December is usually a month to take stock at a business level and check what the year has brought, compare with last year and draw conclusions. This 2020 should be a year to forget to all intents and purposes, but in Decoraciones EGEA we have always been characterized by that facet of seeing the positive where there is hardly any light. We are a company that was born from a sewing machine, a few hands and a lot of determination of its founder, Manuel Egea, who, with much effort and sacrifice, was weaving the future of this company that already has more than a hundred employees spread over several continents.
The year 2020 started off very well, with a projection of renovation of emblematic hotels and high standing projects on the table. Our exclusive and interdisciplinary work facilitated the entry of large projects only reserved for companies of international prestige. And there we were, working side by side with the big ones because renowned hotel chains wanted their establishments to also carry the EGEA seal, the one that marks an extreme quality guaranteed by a unique and personalized treatment.
March arrived and it seems that the world came to a screeching halt. For several months, chaos took hold of us and the news was discouraging from a health and economic point of view. At Decoraciones EGEA, we initially shared the concern that plagued society, but we soon realized that fear did not have to end our ability to overcome it, so we decided to stand up and do something for society. This is how we temporarily transformed our business and opened a new line of work that has contributed to improve the quality of life of our society and to improve the prevention of our health care professionals.
To our usual activity we have added the manufacture of textile elements with finishes that prevent the proliferation of the Coronavirus, we have made millions of stitches that have become thousands and thousands of sanitary gowns that have been distributed to hospitals and we have made masks for a multitude of companies that have entrusted us with their safety.
We ended the year with an express desire to break the inertia that has taken over our lives. The health situation forces us to paralyze the economy only if we are able to allow it. At EGEA we imagine the future in five years' time and we know that, in order to generate wealth and competitiveness, we have to make a double effort to recover normality. That is why we have restarted our activity abroad because it is one more way of helping each other.
December marks the beginning of the end and the return to business normality for our company. And it was precisely in the Dominican Republic that we wanted to symbolize this new direction full of hope. We have returned to the Caribbean with economic reactivation projects and a lot of enthusiasm. We have returned to recover reforms that had been stalled by the pandemic and we have returned to initiate new contacts with the country's tourism sector. But above all, we have returned to be close to our staff working there because now more than ever we want to support all the human potential that makes our company great.
January will come and with it a new year full of renewed illusions and regained hopes. 2021 will come and we will generate employment and wealth in the best way we know how, devising exclusive projects that characterize us as a company specialized in textile decoration in the hotel, restaurant and luxury housing sectors.