For Mike Kimple, director of manufacturing at the Showa Group factory in Fayette, the mission is clear for the nation’s only domestic producer of single-use nitrile gloves.

“We’re just trying to get every single glove we can out the door to fight this pandemic,” Kimple said.

Every day, Showa’s Alabama facility produces about 1 million gloves made from a hypoallergenic synthetic rubber that is as an alternative to latex. Thanks to an expansion project nearing completion, that figure will double.

Launched in late 2019, before COVID-19 emerged as a global threat, Showa’s expansion project included the construction of a 40,000-square-foot factory on its Fayette production site. After the six-story structure was completed last October, the company began building two high-speed production lines to crank up the output of personal protective equipment.

“Pretty much the second COVID hit our shores, we started to see an incredible increase in demand. That has not stopped up until this day,” Kimple said.

Between surging demand for its gloves and the expansion project, the Showa facility is in the midst of a hiring wave, said Scott Robertson, the plant manager. In late January, the Fayette plant had 270 employees and was adding eight to 10 workers each week. Eventually, the number is expected to reach 400.

“With so many businesses suffering during the pandemic, we’re in the fortunate position to be hiring right now,” Robertson said.

Support system

Robertson said Showa’s expansion project received considerable support from federal, state and local governments.

Early on, his team traveled to Montgomery to speak with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, which provided a $500,000 grant to the city of Fayette for infrastructure repairs related to Showa’s growth project. ADECA has also committed to additional support.

“Showa Group has been a contributor to the Alabama economy for almost 50 years and has been a good friend and neighbor in Fayette,” Gov. Kay Ivey said. “This expansion will help this Alabama plant modernize and begin production of new innovations in the disposable glove industry.”

ADECA said the city of Fayette pledged $100,000 for the infrastructure project.

The Alabama Department of Commerce said Showa received nearly $5 million in incentives under the Alabama Jobs Act. AIDT, the state’s primary workforce development agency, is providing services to the company.

Robertson said the high level of support has propelled the project forward.

“The collaboration between the local, state and federal government has been tremendous for us,” he said. “That definitely helped us to sell to our board to do this in Fayette. We’re a Japanese-owned company, and I suppose they could have decided to build this anywhere. I like to think that our local, state and federal government support helped them make that decision to keep it here in Fayette.”

An expansion project at the Showa Group factory in Fayette will double production of disposable nitrile gloves to 2 million per day, boosting a PPE pipeline. (Showa)

Fayette advantages

With the new factory in Fayette completed, Showa’s focus has turned to manufacturing the two new high-tech monorail production lines. The first is expected to start up in April, with the second to begin production in the summer.

“These lines are much higher capacity than we what we have. They are the latest and greatest technology in terms of glove manufacturing,” Kimple said. “With both of those lines going, we will be able to make 2 million gloves per day.”

Already additional growth plans are in motion, with Showa launching another capital project tied to the expansion.

The growth is the latest chapter in Showa’s long history in Fayette, where it began as a maker of rubber gloves to support a nearby factory. Around 1990, the facility switched production to synthetic gloves.

“We are actually the inventors of the disposable nitrile glove. We were the first ones to make it in our Fayette facility, and we have been making nitrile gloves here ever since,” Kimple said. “It’s been copied all over the world.”

Historically, customers for Showa’s gloves have mostly been industrial companies, but the pandemic ignited strong demand from first responders and the health care community.

Robertson and Kimple said Fayette represented the ideal location for Showa’s growth plans.

“Our people are from here. They’re the people I grew up with. I know their mom and dad,” said Robertson, a Fayette native who has been with the company for 11 years. “So, No. 1, our workforce is invested in the community and in our success or failure.

“And No. 2, our utility rates are top-notch. I think we could stack our utility rates up against anyone globally, and 99% of the time we’re going to come out on top,” he said. “Those two things – the people and the advantages we have utility-wise – are two big selling points.”

Kimple said Showa’s Alabama workforce is proud of its contribution in the fight against COVID-19.

“We have a tremendously loyal employee base. We have employees who have been working there for 40 years. I myself have been there for 25 years. Once you work for Showa, it’s like a family,” Kimple said. “Our employees take a lot of pride in what they’re doing, especially now with the pandemic and being able to do our part. In fact, the COVID pandemic has taken our pride to a new level.”

This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.