JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A financial lending corporation based out of Tampa is doing its part to help medical professionals throughout the state obtain PPE from China.
The Lending Corporation has been putting up millions of its own dollars to purchase millions of various medical masks from a manufacturer in China, then having those masks shipped to Florida.
CEO Danijella Dragas said the corporation started the operation after realizing so many medical organizations throughout Florida were having a hard time obtaining PPE.
“They have to produce the product and buy the materials, so, they’re under pressure," Dragas said. “For example, an order of $22 million that we had was backlogged to $78 million worth of products ahead of that, so, unless you had cash up front or you’re paying a deposit and expect cash on delivery, you can imagine where you would be in that supply chain, so we stepped in.”
The Lending Corporation is handling the logistics of getting these masks into the country by commercial and even private airplanes. The CEO admits that at times it’s a process of learning as you go, especially in the beginning when priorities were solely based on money.
"Day by day, there were challengers where one moment, you could apply cash on delivery, and the next thing you had to supply cash up front or 50% deposit because of the supply and demand of the commodity was determining which customers would literally jump ahead of others. That has been a challenge.”
Once the masks arrive in Florida, an undisclosed organization working with the Lending Corporation is responsible for distributing the masks to the intended hospital or medical office.