PHOENIX — Honeywell International Inc. will open a new protective mask manufacturing facility in Phoenix, looking to hire up to 500 people to meet demand as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads throughout the U.S.

The plant will join a Rhode Island facility of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Honeywell (NYSE: HON) to manufacture N95 masks for use in health care. The company hopes to ramp up production to supply 20 million masks to stockpile with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which the company has a contract.

“We at Honeywell are proud of our role in providing essential equipment to the first responders and medical professionals we are relying on during this crisis,” said Darius Adamczyk, Honeywell chairman and CEO, in a statement. “We have moved quickly to expand our production capacity for N95 masks globally and are pleased to announce our second new U.S. manufacturing line to supply the Strategic National Stockpile.”

The jobs are expected to be maintained through the ramp-up and production of tens of millions of masks, officials said.

Read more from the Phoenix Business Journal.