MENTOR – This morning, Congressman Dave Joyce (OH-14) joined Secretary of State Frank LaRose, State Senator John Eklund and Lake County Board of Elections Chairman Dale Fellows to announce that RB Sigma will provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for poll workers in all 88 counties on election day. A local manufacturer in Mentor, RB Sigma will be donating a total of 463,500 surgical masks to ensure election officials can conduct a safe and healthy election in November. 

 

“I was honored to join Secretary of State Frank LaRose, State Senator John Eklund and Lake County Board of Elections Chairman Dale Fellows for this important announcement and applaud RB Sigma for ensuring our election officials have what they need to safely assist Ohioans in exercising their right to vote during these unprecedented times,” said Joyce. “Over the last several months, local manufacturers like RB Sigma have worked around the clock to produce and deliver essential PPE across Ohio, not only keeping our communities safe, but also rebuilding our domestic manufacturing base and reducing our dangerous reliance on China. Just like our medical professionals, these manufacturers are unsung heroes on the front lines of this crisis and I will continue to do everything I can at the federal level to ensure they have the resources necessary to keep up their life-saving efforts.” 

 

“We are good at manufacturing things here in this state. We make things that supply the world. That resiliency is what sets Ohio apart from everyone else,” said Secretary LaRose. “No Ohioan should be afraid to come vote and the skilled Ohioans at RB Sigma are reassuring every Ohio voter by supplying these masks for voters and poll workers to use for our month of early voting and on election day.” 

 

“RB Sigma is a company that has truly pivoted to manufacturing critical N95 and surgical masks during the pandemic,” said Justin Bloyd, President of RB Sigma. “I feel that is my company’s role to provide as many masks as possible to those that need them. We are honored to partner with the Secretary of State’s office to distribute 462,000 Surgical masks so that poll workers may remain safe as they volunteer their time during the November election.” 

 

To date, RB Sigma has shipped more than 24 million pieces of PPE across Ohio and the country in addition to donating 1,000 N95 masks and 500 surgical masks to those fighting COVID-19 on the frontlines in Mentor. In July, the company received funding through the Retooling and Reshoring Grant Program to help them continue their PPE production. This grant helped the company acquire additional N95 and surgical mask machines, increasing their level of production. Since production of their masks began in July, RB Sigma has produced over one million N95 and surgical masks. 

 

Funded through the Coronavirus Relief Fund and administered through the Ohio Development Services Agency, this program awarded $20 million to manufacturers across the Buckeye State to help them retool their existing facilities and purchase the equipment necessary to manufacture critically needed PPE. In total, Ohio has received roughly $4.5 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, which was created and funded by the CARES Act to provide resources to state and local governments to support their COVID-19 response efforts.  

 

You can watch today’s announcement here. 

 

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