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A recently formed manufacturer of nitrile medical gloves is eyeing a major expansion in Baltimore, where a new factory is expected to create thousands of jobs over the next two years.
United Safety Technology Inc. — born out of the U.S.’s need for personal protective equipment at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic — announced March 16 that it plans to invest $350 million to renovate a former steel warehouse at Baltimore’s Tradepoint Atlantic logistics and industrial center.
The project, spanning 735,000-square-feet, would install production lines to make medical-grade nitrile exam gloves to boost the nation’s healthcare supply chain.
The company — which has corporate offices in New York City and production facilities in Sparrows Point, Maryland — expects the project to create over 2,000 jobs by late 2024, spanning positions in engineering, production, operations, logistics, and more.
UST noted that despite being the world’s largest market for nitrile gloves, the U.S. supplies less than 1% of the world’s output. The company expects to produce 375 million units each month by the end of the new plant’s Phase 1, which will begin in early 2023.
The facility was originally built as a Bethlehem Steel cold roll mill in 1999. It closed in 2012 and has since been used as a temporary storage facility for logistics providers.
Image Credit: Parin Paripunnochai / Shutterstock.com
