News Release/Governor’s Office/(Editor’s note: News releases are published as submitted unless there are factual errors
April 4, 2020
Governor Doug Ducey today announced the state has secured a new agreement with Honeywell to produce over 6 million N95 masks for the state of Arizona over the next 12 months. Upon production of the masks, the Arizona Department of Health Services will deliver them to county health departments for further distribution to health, safety, and emergency response workers.
The agreement follows a Monday announcement by Honeywell that it is adding manufacturing capabilities in Phoenix to produce N95 face masks in support of response efforts to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The company anticipates that the new mask production line in Phoenix will create more than 500 new jobs in Arizona, for which Honeywell has already begun recruiting, hiring and training manufacturing workers on the site.
“I’m grateful to Honeywell for stepping up and partnering with Arizona to help get these masks to our doctors, nurses and EMTs on the frontlines,” said Governor Ducey. “This is what exemplary corporate citizenship looks like. Honeywell is setting the example for others to follow, and we’ll continue forging additional private-sector partnerships to get our medical professionals the supplies and resources they need.”
“We at Honeywell are moving quickly to expand our production capacity for N95 masks globally and are pleased to partner with the state of Arizona,” said John Waldron, president and CEO, Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions. “Responding to COVID-19 is an all-hands-on-deck effort, and Honeywell is proud of our role in providing essential equipment to the first responders and medical professionals we are relying on during this crisis.”
On March 31, Governor Ducey announced an update related to Arizona medical supplies. Arizona has now received 75 percent of its Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) allocation, totaling more than 1.2 million medical supplies to date. So far, the SNS allocation to Arizona has included over 180,000 N95 masks, 532,000 surgical face masks, and 85,000 face shields.
NOTE: A previous version included incorrect attribution for Honeywell’s quote. The release has been updated.
