Disposable glove manufacturer in Fayette expanding

If you wear disposable gloves on the regular, you may be wearing pairs manufactured just up the road in Fayette.

Showa Gloves has been operating there since 1972 and produces 400 million gloves every year. But thanks to a new expansion, they’re tripling that number by the end of 2022.

The company is responsible for ensuring DCH Health System had enough gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as the global supply chain crumbled.

DCH Marketing and Communications Vice President Andy North said Showa is introducing a new manufacturing line, so DCH went and checked it out this week.

“Part of the reason we were there was to take a look at the possibility of including at least a small part of (the new gloves) in our overall strategy so that if we get in a situation in the future where there is a shortage, we would have a local resource,” North said.

The expansion means the Fayette plant can manufacture as many as 2 million gloves each day.