Aeroturn Makes The Grade During Global Pandemic

Aeroturn Makes The Grade During Global Pandemic

Continues To Deliver High-End Turnstile Solutions Nationwide

Aeroturn continues to lead the way in perimeter protection solutions even through a global pandemic. With a true customer first philosophy that is entrenched in everything they do; the chaotic COVID-19 pandemic could not slow them down. The CT-based turnstile manufacturer makes things happen under the most challenging circumstances. The pandemic could not stop Aeroturn from manufacturing and deploying its quality turnstiles in high-profile and ivy league schools nationwide. It’s no wonder that for almost two decades the company has produced the world’s only zero-maintenance turnstile product in Connecticut, that is 100% manufactured in the USA. Over the years, Aeroturn has been on a steady growth path and came through a worldwide pandemic shining brightly. “We are extremely proud that we have been able to meet and exceed COVID-19 guidelines to help our customers; and even ended 2020 on a high note with the highest year over year sales in the history of the company,” states Michael Stoll, VP of Technical Sales & Marketing at Aeroturn.

With COVID-19 spreading like wildfire, Aeroturn made significant changes to its manufacturing facility and protocols to ensure compliance with social distancing to keep everyone safe. In fact, the company was deemed compliant for all rules and regulations set forth by the CT governor proclamation for manufacturers and was considered an essential business during the pandemic. The company designs, manufacturers, tests, delivers, and installs the world’s most reliable turnstile solutions in the industry. A huge focus for over 15 years has been working with Ivy league schools and high-end universities to help improve safety at campuses.

With 12 full-time and 2 part-time employees on staff, Aeroturn was focused on keeping everyone safe when the pandemic first reared its ugly head in March 2020. Some changes implemented including allowing employees to work remotely and contracting outside resources when necessary in red zone areas that were considered hotspots like NY, DC, MD, VA, and CA. In addition, to help spread out employees that did come into the CT manufacturing facility, Aeroturn expanded into a new 3500 square foot building next door. The company even installed plastic barriers between employees and utilized the extra footage to spread out and adhere to social distancing protocols.

Aeroturn Gets an A+ on Helping Customers During Pandemic

Taking care of customers is what Aeroturn does best and in 2020 the company once again exceeded its customers’ expectations by going the extra mile. Aeroturn quickly became compliant with all COVID- 19 regulations and made the necessary changes to meet its customers’ needs. In late 2020, Michael Stoll, VP of Technical Sales & Marketing embarked on a cross country road trip to ensure that its customer could implement its turnstiles successfully for an important end user in Las Vegas. With a short timeframe to complete the project, Michael Stoll rolled up his sleeves and hit the road to help a customer. The project consisted of 6 lanes of turnstiles with 2 @ X-Wing turnstiles and 4 @ Rotary turnstiles installed with a custom stainless-steel finish all within 2 and ½ days.

Earlier in 2020, Aeroturn was selected to deploy its turnstiles at a CUNY school in NYC who was looking to keep its students and employees safe. With over 300 people entering the building daily; a quality turnstile solution was needed to accomplish this. Aeroturn’s X-Wing turnstiles fit the bill perfectly and was deployed at the CUNY school by GM Data Communications, a leading low-voltage security integrator. The CUNY school wanted to control pedestrian traffic for visitors, students and employees. With two entrances in the front of the building right off the street; the college needed to deploy a durable, reliable turnstile that could withstand an influx of traffic. The deployment included 2 lanes of Aeroturn X-Wing turnstiles installed by the security desk entrance and 1 lane of X-Wing turnstiles installed by the Library/Lobby entrance; making it a safer environment for employees and students who access the school. “Working with the Aeroturn team on this CUNY school turnstile project was an absolute pleasure from the support staff up to the President of the company,” states Michael Portoghese, RCDD, at GM Data Communications, Inc.

At the end of 2020, a SUNY School in NY selected Aeroturn’s X-wing turnstile to be deployed on a minimal infrastructure platform. There were two single lane turnstiles installed one on the ground level entranceway and one on the second floor; making it a unique project. With contactless solutions becoming the wave of the future, Aeroturn even developed a customized turnstile solution that could integrate easily with new biometric facial recognition readers with high throughput capabilities. When an Ivy League school needed to implement a turnstile solution in early 2021; Aeroturn was on the job ready to help. They worked closely with an international security integrator to deploy Aeroturn turnstiles that complied with covid- restrictive materials used to mitigate risk of contracting the virus. The turnstiles were installed in the university’s business school where there was an influx of students going in and out. It was important to the school to use non-porous engineered cosmetic products that would eliminate the risk of the virus living on any of the materials and pair it with a contactless entry system.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

There has been uncertainty around when the COVID-19 pandemic will finally come to an end, but one thing that we can all be sure about is Aeroturn’s commitment to staying ahead of the curve. Aeroturn has proved in 2020 and now into 2021 that they can adapt to any situation. As restrictions start to lessen and the light becomes clearer at the end of the tunnel; Aeroturn will continue to take the high road and make the grade no matter what is thrown their way.

This article originally appeared in the May / June 2021 issue of Campus Security Today.

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