Pumping up sales at Mamava

Passage of federal workplace protection bodes well for lactation pod inventor

BY JASON STARR Observer staff

Mamava has always existed at the intersection of business and public policy.

Its founding in 2013 followed the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 2010, which established a federal requirement for employers to provide lactation accommodations for breastfeeding employees at work.

By the end of 2013, the company had launched its first freestanding lactation pod designed as a private breastfeeding oasis in public spaces — inventing an entirely new product category and offering a way for businesses to comply with the law.

“We had the idea for a while, but it wasn’t until 2010 that we said, ‘I think we should spend some time and actually develop the business,’” said Mamava co-founder Sascha

Mayer, who lives in Williston Village with her husband, Williston Central School humanities teacher Aaron Merrill. “I don’t know if (Mamava) would be here without that kind of progressive legislation.”

The company has seen exponential growth over its decade-long run. Headquartered in Burlington, it acquired its own manufacturing facility in Springfield, Vt., in 2021 and has a secondary facility in Wisconsin. It’s sold units in all 50 states to a diverse client base, including airports, shopping centers, hospitals, museums, stadiums, government buildings and military bases. And it’s expanded its line to four different sizes of pods, which start at just under $10,000 apiece.

Now, with the passage in December of the federal PUMP Act (Providing Urgent Maternal Protections) for Nursing Mothers, the company is anticipating a new spike in demand. The law becomes enforceable at the end of April, plugging a gap in employee protection that was left by the original Fair Labor Standards Act. That law created workplace