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Rochester business expands to help produce N95 respirators and surgical masks

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ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A company that produces material used in protective respirator masks is planning to ramp up production in New Hampshire during the coronavirus pandemic. Lydall, Inc., is expanding to house two new production lines in Rochester that will produce the part of N95 and surgical masks that traps bacteria, viruses, dust and other particles.

A groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled Friday. The new lines are supported by a $13.5 million federal contract the company secured with departments of Defense and Health and Human Services, and funding provided through the federal CARES Act. Once completed by May 2021, the company says it will produce enough of the material for 1.7 billion N95 respirators or 6.5 billion surgical masks per year.

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