Our local economy is getting a major shot in the arm thanks to the work of our Office of Economic Development and Empire State Development. NY Critical Materials LLC, a manufacturer of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was awarded a $750,000 New York State grant which was the largest amount given in this round of funding by the State.

They’re using this grant money along with a significant investment to open a $4.9 million facility at the New York Center for Innovation (the former Pfizer campus) in Pearl River to produce N95 respirator face masks. And we are thrilled that NY Critical Materials has chosen Rockland County to produce these lifesaving supplies. This speaks to the fact that Rockland has all the essential elements conducive for entrepreneurship, production and growth.

NY Critical Materials is a subsidiary of Hudson Holdings Group which is expanding beyond its Piscataway, New Jersey, base and was formed in response to the pandemic and the demand for American-made PPE. NY Critical Materials plans to hire 100 new employees and has invested in eight specialized machines that will allow it to manufacture up to 2 to 3 million face masks per day.

They are leasing over 50,000 square feet of commercial space in Building 100 at the campus, making it the first manufacturer and largest tenant to occupy the building, which has ample space, power and specialized infrastructure to accommodate future expansion plans and those of other industrial users.

Not only will this help to lower our unemployment rate, which stands at 5.6% in March, down from 6.4% in February and down from a high of 13.4% during the worst of the pandemic last April, but it will also significantly strengthen our ability to protect the health of Rockland residents.

The opening of the NY Critical Materials facility will help solve the PPE shortage crisis and their made-in-America mission will support New York State and local needs. They are using mass production to bring high-quality, low-cost disposable masks to a space dominated by Chinese imports.

We are getting people back to work, leveraging State resources and investment to bring new businesses to Rockland. This is how we have created a stable tax base over the last 7 years and brought back billions of tax ratables that were lost during the great recession.

Remember, each and every one of these businesses not only creates good paying jobs but helps protect you from the double-digit tax increases of the past. Smart, sustainable development is the future of Rockland, and I will not stop fighting for it.