More than 200 international companies have operations in South Carolina’s Spartanburg County. The area’s biggest employer is the BMW plant, which has temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite the virus shuttering much of the global economy, many of Spartanburg’s manufacturers are still open for essential business.

Sixty-five percent of manufacturing companies there are operating in some capacity, according to David Britt, chair of the economic development committee of the Spartanburg County Council. Some facilities have even pivoted to produce medical and protective equipment needed to fight the virus. Britt spoke with Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal about the challenges of manufacturing during the crisis and what it will take to keep factories running.

“For industry to come back in full force, or even halfway, we need reliable tests, and that’s a huge problem,” Britt said. “In manufacturing, we need masks, we need gloves — but most importantly — we need tests.”