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It is extremely unlikely that price-sensitive hospitals and construction projects are going to pay three or four times more for commodity, disposable items that happen to be made domestically. The medical industry seems pretty comfortable with putting their staff at higher risk and saving money by mandating mask reuse and lower standards of protection.

If they want to stay in business past the pandemic, they'll need something to separate them from industry leaders other than "Made in USA".

The title is a little misleading. Prior to this article, at least one of the companies advertised its difficulty selling masks in a local newspaper, and then promptly sold out of all 250,000 masks it had manufactured.[1]

No, it's not. The "this" in the title refers to DemeMask in Miami. The company you're talking about is United States Mask, in Fort Worth.

Also, it's a news article, not an advertisement.

The real problem here is the difficulty these startup mask manufacturers have with securing bulk orders. Those lucrative deals are often, it seems, prevented by preferences for existing models, restrictions on models, and sheer institutional conservatism about trying something new.

That's exactly what the article states. Multiple times.

the website of one of the companies has a website that is down on day article was posted

I'm not sure how that is relevant. It's not like distributors and hospital systems rely on web sites to order millions of masks. These things are done on the phone and in person, as there are contracts to sign. It's not like a hospital clicks on "Buy now!" and fills in a quantity of "900,000."

These masks from DemeTech look just like the ones that my wife bought from United States Mask, in Fort Worth.

I bought some masks through another company that was referenced in an article on Business Insider. Those ended up being made and shipped from China or maybe Taiwan, not from the US.

I noted the following about the ones from United States Mask:

1. They had no smell that my wife or I could detect.

2. They were individually wrapped in sealed clear plastic sleeves, which appeared to be hygienic.

3. They fit well against the face.

4. They elastic band going around the head was covered in a type of woven thin material, and so would not catch on your hair as you were putting it into place.

5. Unfortunately, that elastic band is a bit short, and tends to break off the mask at the point of attachment.

In contrast the other masks that I bought:

1. Stunk. Really badly. All three types I bought.

2. Were put into the box as a batch. No individual wrapping. Not hygienic.

3. The elastic bands to go around the head were thin and not covered by any cloth and so did catch the hair.

I can’t speak for the masks from DemeTech, but the pictures on the website look good. The masks from United States Mask seem to be good, except for the detachment problem. The other masks I bought are worthless.

I bought a couple boxes of the masks from DemeTech. I’ll try to remember to post a short review once they arrive.

I am surprised they haven't tried selling directly to consumers. Have been trying to get n95 masks since the summer. Impossible. The closest I have gotten is kn95 on amazon. I would gladly pay up to $10 a mask and I am sure there are many people in the same boat.

For the company that didn't sell out yet, it would be great to help solve the problem by ordering a box. Maybe they'll get their site back up before the surge in ready buyers subsides with the news cycle.

Agreed!