Made in the U.S.: Rhino to expand nitrile glove production, add plant in Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas—A massive new nitrile glove project in Texas will create 800 new jobs in a move that one company official said is only the first step in investing in the region.

Rhino Health plans to locate new operations in an existing 400,000-sq.-ft. building at the Majestic Fort Worth South Business Park in Fort Worth.

Rhino Health already produces gloves in New Mexico in partnership with the Navajo Nation in Church Rock. The nation also is investing to help launch the new Texas manufacturing site.

"This is a significant first step for Rhino Health to invest and grow in the Fort Worth region," Rhino Health CEO Mark Lee said in a statement. "We're confident that this location offers an environment for our employees to thrive and our business to grow."

The new Texas location will triple the production of the company's New Mexico facility.

Chris Strayer, as executive vice president of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, was involved in the process of attracting Rhino Health to his city.

Rhino Health decided on Fort Worth after a selection process that also included consideration of locations in other states, he said. Texas turned out to be a better fit, as it accommodates the requirements of glove making.

Building size, utility availability and even population also went into helping Rhino Health make its decision, Strayer said. The company ultimately homed in on a speculative building already under construction by Majestic Realty Co. due to the structure's high ceilings and length.

"The machinery that goes into it, it's one long piece of machinery that makes the glove. Not all manufacturing buildings were as long as what they needed," Strayer said. "Given the ceiling and the amount of length they needed, there weren't too many in our market—let alone any market—to do that."

Rhino Health was looking for high ceilings because the company plans to stack multiple glove-making lines, which are hundreds of feet long, on top of one another, he said.

With expected employment of 800 workers, the company also sought an area with a larger population to provide enough manufacturing workers, Strayer said.

The shell of the building was completed during the time when Rhino Health and development officials in Fort Worth hammered out an agreement. Work will now take place on extending the utilities needed to run the lines, he said.

The Texas location will include 10,000 square feet of office space. The company did not return phone calls seeking further comment on the Texas expansion.

Plans for the New Mexico glove factory were revealed in 2018 when Rhino Health said it would invest $49 million in a multi-phased project that would include a 124,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing site and warehouse. The project, partially funded by $19 million from the Navajo Nation, ultimately expects to employ 350.

That operation already was producing gloves by March 2020 when Navajo leaders talked about the decision to partner with Rhino Health.

"The funds that our Nation invested in Rhino Health L.L.C., are now helping to keep our health care workers, nurses and other first responders safe as they fight the COVID-19 coronavirus," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement at the time. "We have many Navajo men and women working in the glove factory who are making a big difference in the lives of many whether they realize it or not. Our investment is paying off.

"This is sovereignty at the highest level. We are practicing the teaching of our elders known as T'aa hwo'ajit'eego, or self-reliance and self-determination. We're empowering ourselves to help our Navajo people and now we're taking it a step further by helping people across the country as well," he said.

By last June, Lee indicated Rhino Health was working around the clock to keep up with a crushing demand for gloves. "It's like a tsunami hit us," he said at the time. "Every single federal agency and state and local people have been calling us."

Rhino Health is a subsidiary of South Korean rubber company Jungwoo Rubber & Plastic. The company sells gloves to government, medical, food and retail customers.