Prestige Ameritech is an American manufacturer of surgical masks and respirators based in North Richland Hills, Texas. The company produced over a million surgical masks per day during the height of the 2009 swine flu pandemic[1] and rose to prominence again during the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
History
Prestige Ameritech was founded in 2005 by Dan Reese and Mike Bowen.[3]
According to a whistleblower complaint by Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Prestige Ameritech offered to provide masks in January 2020 but was rebuffed by the Trump administration.[4] Executive Vice President Michael Bowen noted that in the event of a "dire situation", his company could increase production by 1.7 million