U.S. defense official seeks manufacturing insights at South Scranton plant

Jun. 22—SCRANTON — A U.S. Department of Defense official toured a South Scranton plant Monday to learn ways the nation's defenses can become less dependent on foreign manufacturing.

Jesse Salazar, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy, joined U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright and Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti on a visit to Noble Biomaterials on Palm Street. Noble imbues threads and other materials with silver for use in a wide variety of applications.

For defense purposes, the threads can be used to thwart bacteria, fungi and other microbes in military clothing or fabrics "that protect data transmission networks and electronics from electromagnetic and radio frequency interference or interception," according to the company.

"What we saw out here today was that here in South Scranton, they're doing things that are competitive on a global scale, not only helping our warfighters, but with industrial applications on the whole spectrum," Salazar, a Scranton native, said after the tour.

Jeff Keane, Noble's CEO, said the vast majority of the companies to which Noble sells its products are based in the United States.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation learned the American economy too often depends on foreign suppliers.

In February, President Joe Biden ordered a review of the nation's supply chains so the U.S. has "resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains to ensure our economic prosperity and national security."

Salazar toured Global Tungsten & Powders in Towanda earlier in the day.

"Here (in Scranton), I was able to see how innovation might be able to support warfighters with next-generation capabilities," Salazar said. "We're prioritizing building industrial capabilities here in the U.S."

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.