HomTex, an Alabama-based textile manufacturer, on Monday announced that it has received FDA Emergency Use Authorization for its Level 1 Surgical masks, green lighting their entry into the U.S. governmental and medical personal protective equipment (PPE) markets.
HomTex, headquartered in Cullman County, has been family-owned since its founding in 1987. It is a certified minority-owned business.
Back when the coronavirus widely hit the United States last March, there were no American companies producing level-three medical-grade masks domestically, seriously straining the health care system and other essential sectors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
HomTex leaped into action after this dire need became apparent, investing about $5 million to rapidly shift production at its core Cullman plant to begin producing PPE.
Almost a year after that production shift, HomTex now manufactures 3-ply disposable masks and reusable cloth masks, which it supplies to the U.S. Capitol Complex, and soon will produce NIOSH N-95 masks at a new plant in Selma.
The Alabama company is well-positioned to have the largest capacity in the nation when it comes to producing 100% made-in-America masks. HomTex also has an in-state facility in Mobile, as well as Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina locations.
“We are immensely proud of all HomTex is doing to produce PPE,” stated Katie Boyd Britt, president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama. “Receiving this critical authorization from the FDA allows them to expand their PPE offerings and to keep Americans safe. We are thrilled to be a trusted partner as they expand their operations in Selma.”
While HomTex’s innovation has already successfully bolstered the nation’s PPE stock to the tune of millions of masks and helped America reopen amid the pandemic, the company does not view this as a temporary endeavor. HomTex plans to stay in the PPE business long-term, helping safeguard our national security interests.
Jerry Wooten, CEO of HomTex, affirmed in a Monday statement, “When I say made in America, I mean every component sourced in the US and made in the US. We believe that ramping up domestic manufacturing of PPE products is a national imperative from a safety, economic, and national security perspective, and HomTex is proud to meet that challenge.”
While hospitals and governments have been struggling to provide safe PPE for Americans, defective and fraudulent masks, often made in China, have flooded the U.S. market.
Federal law enforcement has reportedly seized 10 million counterfeit N-95 masks alone. Due to emergency procurement rules put in place during the pandemic, China and other bad actors have access to the American market that otherwise would be banned. By selling defective and counterfeit masks at rock-bottom prices, fraudsters are exploiting consumers with unsafe PPE while also undermining American manufacturing.
“It’s time for purchasers of critical PPE – particularly federal, state, and local governments – to wake up to the fact that Chinese and foreign-made masks are cheaper, but likely defective, counterfeit, and plain-old dangerous,” Wooten advised. “It’s important to buy safe, genuine, and approved PPE from a trusted made-in-America manufacturer. We are proud to be a strategic provider to the Architect of the US Capitol which supplies masks to the US House of Representatives, the US Capitol, and the US Senate.”
HomTex has the capacity to produce 700 million surgical 3-ply masks and 20 million NIOSH N-95 masks annually.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
