The U.S. Department of Defense, working with the Department of Health and Human Services, awarded a $79.9 million contract to Premix, Inc. to establish a plastic compound manufacturing plant in North Carolina. The facility will primarily produce plastic materials for diagnostic testing. The facility will be built in Gaston County, centrally located in the growing region of advanced manufacturing in the southeast U.S. and is planned to be operational by September 2025
'Our hard work in building resilient supply chains, high product quality and consistency pays off as the U.S. government awarded Premix the deal to build a local manufacturing site,' says Hanna Ristola , Managing Director of Premix Group.
Family-owned Finnish-based Premix Group is a market leader and global forerunner in electrically conductive plastics. During the COVID-19 pandemic Premix ensured global PRC tests by securing the availability of the electrically conductive plastic resin that is used to manufacture pipette tips. The new state-of-the-art facility will produce plastic compounds primarily suitable for pipette tips to meet the growing demand and stringent quality requirements for diagnostic testing. The increased production capacity will result in material for pipette tips enabling more than 200 million COVID-19 PCR tests monthly.
'The new capacity will improve Premix's global supply capability and mitigate risks in global supply chains,' says Jari-Matti Mehto , President and CEO of Premix, Inc. 'With the new U.S. factory, we will improve our ability to serve our customers in the important U.S. market.'
Premix's customers in North America will enjoy local production and services, ensuring faster delivery speed and high reliability. Current and future customers elsewhere in the world will benefit from Premix's ability to deliver high-quality materials from two different continents.
When fully operational, the facilities will employ about 30-35 people in Gaston County, North Carolina, as well as support additional jobs with service providers and subcontractors both during the construction and while operational. Some recruitment has already begun.
'We are extremely excited about this opportunity to help secure a supply of critical diagnostic materials in the United States,' says Mehto. 'Our solutions meet strict standards for quality and cost-efficiency and provide valuable benefits to our new and existing customers.
Premix, Inc. is a U.S. company and subsidiary of Premix Oy, a 40+ -year-old Finnish company. The agreement was funded through the American Rescue Plan Act to enable and support U.S. domestic industrial base expansion for critical medical resources. It is a result of a strong working relationship between Premix and federal, state, and local authorities and economic development organizations in the United States.