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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Puritan Medical Products Plans Orlinda, Tennessee, Production and Distribution Complex

04/14/2021
Puritan Medical Products, North America’s largest manufacturer of COVID-19 testing swabs, will invest $220 million to establish new manufacturing and distribution operations in Orlinda, Tennessee. The company plans to create 625 jobs over the next five years.

The facility will be Puritan’s fourth in the United States, and the second partially funded by the federal government as part of the country’s pandemic response. Last May, the company received $75.5 million in CARES Act funding that was used to open a factory in Pittsfield, Maine, that ramped up production from 15 million swabs per month to 90 million swabs per month. The Orlinda operation is designed to produce up to 200 million swabs per month.

“Puritan Medical Products has been operating in Maine for over 100 years. Today we are announcing expansion plans into the State of Tennessee in order to continue to grow our company and diversify geographically. We are enthused about working with the good people of Tennessee, where we have received a very warm welcome. We currently have 1400 hard-working employees in Maine and we will hire 625 employees in Tennessee,” said Timothy Templet, executive vice president of Global Sales at Puritan Medical Products.

Over the last five years, Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development has supported more than 10 economic development projects in Robertson County, accounting for 1,300 job commitments and $471 million in capital investment.

“Puritan Medical Products is performing critical work to fight COVID-19 and we’re extremely proud to partner with them. This company has stepped up to the challenge of manufacturing test swabs for millions of Americans and I’m confident that the residents of Robertson County will benefit from this enormous investment and help meet Puritan Medical Products needs as they ramp up production in Tennessee,” said TNECD Commissioner Bob Rolfe.

Headquartered in Maine, Puritan Medical Products is a family-owned business that has been operating for more than 100 years. Puritan is one of two companies in the world that manufactures the specialized swabs used in COVID-19 tests. Because of the contributions the company has made to the fight against COVID-19, Puritan was named “Company of the Year” by Inc. on the magazine’s Best in Business 2020 list.

“TVA and Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation congratulate Puritan Medical on its decision to locate operations in Robertson County. Helping to attract new job opportunities and investment in the Valley is fundamental to TVA’s mission of service. We are proud to partner with Robertson County Economic Development Board, City of Portland, City of Orlinda and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to help further that mission and support Puritan Medical’s business success,” said John Bradley, TVA senior vice president of Economic Development.

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