England-based company Aquaspersions is building a facility in Broussard to supply SafeSource Direct and other U.S. companies with chemicals used to produce personal protective equipment.
The company, based in Halifax, will be building its facility in the industrial park set up by SafeSource Direct – a PPE production company set up as part of a joint venture between Ochsner Health and Trax Development. Alan Bewsher, the CEO for Aquaspersions, said the facility brings the area a step closer to establishing itself as the PPE hub for the U.S.
“The onshoring of PPE is going to be big in America,” Bewsher said. “I use the example of the car industry. It was centered in one place in America. Well, the PPE industry is going to be centered in one place in America. Why could it not be here?”
The SafeSource Direct venture was announced in May 2021 as part of an effort to increase domestic manufacturing of PPE. Healthcare and economic leaders said the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that the country was relying heavily on foreign production of gloves, masks, gowns and other PPE, which led to shortages as the pandemic crippled supply chains.
