The Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI), and American Nitrile, a
Columbus, Ohio based manufacturer, Monday announced a strategic arrangement to manufacture and distribute domestically produced nitrile gloves to address the national need for personal protective equipment (PPE).
CABVI will package and distribute gloves it buys from American Nitrile at its facilities in Utica, and Syracuse New York. As a social enterprise CABVI has both societal and business goals. CABVI provides vision rehabilitation services to nearly 2000 individuals with vision loss in a ten-county region of Central New York, while employing over 100 people who are legally blind or visually impaired.
“We have an exceptional partner in American Nitrile,” said Edward P. Welsh, President and CEO of CABVI. “They make a high-quality product that’s passed rigorous testing at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for security screenings by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). CABVI distributes the gloves to over 400 U.S. airports through the AbilityOne program.
“American Nitrile affirms CABVI’s mission to support federal agencies while expanding
employment opportunities for people who are blind.”
Privately held, American Nitrile manufactures medical and nonmedical latex-free gloves for healthcare, government, and industrial use according to company Founder & CEO Jacob Block. “We are proud to announce our partnership with Ed and the entire CABVI team. They have been a steadfast supplier to our Federal Government, specifically the TSA, for several decades and we are thrilled to be a part of lessening our country’s reliance on Asia and returning this supply chain to its original birthplace, America’s heartland”
“While manufacturing the highest quality nitrile gloves in the world is our stated mission, we are equally motivated to employ people who are blind in our factory,” Mr. Block added. “People who are blind and eager to return to the workforce have friends in American Nitrile, CABVI, and National Industries for the Blind (NIB). We will find a way to make it happen.”
NIB and its network of associated nonprofit agencies like CABVI are the nation’s largest employer of people who are blind through the manufacture and provision of products and services of the AbilityOne® Program. “People who are blind employed at NIB associated agencies like CABVI take great pride in the work they do to support our country,” said NIB President and CEO Kevin Lynch.
“NIB applauds the partnership between American Nitrile and CABVI, which not only addresses acute national needs for PPE, but creates employment opportunities for people who are blind.”
Key facts about American Nitrile’s manufacturing facility:
527,000 square foot facility, housing 12 high speed productions lines, capable of each
producing 40k gloves/hour
Strategically located in Columbus, Ohio – a logistics hub for many of the top companies in
the U.S.
State-of-the-art on-site wastewater treatment and recycling plant capable of recycling
150M gallons of wastewater each year.
Production capacity of 3.6 billion gloves when fully scaled in 2024
To learn more about how American Nitrile can meet your PPE glove requirements with gloves that are manufactured and distributed in the U.S., visit http://www.americannitrile.com.
Key facts about CABVI’s manufacturing, and distribution capabilities:
507 Kent Street | Admin offices, and Production 72,648 sq. ft.
Kenneth C. Thayer Production Facility, 2145 Bleecker St. |
Warehouse/Production 45,098 sq. ft.
2270 Dwyer Ave. | Warehouse and Distribution Center 87,000 sq. ft.
CABVI Syracuse Industries: Syracuse, NY 66,000 sq. ft.
Sample of CABVI customers
Transportation Security Administration of the Dept. of Homeland Security
New York City Health and Hospitals Corp./NYC Hospitals
State University of New York Medical Centers
Veterans Affairs Medical Centers
Federal Correctional Institutions
United States Postal Service
