Northam announces infrastructure upgrades to support nitrile glove project

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday that his state’s pledge to invest $8.5 million in infrastructure upgrades to Progress Park was a catalyst for a manufacturing venture to commit to building an operating center in the area.

The joint venture would build a manufacturing operation in Wythe County that would employ 2,500 people and produce up to 60 billion medical gloves a year, returning the manufacturing of key personal protective equipment (PPE) to the United States from Asia.

“These investments are leading to the largest job creation commitment Southwest Virginia has seen in a generation, and it’s a game-changer for the Commonwealth,” Northam said in a release. “This is about investing to bring jobs back to the United States from overseas, and doing it right here in rural America. We can all be proud the Commonwealth’s investment is bringing these jobs back to America at this unique manufacturing campus. This can be transformational for all of Southwest Virginia.”

As part of the infrastructure investment, Virginia will spend $3 million on expanding the Fort Chiswell Wastewater Plant, $1.5 million on extending the public sewer infrastructure and $4 million on a water tank for Progress Park. The upgrades will also serve the surrounding community in Wythe County, as well as make Progress Park more competitive for other future manufacturing projects.

As a result of the investment, Blue Star NBR, LLC and Blue Star-AGI, Inc., a joint venture between Blue Star Manufacturing and American Glove Innovations (AGI), have committed to investing $714.1 million on a one-of-a-kind nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) manufacturing facility and nitrile glove production operation in the Park. Covering more than 200 acres, the facilities have the potential to triple in size in future phases, as well as incorporate multiple and contiguous large-scale vertically integrated production plants.

“It comes with great pleasure and an even greater sense of responsibility to bring critical medical supply manufacturing back to the U.S.,” Blue Star NBR Founder Ken Mosher said. “I am proud to have been an integral part of the pioneering American team that invented the nitrile exam glove back in 1990, as well as helping to establish the disposable glove market. The domestic glove industry moved to Asia and we are now perfectly positioned in a fully vertical partnership with American Glove Innovations to have things come full-circle and provide a boost to domestic manufacturing employment. We would like to thank the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Commonwealth of Virginia for their incredible support of this project.”