The local division of Industries for the Blind has hired 21 people and added a second shift after receiving a $4.7 million contract to manufacture poncho liners for the U.S. Army.
“This contract will increase our output to a record high of 40,000 poncho liners per month,” said Randy Buckner, director of operations for the Asheville Division of Winston-Salem-based Industries for the Blind. “It’s a great opportunity for our company to provide more jobs for the blind and visually impaired.”
The liners, made of thin, quilted nylon, provide warmth in cool, rainy climates and allow the poncho to function as an emergency sleeping bag. They are standard issue to every member of the Army.
IFB Asheville, which employs 105, was founded in 1938 to provide employment and other services to visually impaired people in Western North Carolina. In addition to poncho liners for the Army and Marine Corps, the division also makes flyer’s kit bags for the Air Force and does contract cutting for the Federal Prison System, product assembly and other light industrial services.
Source: Asheville Citizen Times
