Food packaging company Teinnovations has donated $360,000 in personal protective equipment to the city of Aurora.
The large supply of equipment like medical masks and gloves will be used by the city of Aurora for its winter warming shelter and emergency response efforts, with some also being distributed to area nonprofits.
At a short ceremony on Thursday at Teinnovations’ global headquarters at 700 N. Commerce St. in Aurora, Mayor John Laesch said he was grateful for the company’s support.
Not only is the donation going to “go a long way,” Laesch said, but it also comes at a “critical time” since it is flu season. People will effectively be living together at the city’s new warming center, and this equipment will help people protect themselves, he said.
The city’s temporary overnight warming center opens at 712 S. River St. when overnight temperatures dip below 32 degrees or during wind chill advisories, city officials said.
Aurora’s Emergency Management Agency will keep much of the donated stock, which will help the agency respond quicker in case another pandemic like COVID-19 were to hit, according to Laesch. A city press release said some of the donated equipment will also be distributed through local nonprofits like Hesed House, the homeless shelter in Aurora.
Teinnovations doesn’t make personal protective equipment, but it had the stock to donate because the company helped hospitals get that equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, company founder and Executive Vice President Daniel Tein said at Thursday’s ceremony.
Food packaging company Teinnovations has donated $360,000 in personal protective equipment, seen here, to the city of Aurora. (R. Christian Smith/The Beacon-News)
Hospitals were having a difficult time getting the equipment they needed, but Teinnovations had the ability to source, acquire and supply it, so the company did, he said.
But, then the pandemic ended, and the company still had some of that stock, according to Tein. He said the company is now happy it has some of that left over so it could make the donation to the city.
Teinnovations was founded in 2001 and specializes in food science and packaging. What Tein’s company does is help others keep their food tasting good and being good for people while keeping it all natural by removing things like chemicals, he said on Thursday.
Teinnovations founder and Executive Vice President Daniel Tein opens a box to take out some medical masks for Aurora officials to bring to the city’s warming center on Dec. 11, 2025. The company has donated $360,000 in personal protective equipment to the city of Aurora. (R. Christian Smith/The Beacon-News)
The company’s website says it works with businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
Aurora has been Teinnovations’ home for the past two and a half years, and it has been a business-friendly city, Tein said at Thursday’s ceremony.
“It’s a great place to have our company continue to grow,” he said.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
