Medical PPE Manufacturer is setting up production in Louisiana

quote:

---

SafeSource Direct And Ochsner Health Announce PPE Production Facilities In Lafayette, St. Martin Parishes

LINK

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards joined Ochsner Health President and CEO Warner Thomas, SafeSource Direct CEO Justin Hollingsworth and other officials to announce the development of two manufacturing facilities for personal protective equipment, or PPE. The Acadiana Region projects will create a combined 1,221 new direct jobs, and Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in a combined 992 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 2,200 new jobs.

Ochsner Health partnered with Trax Development on a joint venture to create SafeSource Direct LLC. SafeSource is investing $150 million to develop the facilities, with $73 million to retrofit an 80,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Lafayette Parish that will also house its headquarters, and $77 million for the development of a new 400,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in St. Martin Parish.

“Today’s announcement is not only a celebration of the new jobs SafeSource Direct will create and the economic activity it will generate, but also an opportunity to thank Ochsner and Trax for an investment that truly meets our novel moment,” said Gov. Edwards. “A year ago, states across the union were grappling with a shortage of personal protective equipment as the coronavirus spread. Even now, the need for PPE is great and that demand will continue for the foreseeable future. I am proud to say that, with this new project, Louisiana will play a key role in preventing the U.S. from facing such a shortage again.”

SafeSource Direct will manufacture, warehouse and directly distribute PPE for health care and other industries in Louisiana and nationwide.

“COVID-19 brought to light our nation’s dependence on foreign countries, primarily China, for PPE,” Hollingsworth said. “By manufacturing right here in Lafayette and St. Martin parishes, and selling directly, SafeSource Direct will be positioned to eliminate the lag times, uncertainty and frustration that plague international manufacturing and shipping. Our hope is that these facilities will lay the foundation for more independently sustainable health systems in the U.S.”

The Lafayette Parish facility will create 245 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $45,300, plus benefits, and will result in 199 new indirect jobs. It will include the company’s headquarters and a manufacturing plant for surgical tie-masks, bouffant hair covers, shoe covers, isolation gowns, procedure masks and N95 masks. Manufacturing operations will be located in an existing building near the intersection of the Evangeline Thruway and St. Nazaire Road in Broussard.

“SafeSource Direct choosing Broussard and Lafayette Parish for its headquarters and manufacturing operations demonstrates how attractive our parish is to new businesses in search of an ideal location to successfully operate,” said Mayor-President Josh Guillory of Lafayette Parish. “A company of this size will not only boost our economy, but it will also create hundreds of competitive job opportunities for our citizens.”

---