The damaging effects from the February 3 train derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio has reached Maggie Guglielmo’s supplier business.

Wristbands America (PPAI 315058, S1) – located 0.56 miles from the spot where a 50-car train carrying toxic chemicals derailed and forced a mandatary evacuation order – has remained closed this month due to contamination even after the mandatory evacuation was lifted.

Guglielmo’s shop sits atop a culvert through which a stream called Sulphur Run flows. Just before the evacuation order, Guglielmo went inside to secure her business and take some essential items with her.

“I was only in there for 10 minutes (and) my eyes were watering, and I was coughing,” she said last Friday.

Over two weeks since the incident, the foul smell remains inside the building, Guglielmo says. She has sought third-party assistance to test the air and her inventory of wristbands, which she sources from a factory in Indiana.

Guglielmo is exploring options on potential new locations to keep business moving as she waits to hear on insurance that would cover damages. As far as a timeline to get up and running again? “I wish I knew,” she says.

Guglielmo has been in the promotional products industry for over 40 years, first as a distributor and now a supplier.

“I love everything about it – the people, the shows, the samples,” she says. “I’m not ready to retire or quit.”