Ohio Flame Statement Regarding COVID-19

First and foremost, we are a very small business. As of writing this, neither myself or any of our employees have been personally affected by the Caronavirus or are even symptomatic with any type of illness. For the continued safety of our staff, we are not taking any public appointments or walk-in business until our State government advises us that regular social contact is safe to resume again. We thank you for your understanding of this matter at this time.

Secondly, in order for us to weather this trying time, we are going to be staggering our staffing and production so that we can remain cost-effective and so that we can limit the social contact we have in the shop. This means that orders will be grouped, with manufacturing and shipping being based on a set weekly schedule that works based on the forecasted scheduling of our staff. My goal is that, even though the order may not ship out in the next business day or two, we will not see a buildup in the backlog of orders. Please give us a few extra days to process your order, get it manufactured and shipped out. These are all hand crafted fire pits that we make here in our shop. We will do our best to communicate expected lead times with our customers, and anyone has any concerns, I will be happy to discuss directly.

I’m a small business owner, and I ABSOLUTELY love what I do. I have been blessed to be able to do this for the past 11 years, and I would have never guessed that we would be facing what we are now. I am fortunate to be able to a lot of the business work from home, as I plan to do as much as I can. I will still be doing work in the shop a few days each week, such as fabricating, doing custom work and shipping out orders. But as we’re all adapting to this change in life, I will be running the business, answering customer emails and phone calls, as I stay home with our small children. If you’re calling in, please pardon the kids screaming and what will probably be Frozen II playing for the 30+ time. My wife is a registered nurse and will be facing these difficult times much more directly than I can even imagine. Please keep our family’s health and safety in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for understanding, and I am sure that many are adapting in a similar manner, you are in our thoughts.

Last and most importantly, please continue to support your small businesses, especially local small business. Small business is the backbone of our local economy, and the slowdown we’re going to be experiencing is going to sadly affect a lot of us. Please find ways to support your local business in any way that is safe and possible in your area. We will get through this time. Thank you all for your continued support, and helping us support American Made. I appreciate all of our customers so much!"

Matt Skillman
President & CEO, Ohio Flame Inc.