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Inauguration Day puts spotlight on Michigan businesses

Biden Inauguration
Posted at 10:17 PM, Jan 20, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-20 22:19:40-05

(WXYZ) — Michigan businesses made an impression at Joe Biden's inauguration.

When President Biden took the oath of office he was standing on a stage built by a Michigan business, and the thousands of masks with inaugural logos printed on them – those were done at a business in Plymouth.

“It happened all really quickly," said Becky Zbozen, COO of Hatteras Inc. in Plymouth. "It started with a couple of emails, a couple of phone calls and then all of a sudden, it was we need these right away."

When you look at the U.S. Capitol on Inauguration Day and the officials in attendance, a lot of what you see has Michigan ties.

“To watch the inauguration and see these masks on T.V. and all of the awesome things that Ford has done for the people providing the PPE equipment, it’s just really exciting to be apart of it,” Zbozen said.

Hatteras Inc. in Plymouth and Ford produced 15,000 masks with custom inaugural logos that those in attendance were seen wearing.

“It’s a real source of pride and it’s behind the scene and all the circumstances going on and it’s just a really cool feeling knowing that behind the scenes, the dirty work was all done by our folks out there starting several months ago,” said President and CEO of Christman Company Steve Roznowski.

The stage in which President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office was built by Christman Company out of Lansing. They’ve been building stages for presidents to stand on and take the oath of office since 2009.

“The first was President Obama’s first term and we’ve done it every time since, so two Obama terms, President Trump and now President Biden,” Roznowski said.

Most Michiganders may not have actually been there but Michigan was definitely well represented on this historic day.

“We all are trying to do our best to get through this pandemic and so this was a really exciting thing to happen during the pandemic," Zbozen said. "So, anything we can do to bring a spotlight to Michigan or Detroit, we are happy to be apart of."

A historic day for our nation and a great day for Michigan businesses.