Paul Bethke, Director of Quality for Kenal Manufacturing was our speaker today.  Kenal moved to Kenosha in 2015, they began by making durable lighting fixtures on the southside of Chicago.  They were a private owned company until 2018 when they were bought out by Lagrand, a publicly owned French company. Their products are all commercial and you won’t find them at Menard’s or Home Depot. They use vertical integration – using raw steele and co0mponents and completing full assembly of the light, including cutting the steele. This is a very unique skill set since most others use lasers that assist with metal fabrication. Their engineers work directly with their clients to create the exact application they are looking for.  Their latest accomplishment is a light fixture that kills Covid-19 virus. It is called Indigo-Clean. It has completed peer reviewed research at one of the top medical research schools in the country. It is different than UV light and is not harmful to humans but kills bacteria/viruses from hard and soft surfaces. Very specific blue light technology manufactured here at the Kenosha plant. Currently it is very expensive technology, over $1000/light fixture. The only thing it can not kill is the polio virus because polio does not contain a protein needed for the light to work.  They have placed the lights in the factory to assist them in keeping their employees safe.