HomTex, a textile manufacturer based in Cullman, has received FDA emergency authorization to make Level 1 surgical masks.
It makes reusable and disposable masks in Cullman and Mobile, with additional facilities in Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina, and is preparing to enter the NIOSH N-95 mask market from a new plant in Selma.
“HomTex is now positioned to have the largest capacity in the U.S. to produce 100 percent made-in-America masks,” the company said in a news release today.
“When I say made in America, I mean every component sourced in the U.S. and made in the U.S.,” said Jerry Wootten, CEO of HomTex. “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.”
Wootten added, “We are proud to be a strategic provider to the Architect of the U.S. Capitol, which supplies masks to the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Capitol, and the U.S. Senate.”
Katie Boyd Britt, president of the Business Council of Alabama, added, “We are immensely proud of all HomTex is doing to produce PPE. 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.”
HomTex, which has the capacity to make 700 million 3-ply surgical masks and 20 million NIOSH N-95 masks annually, plans to open its Selma plant in fall, 2021, adding about 300 jobs.
Founded in 1987, the firm also produces an array of bedding products.
