DAYTON, Ohio — For Tempagenix co-owners April Pollock and Shelly Heller, their disposable paper forehead strips are just what the doctor ordered during the coronavirus pandemic.
- A Dayton-based startup has gone mainstream in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic
- Tempagenix has developed a disposable forehead thermometer called “Temp-N-Toss” that monitors a person's temperature for 48 hours.
- Tempagenix has seen nearly $4 million in business so far in 2020
Their company started in 2016, and in the last two months they went from $300,000 in annual revenue, to nearly $4 million in business already in 2020. And demand continues to be through the roof.
“This is something. This is working your butt off every single day, 12 to 15 hour day. We probably get anywhere from 50 to 75 requests a day," said Tempagenix Co-Owner Shelly Heller.
This single use, non-invasive strip monitors a person's temperature for 48 hours.
They have three different assembling and packaging warehouses — all in Ohio —and about 50 contracted employees, including adults with disabilities.
They believe Temp-N-Toss can be a fear reliever in this time of great uncertainty.
“It might be just kind of comforting to know everybody's around 98.6, right? But then be able to see if anybody spikes during the day as well,” says Heller.
Temp-N-Toss is currently available over the counter at your local Kroger, Target or CVS stores.
And both Pollock and Heller, who've known each other for 14 years, say they expect the demand for Temp-N-Toss to increase in coming weeks, when Ohio opens up manufacturing and retail stores.
They've recently rolled out bulk packaging options, providing 3,000 plus reusable thermometers to be used for employees in automotive factories and in big box stores.
“We had to expand our product line to include a reusable option with no adhesive. For Chrysler-Fiat, they want reusable for every worker in their plant. Home Depot has ordered over a million of the reusable thermometers as well,” said co-owner April Pollock.
Still for Pollock, who also owns C-3 Group, and Heller, who is the President at Allied Shipping and Packaging supplies, Dayton roots run strong.
Both say they're proud to be part of the effort in helping those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We love that Dayton is a birthplace of a lot of innovation and to get some of that back and to be able to help our own community. So, staying in Ohio is something we are both very passionate about,” said Pollock.