Opportunity for those who are making masks to reach a larger market.

As reported during the Morning Update Show, The Office of the Mayor has announced that the City of Seattle has launched the Seattle Protects Marketplace to “connect local companies, organizations, and community members interested in producing, requesting, and donating cloth face coverings for Seattleites during COVID-19 pandemic.”

Basically, what the City has done is bring together one platform where people from Seattle (and beyond) can go and connect with local mask and face-covering manufacturers on the retail and wholesale level they can also connect with those who are donating masks as well. According to the Seattle Protects website, the main impetus in launching the marketplace was to help citizens access face-coverings so they can be in compliance with the latest health directives as well as to support local business, also to be able to support vulnerable populations who might not be able to afford masks and as well to reduce competition with the health care sector for medical-grade masks.

There are 10 businesses currently listed across the categories of wholesale and retail. There are some businesses that are (WMBE) which means that the business is owned by a Woman or Minority. Out of the current companies listed, we did not readily recognize any of them as Black-owned. This very well might present a great opportunity for the many Black-owned entrepreneurs and solopreneurs that have been making or distributing masks and face coverings for the past few months to add their company to the Seattle Protects marketplace.

A Seattle area Black-owned business that has been locally designing and producing masks for a while is Ashaunti Monique Customs - Ashaunti has already built a reputation across the national fashion industry for her fashion-forward clothing customizations. When COVID-19 hit, Ashaunti transitioned her clothing design business into mask production and has been churning them out ever since.

A Black-owned mask distributor is Major Key. Major Key specializes in aggregating various types of masks from across the country and making them available to the local market at affordable prices. Major Key is who you want to turn to for a specialty mask or design that you might not be able to find locally.

The City of Seattle is encouraging businesses to join their marketplace and the application can be found by clicking here. Hopefully we will see some Black-owned businesses like Ashaunti Monique Customs and Major Key on the marketplace soon.