CABVI, American Nitrile announce domestic PPE arrangement

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 & 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 health care, 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 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

About American Nitrile

American Nitrile is a Grove City, Ohio-based privately held company focused on manufacturing medical and nonmedical gloves for health care, government, and industrial use. The company will manufacture approximately 3.6 billion gloves per year in their state-of-the-art 527,000 Square foot manufacturing facility when fully scaled in 2024. The American Nitrile team brings together entrepreneurs and operators with extensive manufacturing, supply chain, and PPE experience.

Jacob Block founded American Nitrile in 2021 in response to the need for domestic sources of manufacturing of critical PPE products, and the ability to address long supply chains, use of forced labor from foreign countries, as well as the need for more sustainable production in this product category.

About CABVI

The Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI) is a social enterprise established in 1929 by community leaders in Utica, New York, who recognized a need to provide services and employment to people who are blind or visually impaired. CABVI’s serves more than 1,800 people of all ages, generally free of charge, who are blind or visually impaired, in an eight-county region of Central New York. CABVI provides employment opportunities and a variety of vision rehabilitation services including low vision examinations, vision rehabilitation therapy, orientation and mobility, instruction in the use of assistive technology applications, employment training, adaptive recreation and sports, and social work. For further details, please visit www.cabvi.org/video.

About AbilityOne

Providing employment opportunities to approximately 40,000 people who are blind or have significant disabilities, including more than 2,500 veterans, the AbilityOne Program is among the nation’s largest providers of jobs for people who are blind or have significant disabilities. The AbilityOne Program uses the purchasing power of the federal government to buy products and services from participating, community-based nonprofit agencies nationwide, dedicated to training and employing individuals who are blind or have significant disabilities. Through the AbilityOne Program, people who are blind or have significant disabilities enjoy full participation in their community and can market their AbilityOne-learned skills into other public and private sector jobs.

About National Industries for the Blind

Since 1938, National Industries for the Blind has focused on enhancing opportunities for economic and personal independence of people who are blind, primarily through creating, sustaining, and improving employment. NIB and its network of associated nonprofit agencies are the nation’s largest employer of people who are blind through the manufacture and provision of SKILCRAFT® and other products and services of the AbilityOne® Program. For more information about NIB, visit NIB.org.