Riviera Beach business adds more than 400 new jobs during pandemic
RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — RGF Environmental Group, a manufacturing company, has already added nearly 400 new temp and full times jobs in Riviera Beach.
"We are aware of the fact a lot of businesses are doing very tough right now said Tony Julian, the Vice President of Business and Development at RGF. "We are just happy to be able to have that growth and be able to employ some of the local people."
The technology company has been focusing its efforts on indoor air purification systems to help combat coronavirus within homes and commercial spaces.
The company's REME HALO system creates airborne hydrogen peroxide similar to what you use in the brown bottles at home. A controlled amount of peroxide is then circulated through an entire space by your HVAC system.
"We are 99.9 percent effective on the virus within around 15 minutes," said Julian.
Since the COVID outbreak, RGF employers say demand for its indoor product has jumped 500 percent.
Julian explained, "On contact with a germ it neutralizes that germ."
To keep production up and running the team has hired more than 400 employees since March.
Artie Ponce, a new employee at RGF in Riviera beach tells CBS12, he was unemployed for two months before finding work with the manufacturing group.
"Things were difficult I did have a lot of feelers out there, but there weren't a lot of bites, my daughter was working here and she highly recommended it."
After six months Artie Ponce now works as a quality control inspector.
RGF started with just over 100 employees but now has over 600 people on its team.
The doors are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. RGF employees work around the clock with three work shifts. The team takes part in everything from welding to assembling the finished product.
Julian tells CBS12 News they have installed over 4 million HALO products and produce over 70 thousand filtration systems a month.
Another location in Lakeland Florida is opening with a ribbon-cutting set to take place in two weeks.