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CHICAGO TECH COMPANIES ON THE COVID-19 FRONT LINES, PART II

by Janey Zitomer
April 28, 2020



Chicago nonprofit New Moms offers housing, job training and family support to
young moms striving to overcome poverty and homelessness. According to the
organization’s 2019 annual report, the program provided more than 45,000 nights
of shelter to 64 families last year. 

So when the staff reached out to ready-to-eat meal company Nurture Life for help
purchasing supplies, leadership answered the call. Nurture Life Co-Founder
Jennifer Chow said they made a significant monetary donation to New Moms as part
of their efforts to aid the community in the last few weeks.

And she’s not alone. In part two of a two-part series, three local tech
professionals shared how they’re giving back while balancing the responsibility
of keeping their employees safe. For some, that has meant helping deliver
building blocks for a pop-up hospital. For others, it meant managing hand
sanitizer shipments to hospitals, first responders and those who are most
vulnerable from home.

Catch Up on Part I, HereMeet 5 Chicago Tech Companies on the COVID-19 Front
Lines

Peapod Digital Labs


NURTURE LIFE

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Jennifer Chow
Co-Founder


For the last few weeks, Chow and her co-founder have been safely hand-delivering
thousands of kid-friendly Nurture Life meals to Lakeview Pantry, the largest
food pantry in Chicago. The company’s meals are made up of organic produce,
antibiotic-free proteins and whole grains. According to Chow, meal delivery has
taken on a completely new meaning since the pandemic started. 

 

How is your company currently contributing to the COVID-19 efforts?

Nurture Life’s reliable and safe delivery has been a lifeline for families
during COVID-19. Cooking and delivering meals has always been one of our
specialties, but meal delivery has a completely different meaning now. Our meals
arrive fresh in refrigerated packaging with a one-week shelf life. They also
freeze easily so our customers are able to have plenty on hand.

As more families are now eating together at home, we are adding a “teens and
adults” category to our supply so that parents can order the same meals as their
kids. 

While we have donated to both Lakeview Pantry and New Moms consistently over the
past few years, we have significantly increased our effort to help during this
critical time. We are continually focused on finding ways to lend a helping hand
to those who need food assistance in our hometown market. 

> Meal delivery has a completely different meaning now.’’  

What is the greatest challenge COVID-19 has presented to your team?

As an essential business, we are continuing to operate and deliver uninterrupted
across the contiguous U.S while working to ensure the safety and well-being of
our team members and the children and families we serve.

 

What impact have these events had on your overall business, product and hiring
plans? 

For our team members working remotely, we understand everyone is going through
something different both professionally and personally. So we are dedicating
time to helping our team members through this. 

And like all companies, we are doing everything we can to mitigate risk, from
communicating daily with our suppliers to ensuring we’re able to fulfill
customer orders.

They're Hiring | View 0 JobsNurture Life is Hiring | View 0 Jobs

 


PEAPOD DIGITAL LABS

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We are hiring
Keith Nicks
Digital and E-commerce Officer


At Peapod Digital Labs, the digital and e-commerce team is facing a unique
challenge. Digital and E-commerce Officer Keith Nicks said he’s trying to
balance scaling the company’s online platform to meet the current increased
demand while focusing on the customer experience. Stakes aren’t low. According
to Nicks, website traffic has been between four and six times the normal volume.

 

How is your company currently contributing to the COVID-19 efforts? 

Peapod Digital Labs is responsible for delivering digital and e-commerce
capabilities to customers who shop Ahold Delhaize brands through websites,
mobile apps, fulfillment and automation. When you’re in the grocery business,
you don’t really think about signing up to be on the front lines of a pandemic.
But as this has taken place, that’s exactly what’s happened. 

The grocery industry is responsible for delivering food and products to
customers. And as the e-commerce arm of that grocery operation, PDL is trying to
support customers as they shift to getting their groceries online, allowing them
access to the products and services they want to access. 

 

What is the greatest challenge COVID-19 has presented to your team?

The challenge we’re seeing in relation to COVID-19 is two-fold. On the one hand,
website traffic is between four and six times the normal volume. We’ve had to
rapidly scale up our platform to support that kind of traffic while adjusting
our fulfillment operations to ensure our customers and employees are staying
safe. We quickly implemented contactless delivery and contactless pickup
options, as we want to respect our customer’s personal circumstances.

At the same time, we still have ambitious goals related to how we continue to
evolve the features and functionality of our platforms. We want to make
improvements based on what matters to the customer. So, the challenge is trying
to scale the solution to meet the increased demand while also focusing on the
experience. It’s a lot to manage but our customers are counting on us. 

> It’s a lot to manage but our customers are counting on us.’’ 

What impact have these events had on your overall business, product or hiring
plans?

Our teams have stepped up to ensure that we’re continuing to deliver for
customers during this difficult time. But, to keep moving quickly, we’re also
hiring across all fronts of tech. We’re hiring JavaScript developers, quality
engineers, DevOps professionals and front-end developers. We’re looking for more
folks who are hungry for this kind of challenge. 

As COVID-19 continues to impact traffic both in-store and online, we need team
members who can help us deliver the products customers want using the best
experience possible. 

They're Hiring | View 25 JobsPeapod Digital Labs is Hiring | View 25 Jobs

 


ECHO GLOBAL LOGISTICS

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We are hiring
Miles English
CIO


Echo Global Logistics CIO Miles English credits his team’s adaptability for the
success they have had supporting essential businesses. While the pandemic has
forced employees to shift typical work habits, they have been able to witness
the fruits of their labor in real time. For example, the company helped
transport life-size building blocks to a pop-up hospital facility in New
Orleans. 

 

How is your company currently contributing to the COVID-19 efforts?   

Echo Global Logistics provides technology-enabled transportation and supply
chain management services to our clients and carriers. 

Throughout the COVID-19 situation, the transportation of goods is imperative to
keep stores stocked with items like food and household cleaning supplies. By
managing the transportation of our clients’ products, Echo plays a key role in
making sure essential goods are available to consumers across the country. 

For example, one of our clients, a distillery that specializes in making craft
spirits, revamped their usual operations to produce thousands of bottles of hand
sanitizer in response to an ever-growing need for the antiseptic. While our
client is working around the clock to meet the overwhelming demand, we have been
fully managing the shipments to hospitals, first responders and those most
vulnerable. 

  

What is the greatest challenge COVID-19 has presented to your team? 

At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, we had to quickly transition our 2,500
employees to a remote work setting. We rapidly implemented our business
continuity plan and equipped our employees with the tools and technology they
needed to continue to fully carry out their job functions while away from the
office.  

Our proprietary technology, EchoAccelerator, allows us to continue to support
our network of clients and carriers on a single platform. Our flexible
technology suite enables us to continue to provide capacity. It’s our job to
ensure our shippers’ supply chains remain uninterrupted.  

> It’s our job to ensure our shippers’ supply chains remain uninterrupted.’’ 

What impact have these events had on your overall business, product and hiring
plans? 

Throughout this situation, Echo remains fully operational, continuing to service
all modes of transportation while abiding by government and health regulations. 

The COVID-19 outbreak has also given us the chance to find creative solutions
for our clients. For example, one of our clients manufactures life-size building
blocks that are being used to build a temporary pop-up hospital facility in a
New Orleans’ convention center. Our team was able to secure expedited shipments
of these blocks, consisting of 35 trucks with teams of drivers. 

Because the building blocks arrived in New Orleans so quickly, the pop-up
hospital was set up in record time to prepare for incoming patients. 

They're Hiring | View 10 JobsEcho Global Logistics is Hiring | View 10 Jobs

 

Responses have been edited for length and clarity. Images via listed companies.



JOBS FROM COMPANIES IN THIS BLOG
35 OPEN JOBS

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Manager, Site Reliability Engineering
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Merchandising Clerk
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Analyst III Media Finance
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Mobile Experience Design Strategist
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Senior Software Engineer
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Sr. Manager of Channel Development
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Continuous Improvement Manager
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Business Development Representative
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