Did ya'all get this one yet?

DOD Awards $3.5 Million Contract to Crosstex International, Inc. to Increase Domestic Production of Surgical Masks

JULY 19, 2020

On July 17, the Department of Defense, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, signed a $3.5 million contract award with Crosstex International, Inc. to increase domestic production of surgical masks.

Surgical masks are critical pieces of personal protective equipment for our nation’s medical community on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Crosstex currently operates mask production lines at full capacity in its upstate New York facilities. The $3.5M investment would support capital investments to procure additional machine lines through its longstanding partnership with its current domestic machine fabricator. The additional lines would increase Crosstex’s production by an additional 100 million surgical masks a year. The increases to production will begin in May 2021, when Crosstex anticipates delivery of their first new machine line. The remaining three lines will be delivered and fully operational no later than November 2021.

This contract award is part of the ongoing collaboration between DOD and HHS, led by the Department’s Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF) and funded through the CARES Act, to enable and support domestic industrial base expansion for critical medical resources.

https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2279253/dod-awards-35-million-contract-to-crosstex-international-inc-to-increase-domest/

>>10014016

Crosstex is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cantel Medical Corp.

GEORGE L. FOTIADES

President and Chief Executive Officer

"He most recently served as an Operating Partner at Five Arrows Capital Partners (FACP), the private equity arm of Rothschild Merchant Banking, and previously was a Partner at Diamond Castle Holdings, focusing on healthcare investments."

http://www.cantelmedical.com/leadership

Heidi Grant takes over Defense Security Cooperation Agency

Heidi Grant, a longtime Air Force official, will be the next head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency — marking the first time a civilian has run the office since it was created in 1998.

She will succeed Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, who is retiring. Hooper took over as DSCA head in Aug. 2017. A Pentagon spokesman confirmed that the agency head is now a civilian-led position, after traditionally being a three-star job.

DSCA is the Pentagon’s lead agency on foreign weapon sales, helping to encourage partners and allies to buy American while coordinating with the State Department to clear weapon sales through what can sometimes be a laborious process.

Grant is a well-known figure on the international circuit, having served from 2010-2018 as the Air Force’s deputy undersecretary of international affairs. In that role she was a fixture at industry trade shows and became known as the point person in pushing USAF equipment to the international community.

In December 2018, she transitioned to become director of the Defense Technology Security Administration. At DTSA, she has been charged with ensuring that the Pentagon is properly protecting sensitive U.S. military weaponry and that defense sales do not erode the services’ technological advantage.

DSCA has five regional centers. They are:

– Africa Center for Strategic Studies

– Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies

– George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

– William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies

– Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies.

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/07/18/heidi-grant-takes-over-defense-security-cooperation-agency/

>>10014114

She must have gotten the nod from Joe.