Kickstart: The bans, and the bans on bans, are back

More than six months into the coronavirus pandemic, the bag bans are back. And so are the bans on bag bans.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is ready to sign a bill that would ban local bag ordinances for the next year, his office said Sept. 28.

"If this is a year from now and we are not in pandemic conditions, the situation may be different. Currently, he is inclined to sign the bill and help protect Ohioans," DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney told the Columbus Dispatch.

The move comes even as other regions that had lifted bag bans early in the pandemic response, such as California, have resumed bag restrictions.

Even as the policy debate continues, retailer Dick's Sporting Goods said Sept. 29 that it was eliminating single-use, point-of-sale plastic bags from its stores.

Dick's also has joined the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, a group that also includes CVS Health, Target, Walmart, Kroger and Walgreens.

In other words, don't hold your breath expecting that Ohio's future ban on bans will settle the great bag debate.

It began with a used press and a Volkswagen, but that — and a lot of hard work and connections — is just the start of the story for Mar-Bal Inc., a thermoset molder and compounder in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

As PN's Frank Esposito writes, co-founders Jim Balogh and Frank Martinek launched the company in Cleveland.

"A guy I knew called me and said, 'I've got a press for you — it's ugly as hell, but it works,'" Jim Balogh said at an industry conference in 2016. When the press was delivered, it was left outside the building. Balogh had to hook it up to his Volkswagen, sending sparks flying and digging grooves into the concrete to drag it into the building.

Read more about the company's growth here.

Despite all the complications of doing business this year, some companies are still finding ways to help their local communities. They've donated to food banks, provided protective equipment to first responders and raised money for kidney foundations.

Consider Goex Corp. as an example.

The plastic sheet supplier in Janesville, Wis., usually sponsors a big corporate team for the American Heart Association. But big events are out this year, leaving most participants doing a virtual fundraiser.

But Goex, which has a 1-mile trail around its plant, set up a sign-up program to allow teams of five or fewer employees to walk together, the Janesville GazetteXtra reported. Teams from different shifts were able to compete, on their own schedule.

"It really was an immediate idea with our group," said Dana Neal, human resources manager. "We all had it in the back of our mind it would be virtual ... we just said, 'Hey, let's bring it here.'"