rate in Indiana currently stands at 6.4%, but for people who are blind or visually impaired the number is approximately 63%. Indianapolis-based Bosma Enterprises is continuing its work to help lower that number and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mittman says the pandemic is creating more opportunities to do so as demand for its products has grown. Bosma is providing packaging services for a variety of products, including personal protective equipment, at its Indianapolis facility.
In an interview on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick, Mittman said the demand for PPE, in particular, has increased.
“We serve mainly the Department of Veterans Affairs…but we provide the PPE to the VA and as their demand has surged, we’ve had to surge our supply to them,” said Mittman. “So we’re working with our partners…trying to locate those products for the federal government, making sure we can get it to them in a timely manner to take care of our veterans is very important to us.”
Bosma provides contract packaging and warehousing services, as well as its own Good Works line of ice melter products. The organization was one of four Hoosier companies selected to move forward in Walmart’s Open Call event to potentially have its products sold on store shelves.
Mittman says he expects the demand to continue in the near future.
“As we work with our strategic partners all around the world, really, we’re seeing the demand probably continue on for the next year or two, that surge,” said Mittman. “And ensuring that we increase our capacity and our ability to configure and produce products for our customers is really our main focus.”
Mittman, a retired master sergeant in the U.S. Army, began his current role at Bosma in August 2019 after being named to the position the previous February. He says he continues to look for ways to expand the organization.
“One of the first things I did as CEO is we developed a new, three-year strategic plan and one of the big pillars of that is diversification and we are looking to do that through mergers and acquisitions. We’ve taken a look at over 200 companies and we’re really actively engaging three or four right now to actually acquire.”
Mittman says the move toward acquisitions is meant to not only diversify Bosma’s revenue stream, but also to meet the organization’s mission of providing opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired.