Grant means more jobs

Industrial Opportunities, Inc., a member of the Marketing Association for Rehabilitation Centers, will be getting a $100,000 in grant funds to purchase capital equipment to aid in the production of medical supplies, expanding an already existing program and creating 20 new jobs in Cherokee County.

Tom O'Brien, President of IOI, told the Sentinel on Tuesday that his organization is involved in the Custom Medical Products initiative and will use the equipment to manufacture and ship custom surgical drape sheets and burn pads.

He said IOI is already helping produce 1,500 burn pads a week, which are shipped to Augusta, Georgia, where they are used in the care of 17 burn patients from a major fire in

sugar factory there which occurred last January.

"The pads have to be changed every two hours,"O'Brien told me. "We are producing them in conjunction with the Haywood center, where the material is cut and sent to us for sewing. It is then packaged and sent back to them for inspection before sending it on to Augusta."

O'Brien said he expects to boost the production up to 2,500 burn sheets a week.

"We are grateful to NC Rural Center President Billy Ray Hall and Chairman Tom Lambeth for working with the legislature to establish and fund the Economic Innovation Grants program," O'Brien said. "We are also grateful to NC Senator John Snow and NC Representative Roger West who either sponsored or supported legislative bills in support of MARC Custom Medical Products. It has been inspiring and uplifting to have the community really come out and support us and our mission to serve some of western North Carolina's most vulnerable citizens. We are already making significant exonomic advances and this grant wil help us do even more."

O'Brien said Haywood Vocational Opportunities (HVO) is leading the initiative which has secured more than $2 million in new sales, prevented the loss of 117 jobs, and created 76 new jobs across western North Carolina.

"When you consider the issues North Carolina is dealing with--an ongoing drought, a stagnant economy, a workforce struggling to adapt to global competition--it becomes clear that we need a response that is both swift and strategic," Hall said. "We are grateful to our legislative leaders and the entire N.C. General Assembly for meeting the challenge head on."

Senator John Snow remarked, "This economic development project has had a positive effect on creating and retaining jobs for people with disabilities and displaced workeers accross the western North Carolina region. More importantly, the grant from the NC Rural Center will assist IOI in creating 20 new jobs for Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties."

Representative Roger West said, he was pleased to have supported this initiative for the past two years.

"Due to the supoort of all the western North Carolina legislative delegates, this project has created 16 new jobs and retained 4 positions within the local area," he said. "Now with the NC Rural Center grant, IOI is in position to create 20 new jobs."

O'Brien said the Custom Medical Products initiative had taken off quicker than he had anticipated.

"We had set as a goal to create 250 jobs," he said. "I think the way things are going, we will easily exceed that."

O'Brien said the money will be used to purchase a roller-die cutter, fork lift, sewing machines and other equipment.

Reader Comments

No comments have been posted. Be the first!

Other Stories With Comments:
Article	Comments
Land transfer tax-- let the voters decide	1