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22 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2020 and key suppliers. We immediately put all of that on hold when it became apparent how serious this situation would become. Johnson: You're facing a lot of disruption in your business environment. What do you see, and how are you handling it? Badriyeh: Naprotek continues to endure. We were fortunate that the leadership in Califor- nia reacted faster than most other areas. Santa Clara County was one of the first counties to order shelter in place for all residents. On March 13, I asked everyone who had laptops to take their systems with them in case they had to work from home until we had more infor- mation about the pandemic and how it would affect our business. It was possible that they would need to work from home for some time, as the initial news was not encouraging. Sub- sequent events happened quickly. We closed on March 16 by 3:00 p.m. as we received the order from the Santa Clara County Health Offi- cer that all residents were being directed to shelter in place. It was a shock to all of us. Even though we had heard rumors about impending shutdowns and shelter-in-place Handling Supply Chain Disruption in Silicon Valley Feature Interview by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 I spoke with Najat Badriyeh, CEO and pres- ident of Naprotek, about the current state of the supply chain as a contract manufacturer in Silicon Valley, adjustments the company has made, and what she anticipates for the future. Nolan Johnson: Najat, for those who aren't familiar with Naprotek, what's your position with the company, and what does Naprotek do? Najat Badriyeh: I'm the CEO and founder of Naprotek. We started in 1995. Naprotek is an electronic contract manufacturing service pro- viding PCB assembly. We support many dif- ferent technologies, and we specialize in pro- totype and small-volume production. Our primary market segments include military, medical, and industrial. We also support R&D, semiconductor equipment manufacturers, and networking customers. 2020 marks our 25 th year of operation. I was working with my team to prepare an appropriate anniversary event when the pandemic began for our customers Najat Badriyeh