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$4.9 million in incentives awarded to manufacturers across state designed to provide faster & more secure access to lifesaving medical products
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday announced eight additional Empire State companies have received support from New York to produce needed supplies to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
A press release said that, while New York currently has some of the lowest transmission rates in the U.S., preparing for a second wave is vital to protecting essential health care workers and the public.
These grant funds will help alleviate product shortages due to supply chain issues that could lead to unfair pricing practices. These companies will also increase the state's manufacturing capacity while creating new jobs and market opportunities. To date, more than $16 million in grants have been awarded to 28 qualifying New York-based companies to retool their business lines and pivot to manufacturing vital supplies for ongoing response and recovery efforts.
"During the pandemic, the nation learned the hard lesson of not having adequate and readily available supplies made in the United States. As a result, we had to scramble for live-saving products that are mainly manufactured overseas," Cuomo said. "New York is building back better and our plan to move forward includes investing in the infrastructure that will keep us prepared and support local companies."
In March, Cuomo asked companies with New York-based operations to retool production lines in order to manufacture approved COVID-19 critical supplies, such as ventilators, test kits and PPE, including N-95 respirators, surgical masks, gowns and face shields. Cuomo has already announced 20 companies for state investment to manufacture supplies to address COVID-19, eight of which were previously awarded $4 million to help make the products in New York.
"At a time when we were scouring the earth in search of personal protective equipment, New York state's manufacturers answered the call to support our COVID-19 frontline heroes," Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said. "We are proud to support our innovative manufacturers who are stepping up to save lives and are a model for how we build back better for the post-pandemic future."
Empire State Development Acting Commissioner, President and CEO-designate Eric Gertler said, "New York state is home to many of the world's most innovative companies. ESD's support for these businesses not only answers Gov. Cuomo's call for New York industries to assist with efforts to fight the coronavirus, but also reflects the investment that is being made to strengthen the state's manufacturing sector to adapt quickly to new market opportunities and continue its record of smart growth as we build back better."
•Altor Safety LLC (Mid-Hudson, $800,000) is a new company created in response to the COVID-19 crisis, formed through a partnership between PowerPak Civil & Safety, a national distributor of safety and PPE equipment, and MetroWall, a manufacturer and installer of interior glass partitions. The Rockland County manufacturer will produce and distribute FDA-approved, three-ply disposable face masks made in the U.S., and will invest over $2.5 million to purchase machinery, equipment and raw materials to manufacture and distribute these products. At full production, Altor Safety will produce 3,000,000 units of three-ply disposable face masks per month. This is the first phase of a larger plan to bring manufacturing of masks and other PPE products back to New York and Rockland County.
•Carestream Inc. (Finger Lakes, $750,000) is a worldwide provider of medical imaging systems solutions; X-ray imaging systems for non-destructive testing; and precision contract coating services for a wide range of industrial, medical, electronic and other applications located in Rochester. Carestream will invest more than $1.67 million and create five jobs to produce 135,000 face shields to be shipped by May of 2021. The Greater Rochester Enterprise advocated for this project.
•D'Addario and Co. (Long Island, $341,000) is a century-old New York-based manufacturer and one of the largest manufacturers of musical instrument accessories, including guitar strings and drum heads. The company, located in Farmingdale, Suffolk County, employs over 850 jobs on Long Island. When its primary business shut down in March during the pandemic, it immediately converted space and machinery to manufacture plastic face shields and began selling to hospitals. This grant will allow D'Addario to double facemask production, allowing it to add new equipment, raw materials, R&D and working capital. D'Addario will produce 1.2 million face shields.
•Georgia Brown LLC (Mid-Hudson, $44,400) is a small business located in New Windsor, Orange County. The company has more than 15 years of experience producing, retailing and distributing a wide variety of home storage and organization products, as well as holiday and home décor. Realizing the need for PPE at this critical time, this company had access to the necessary materials and the desire and willingness to invest in this new endeavor, and decided to pivot to produce three-ply surgical masks. Georgia Brown will invest over $111,000 and create three jobs to produce 30,000 masks per week at full ramp-up.
•Hansen Industries Inc. (Long Island, $800,000) is an air conditioner manufacturer located in St. James, Suffolk County. Islandaire will retool to produce 2,000,000 surgical masks in approximately six months to assist with combating the COVID-19 pandemic. The company accepted an $800,000 working capital medical/critical supplies grant to proceed with this nearly $3.85-million project and will create 10 net new jobs.
•HC Contracting (New York City, $800,000) is a family-owned-and-operated business with a history of high-end apparel tailoring and manufacturing, producing U.S. Olympic uniforms, runway garments and suiting for major U.S. brands since 1987. In March, it launched an initiative to retool factories around New York City's garment district in support of the exponential need for PPE. With the help of ESD, New York-produced PPE is now a core part of Ferrara's evolving business model and long-term vision. The company has invested millions to date, and will invest an additional $2 million in inventory, machinery, training and materials to support 200 jobs at its facility in Manhattan's Garment District, generating sales of close to 500,000 isolation gowns and other PPE in the short term, and ramping up to over 50,000 units a week. Ferrara will produce level 1, 2 and 3 gowns, lab coats, aprons, booties and surgical caps – some of which are reusable.
•NYPPE LLC (Western New York, $1,000,000) will produce both surgical masks and N-95 respirators. At full ramp up, it will produce 360,000 N-95 respirators and 1,800,000 surgical masks per week. The company will be hiring 60 full-time employees.
•Ziel Inc. (PBC, Mid-Hudson, $390,000), is an on-demand manufacturer of apparel in Newburgh, Orange County. Ziel will pivot a portion of its manufacturing operations and shift to N-95-equivalent mask production at the Newburgh location. Viewing this operation as essential to assisting the shoring up of the local supply chain, Ziel will continue to produce masks at its facility on a permanent basis. The company will hire staff, purchase raw materials, and work with engineers to develop its nonwoven materials into N-95-equivalent masks. Ziel plans to produce more than 38.5 million masks over five years and will be investing $1,000,000 in this project.