$75.5 million effort in Pittsfield will double coronavirus test swab production

PITTSFIELD — A Guilford company that produces about 20 million coronavirus testing swabs monthly will be able to double that number and hire at least 150 workers as it expands the operation in a building Cianbro Corp. owns in Pittsfield and is retrofitting for that work.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Cianbro Chairman Peter Vigue, and officials of Puritan Medical Products LLC and Hardwood Products Co. LLC, of Guilford, announced the project Thursday outside the 129 North Main St. building in Pittsfield. Puritan and Hardwood are owned by the same family.

Puritan is one of the top two makers of testing swabs in the world, according to Kaiser Health News. The swab used for COVID-19 testing has a plastic handle with synthetic materials attached at the tip. The handle of the swab must be long enough to reach past the nasal cavity into the upper part of the throat to perform the test. Read more

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