With a major winter storm barreling across a large swath of the U.S. East Coast today and tomorrow and blizzard conditions possible over parts of Washington, D.C., Baltimore and New York City metro areas, suppliers in the region are preparing for possible delays and closures in the coming days.

“We actually are not supposed to be hit too hard, but from past experience our main goal is to identify all orders that have firm in-hands dates and ensure those orders are completed and available to ship before any snow falls,” says Michael Moore, president of Bay State Specialty Co. in Middleboro, Massachusetts. “If for whatever reason we cannot complete all those orders, we will communicate with the distributor to determine if we have any fudge days built in, and finally we will work out arrangements to partner on expedited shipping costs once the snow has passed. With all this said, we find our main shipper to be very reliable when it comes to harsh weather conditions and maintaining schedules.”

Ryan Halvorsen, chief operations officer at Quinn Flags in Hanover, Pennsylvania, says, “As of right now the storm is not due to hit our area until late tomorrow, most likely at the end of or after business hours. We have a normal day planned and will have to play it by ear. Our production is not shutting down or stopping and as far as I know there are no delays with UPS either. We won’t know more until later tomorrow. Monday may be a different story, but hopefully the storm is gone by then and the roads are cleared.”

Daniel Berkowitz, president of Picnic Plus in West Chester, Pennsylvania, says the company will be open on Friday but will be closing early (at 4 pm) so all of its employees can safely get home. “As long as we have power, we plan on opening back up on Monday morning,” he adds.

At Stahls’ ID Direct in Sterling Heights, Michigan, the team is also prepared. “During this wintery season and as storm warnings prevail, Stahls’ is prepared to continue servicing our customers with our dedicated customer service and production staff,” says Mary Blondell, promotional products manager. “We will continue to answer phones and fill orders during winter storms.  We are not expecting any shipping delays, but we have backup generators ready if necessary.”

Follow PPB Newslink for storm updates, closures and delays as they become available. If your business experiences weather-related delays or interruptions, please notify PPB Newslink at JamesK@ppai.org.