West Lake Norman News

Several North Carolina Republican lawmakers from Gaston and Catawba counties teamed up to put money into the state's personal protective equipment initiative.

Sen. Kathy Harrington (R-Gaston), Sen. Ted Alexander (R-Cleveland) and Sen. Dean Proctor (R-Catawba) worked together to earmark $14.3 million for the PPE-NC Initiative, a project that creates and tests reusable PPE, in the latest COVID-19 relief bill passed by the North Carolina General Assembly which allocated more than $1 billion to help in the state's effort to fight coronavirus, according to a joint statement from Alexander's office.  

"We are excited to see local innovators come together and create products that will strengthen efforts to combat the coronavirus," the senators said in a joint statement. "The General Assembly's decision to fund the PPE-NC Initiative is one that makes our communities more resilient and safer."

The PPE-NC Initiative is aimed at making such protective equipment more sustainable. The $14.3 million grant will help build testing labs, develop new equipment, plus other space to produce and research the products. The project resulted from a one-of-a-kind joint venture between Manufacturing Solutions Center at Catawba Valley Community College, Gaston College's Textile Technology Center, the City of Conover, Gaston County, and others in the private sector, the statement said.