For Batten, layoffs were a last resort. Many employees have been with Batten for a decade or longer. "We built a new fence, did projects to make sure everyone got 40 hours, but it is hard. You are looking for work," he said. "There is the stress of knowing that, it is not all that busy, and also wondering, you know, 'Where is the bottom?'" Batten's wife pushed the company to take some of the supplies it had on hand to make signs and pivot to make shields that were just starting to become needed as businesses looked to reopen amid the pandemic.