Courtesy / Cianbro Corp.
Seen here is that former San Antonio Shoe factory, at 206 SAS Drive in Pittsfield, that is being retrofitted for a second Puritan Medical Products swab production facility.
October 13, 2020
Puritan, Cianbro will build a second COVID swab factory in Pittsfield
Courtesy / Cianbro Corp.
Seen here is a rendering of an additional Puritan Medical Products swab production facility at 206 SAS Drive in Pittsfield, currently under construction by Cianbro Corp. The plant will have capacity to produce 50 million swabs per month.
By Staff
Two hundred more jobs are on tap for a second medical swab production plant that is now under construction, thanks to a $51.2 million infusion of federal CARES Act funding to meet demand for coronavirus testing.
Puritan Medical Products of Guilford on Monday announced its second major manufacturing expansion in Pittsfield.
The new facility will be located at the former San Antonio Shoe manufacturing site and is expected to increase swab production by an additional 50 million per month.
The facility will complement Puritan’s first manufacturing plant, at 129 North Main St. in Pittsfield, which was retrofitted earlier this year to produce 40 million foam-tipped testing swabs per month.
“As one of two major manufacturers in the world, and the largest manufacturer in North America, of the swabs required for COVID-19 testing, we realize our obligation to produce as many as we possibly can,” Timothy Templet, executive vice president and general partner of Puritan, said in a news release.
Courtesy / Cianbro Corp.
Timothy Templet, executive vice president and general partner of Puritan.
The goal is to have the second plant operational by January.
Together, the two plants will bring Puritan’s total production of flock tip swabs and foam swabs to at least 90 million per month and will create 600 manufacturing jobs.
CARES funding
The two plants are funded by government grants in order to increase COVID-19 testing supplies. In August, Puritan was awarded the additional $51.2 million, to expand its existing COVID-19 flock tip testing swab production facilities, under the CARES Act.
In April, Puritan received a $75.5 million grant that was used to retrofit a 95,000-square-foot building owned by Cianbro and leased by Puritan to produce COVID-19 foam-tipped swabs. Construction started at the first facility on May 1 and was completed just two months later, Peter Vigue, chairman of the board of the Cianbro Cos., said in the release.
Courtesy / Cianbro Corp.
Completed over the summer, Cianbro Corp. converted its facility at 129 North Main St. in Pittsfield into a plant for Puritan Medical Products to produce 40 million swabs per month.
“More than 700 construction professionals worked on the project to meet the production start-up for Puritan,” Vigue said.
When the first plant is at capacity, it will create 400 jobs.
Puritan partnered with the federal government and with Cianbro Corp. to retrofit both of the Pittsfield plants. Design and construction planning on the second facility started in late September.
The retrofit will bring together more than 650 individuals, including Cianbro employees, subcontractors, engineers and architects. The schedule for completing the retrofit is considered extremely aggressive.
Courtesy / Cianbro Corp.
Peter Vigue, chairman of the board of the Cianbro Cos.
The new plant will provide an additional 200 jobs in Pittsfield, for a total of 600 jobs when both Puritan manufacturing sites are fully operational.
The total of 600 Puritan new hires in Pittsfield must go through the company's safety and quality standards training program as part of the onboarding process.
Evaluating sites
Upon receiving the second grant, Puritan evaluated various sites in central Maine.
After collaborative discussions, family members of the San Antonio Shoe founder Terry Armstrong, through property management firm MTC Holdings Inc., also of San Antonio, agreed to donate approximately 29 acres of land and their former buildings in Pittsfield to the Pittsfield Development Corp. Pittsfield Development then contributed approximately 11 acres of land and the former manufacturing buildings to Puritan.
Cianbro also helped coordinate the collaboration between SAS Shoe, MTC, Puritan and the Pittsfield Development Corp. for the second facility.
Ultimately, there will be 78,840 square feet of total building space, including 38,330 square feet in three separate “clean” room manufacturing spaces for the production of flocked polyester swabs. An adjacent three-story brick building will be demolished to create space for future possible expansion by Puritan.
The remaining undeveloped acreage will be retained by Pittsfield Development Corp. for future development that supports its mission to create economic activity and quality jobs.
Puritan earlier this year was thrust into the spotlight as a critical manufacturer in the supply chain for COVID-19 testing supplies because it is one of only two suppliers worldwide that produces the specialized swab CDC recommends for nasopharyngeal sample collection.
Demand for the swab and its transport medium skyrocketed, quickly exhausting supplies across the country.
Typically, the company makes more than 1,200 different types of swabs and collection devices for a variety of industries, normally producing over 12 million swabs per day.
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