Telescope Casual Furniture shut down voluntarily three weeks ago due to the coronavirus pandemic. But now, its owners are looking to reopen the doors with the goal of maintaining their family’s rich history of helping out.

“I just got a lot of people that are really anxious to do something,” said Kathy Juckett, Telescope Casual Furniture’s CEO.

Juckett has a plan to get her 246 people back to work while helping reduce the shortage of medical supplies and equipment across the state.

“We can make masks; we can make gowns; we can make beds; we can make tables, chairs,” she said.

The company, however, has yet to get an OK from the state on production.

“We don’t need machines, we don’t need equipment. We have it, we can do this stuff. We can hit the ground running, so we’re really kind of frustrated with that,” said Juckett.

Washington County has taken up Telescope’s offer and will be ordering gowns soon.

And in nearly 120 years of business, this isn’t the first time the company has stepped up. During both world wars, it helped manufacture hundreds of thousands of cots for the the military.

“We feel like it’s incredibly important for our company to be a good citizen of our community, our state, and our country,” said Juckett. “And our employees feel strongly about that. It’s part of our culture here.”

Juckett says, initially, she plans to have a small group of people back to work next week who will focus on sewing gowns together.

“We’re not giving up. We don’t take no for an answer really well when we know that the right answer is do something,” she said.

The company has been paying all of its employees since its closure on March 17.