WISCONSIN (SPECTRUM NEWS)— A global company with roots in Wisconsin is hoping to make an impact by making face masks for the US.

Face masks are a big need across the world right now. It’s an item that IRIS a company in Wisconsin will soon be making.

“The face mask business is something we have been doing over a decade in china and its something we have been wanting to bring here to the United States. Now that the demand is here, not just here in the United States but globally we are starting to expand as a company,” Iris USA Inc. Vice President of E-Commerce, Ryan Anderson said.

IRIS is a global company with locations in China, Japan,  Arizona,  Texas, and Wisconsin.

They sell items like home appliances, storage and organization, pet products, and furniture. Now, they are bringing their face mask making operations to the US.

“This investment is taking place right now. It is a bout a ten million dollar investment that will be taking place between now and September. As we ramp up and start producing we will be producing about 70 million disposable three-ply face mask per month out of the Wisconsin facility,” Anderson said.

They will soon being retooling their already existing lines in their largest facility in Pleasant Prairie and turning it into a mask making production center.

“That hasn’t been utilized in the past few years. We are not scaling back my any means we are actually ramping up. The 250 employees we have there, eventually doing 60 more employees as we go though this. Furthermore, we will hopefully put 16 new lines in there just to do the face masks,” Anderson said.

They expect the first masks to come off the lines in Wisconsin this coming September.