Manufacturer receives $750K grant to produce PPE in Rockland facility

NY Critical Materials LLC, a subsidiary of personal protective equipment company Hudson Holdings Group, was awarded $750,000 in state funding to produce PPE, particularly N95 respirator face masks.

NY Critical Materials PPE Rockland
Image courtesy NY Critical Materials

Hudson Holdings Group is based in Piscataway, New Jersey, but the NY Critical Materials facility has leased 50,000 square feet at the New York Center for Innovation in Pearl River. That makes it the largest tenant to occupy the building, according to an announcement from Rockland County Executive Ed Day. It will also be the first manufacturer in Building 100 at the campus.

The campus also played host to pharmaceutical company Pfizer as it completed research for its Covid-19 vaccine.

Specialized machines will allow workers at the PPE facility to produce up to 2 or 3 million masks per day.

“The New York Center for Innovation is a perfect fit for NY Critical Materials as a socially conscious tax ratable that will provide jobs in the local community,” Rockland Economic Development Director Jeremy Schulman said. “The county quickly assisted NY Critical Materials through identification, coordination and facilitation of its site selection search with Empire State Development”™s collaboration.”

With plans to hire 100 employees, it will give a slight boost to employment in the county.

The company will also take advantage of Rockland’s foreign trade zone economic development tool, which allows for the deferral, reduction or elimination of taxes for imported goods or materials in exchange for providing jobs and investment in the U.S.

“Our new home in Rockland County is a unique opportunity for us to help solve the PPE shortage crisis, particularly N95 masks,” said Jonathan Ho, CEO and founder of Hudson Holdings Group. “Our made-in-America mission is squarely in line with supporting in-state needs.”

The company received the highest amount of the six statewide that received a collective total of $2.3 million in funding to produce supplies necessary to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The funds are intended to alleviate shortages that stem from supply chain issues, to optimize availability and avoid unfair pricing as a result.

The company is also looking to expand into manufacturing other PPE and products in the health and well-being sector.