4
SATURDAY, SEP TEMBER 19, 2020 • KOKOMO TR I BUNE PROGRESS EDI T ION
Lori Thomas is carrying on a legacy, one
flower at a time.
Thomas is the owner of Flowers by Ivan
& Rick, a local floral business started by
her grandfather over 70 years ago.
Her grandfather, Ivan Mooney, was a
child of the Great Depression. At a young
age, he took a job as a delivery driver for a
florist. It was that experience that inspired
him to start his own business, where he
could try to brighten a person’s day with
each flower he gave away.
And he did give away quite a few flowers,
Thomas said.
“Grandpa would always give away flow-
ers for free,” Thomas said. “He knew it
wouldmake people feel happy and special,
and it was more than just what he could get
out of them. He likedmaking people smile
more than he liked making business.”
The business was always more about
making people smile thanmaking money,
Thomas said.
“Grandpa grew up in the depression and
he knew it was the little things in that that
matter the most,” she said.
Ivan Mooney worked in the business
until his death in 2013. Thomas said it was
his passion.
“He knew if he stayed home, he would
get older and stop moving around as
much,” Thomas said. “So he came in every
day.”
Thomas’s father, RickMooney, wanted to
actually retire. Rick Mooney ran the busi-
ness until a few years ago, when he passed
the business down to Thomas.
“Dad lived in here since he was little,”
Thomas said. “He watched grandpa put his
entire life in the business, and he realized
you don’t get to do a lot of other stuff when
you do that. He was like ‘I’m going to enjoy
my life.’”
Thomas has seen some big changes to
the floral industry since her grandfather
ran the shop. The internet is the biggest
game-changer, she said. With an online
presence, people can see the store’s floral
arrangements and novelties without hav-
ing to travel to the store. She said even in
the few years since she’s been running the
business, she’s seen a major increase in
online sales.
The other big change, she said, is that
the shop is now entirely run by women.
Though her two sisters have passed away
and are no longer able to help her run the
shop, she still incorporates memories of
them around the shop.
“I like to put their colors, their style, into
what we do here,” Thomas said.
Thomas’s staff are an invaluable asset
to the store, she said. Her head designer,
Nina, has been with the store for over 20
years. Nina, along with the other team
members including Nina, Mary, Kay,
Syenna and Mark, all feel like family to
Thomas.
Over the years, as many things have
changed in the floral industry, Flowers by
Ivan & Rick has maintained much of what
makes the shop stand out. They still give
out free boutonnieres to men to match
their date’s corsage for dances, and they
travel further for deliveries than any other
florist in town, Thomas said.
For Thomas, the shop is a way to carry
on her family’s legacy and memory. She
hopes to one day pass the business on to
one of her daughters, but for now, she’s
continuing to carry on her grandfather’s
tradition of making people smile with each
and every flower.
Flowers by Ivan & Rick is located at
404 E. Harrison St. in Kokomo, and
their arrangements can also be viewed
and ordered online at
ivanandrick.com.
BY CARSON GERBER AND
TYLER JURANOVICH
KOKOMO TRIBUNE
O
n Aug. 31 local workers
shipped out the last venti-
lators from the Kokomo
General Motors Components
Holdings plant to the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services, fulfilling the
$489.4 million contract awarded
to the company in April.
In just 154 days, workers
produced 30,000 Ventec Life
Systems ventilators from inside
the GM facility to add to the U.S.
Strategic National Stockpile. The
effort ensured hospitals around
the nation had access to the
life-saving machines during the
COVID-19 outbreak.
Workers cheered as they
packed up the final load of ven-
tilators, which were signed by
employees and staff at the plant.
Ian Cartier, a robotic techni-
cian at the facility, said seeing
the last ventilators ship out was
inspiring, and demonstrated
local workers’ dedication to
fighting COVID.
“All of us chose to leave the
security of our homes and give
110 percent every single day to
build ventilators,” he said in a
release. “We came in with the
attitude that for every challenge
we were handed that day, that we
would face it, fix it and overcome
it. That collective attitude has
brought us to where we are
today.”
The partnership between GM
and Ventec to build ventilators
gained nationwide attention.
The local GM plant was a regular
feature on national news
programs, and garnered a visit
from Vice President Mike Pence
in April.
“It’s amazing to think this floor
was empty about a month ago,”
Pence said at the plant. “Standing
here in the Hoosier State among
people who put together this
ventilator facility in 17 days ...
and in a matter of a month have
provided more than 600 ventila-
tors for the American people, I
couldn’t be more inspired.”
While at the plant, Pence was
given a tour and was shown step-
by-step how the ventilators are
made and talked to a handful of
local workers.
President Donald Trump, who
ordered GM to build the ventila-
tors in March under the Defense
Production Act, called Kokomo
a “great place” during his daily
briefing on the COVID-19
pandemic, and praised the
company for using its Kokomo
plant to make ventilators.
The move to fire up mass pro-
duction of the machines marked a
lightning-fast turnaround for GM
and the Kokomo facility. In less
than a month, the company had
transformed the factory, shipped
in all the parts required to make
the ventilators and implemented
extensive health and safety proto-
cols in the workplace.
“Our drive to put critical care
ventilators into production was
fueled by thousands of people
at GM, Ventec and our suppli-
ers who all wanted to do their
part to help save lives during the
pandemic,” said GM Chairman
and CEOMary Barra in a release.
“It was inspiring to see so many
people achieve so much so
quickly.”
The collaboration between
Ventec and GM to build V+Pro
critical care ventilators began
with a conference call on March
17. The first units were delivered
about a month later to Fran-
ciscan Health Olympia Fields
in Illinois and Weiss Memorial
Hospital in Chicago.
Dr. Suzanne Pham, the hos-
pitalist at Weiss Memorial
Hospital, said the facility is
still using the ventilators they
received in April that were
shipped from the Kokomo plant.
“The devices built in just one
month are currently helping
patients battling COVID-19, and
are valuable tools enabling our
medical team to save lives,” she
said in a release. “I’m proud to
say we have had many patients
beat COVID-19, wean off the ven-
tilator, and safely return home.”
One of those patients was
Jeffrey Dickerson of Chicago.
He said he couldn’t walk without
catching his breath when he
was rushed into a hospital room
earlier this year. He said it was a
ventilator made in Kokomo that
helped save his life.
“The team at Weiss put me
on one of your machines, and
I was fortunate to make a fast
recovery,” Dickerson said. “They
later told me they were running
out of ventilators, but fortunately
had received one of the first
shipments from the federal gov-
ernment, so I didn’t have to wait
for help.”
Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore
said the Ventec operation has
once again shown how well
Howard County workers and
residents respond when needed.
“It’s both encouraging and
inspiring to have the rest of the
nation see what we have going
on here and seeing us support
the efforts against coronavirus,”
he said.
PRODUCTION CONTINUES
The government contract may
have been fulfilled, but that isn’t
the end of ventilator production
in Kokomo.
GM formally turned over oper-
ational control to Ventec, which
will continue manufacturing
operations inside the local GM
plant to fulfill ongoing orders for
its VOCSN critical care ventila-
tors.
Dan Flores, manager of GM
corporate news relations, said
in a previous interview the
company will lease the space to
Ventec so it can continue opera-
tions in the city.
He said there were around 800
workers building ventilators at
the facility before GM handed
over operations, including 70
full-time hourly GM employ-
ees who are expected to return
to their previous jobs or go on
layoff.
Ventec said it is now working
quickly to fulfill ongoing orders
for its ventilators, but operations
at the Kokomo facility will be
dynamic. The company will also
continue producing the machines
from its headquarters in Bothell,
Washington.
Chris Brooks, Ventec’s chief
strategy officer, said in a
previous interview that even
though the federal government
order is fulfilled, the demand for
ventilators continues to grow as
the pandemic drags on.
“The virus continues to
spread,” he said. “The infec-
tion rates continue to go up. As
more people become infected,
until there is a cure or a vaccine,
some of those people will get
seriously ill and will ultimately
need a ventilator. We can say
that things haven’t slowed down.
Demand is still very strong for
ventilators.”
Brooks said ventilators
produced in Kokomo will now
be made for direct orders from
state governments, hospitals,
home-care companies and other
entities.
Ventec CEO Chris Kiple said
the hope is that mitigation efforts
will stop the spread of the virus,
but until that happens, the
company is “committed to main-
taining increased production
capacity for as long as it is needed
to ensure front-line healthcare
workers have the tools necessary
to save lives.”
FIGHTING THE PANDEMIC
KOKOMO MANUFACTURING CONTRIBUTES TO NATION’S VENTILATOR SUPPLY
Vice President Mike Pence is greeted during his visit to Kokomo
on the tarmac at Grissom Air Reserve Base by Indiana Gov. Eric
Holcomb and others.
General Motors
and Ventec Life
Systems team
members sign
the boxes before
delivering the
final group of
V+Pro critical
care ventilators
to complete
the 30,000-unit
order for the
U.S. Department
of Health and
Human Services.
(
Photos by AJ Mast
for General Motors
and Ventec)
Flowers by Ivan & Rick
keep flower legacy alive
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
