The textile and apparel industry provides the U.S. Businesses that contribute to this volume of exports range from small, family-owned and operated facilities to integrated mills that operate state of the art machinery and production equipment. Many people may not be aware that the United States is the second largest single country exporter of textiles, with $20 billion in exports in 2010. The industry representatives included Polymer Group International (PGI), Unifi, Inc., Mount Vernon, Frontier Spinning, Pharr Yarns, Hanesbrands, VF Corporation, and the North Carolina Department of Commerce who are all very familiar with the changing face of textile and apparel production here in the United States. Parkdale hosted a unique industry panel of local textile representatives, to share with us the issues facing manufacturing, the importance of innovation for advanced textile manufacturing, and the importance of industry growth in jobs and exports. (John Clark/The Gazette)ĭuring the past two years, increased demand for Parkdale’s diverse mix of high quality cotton, cotton blend, and polyester yarns has allowed the company to allocate more than $100 million on capital expenditures, creating nearly 1,500 jobs. “World War I, 1916, for our company and we’ve done it again with the Covid crisis.Francisco Sanchez, under secretary of commerce for international trade, left, listens to plant manager Keith Nicholson, right, as he toured Parkdale plant 15 in Belmont on Wednesday morning. The textile industry has certainly always done that,” Davis Warlick said. “In times of need and in times of crisis, it seems that the United States always relies on domestic manufacturers to step up. Now it makes face masks and hospital gowns for health care workers on the front line fighting COVID-19. Founded in 1916, the company produced field dressings for soldiers fighting in World War I. Reacting to national emergencies on a worldwide stage is nothing new for Parkdale Mills. 1 and a few weeks later at the Dixie Village Shopping Center that was aimed at reaching the city’s Hispanic community. In Gastonia, the masks were distributed at a drive-thru giveaway held at the company headquarters on Aug. Parkdale employees have given out approximately 20,000 of the “I Wear I Care” face masks at numerous events in North Carolina communities where the company has plants. “It’s just now really starting to come back, but we’re still not at full capacity yet,” he said. Warlick said business is slowly starting to increase. Blue jean and khaki sales are down significantly, and the printable T-shirt business has nearly disappeared, Heilig said, with no concerts or community festivals or 5k runs. “The masks allowed us to start them back up really, really fast.” “We started bringing them back up real quick,” Heilig said. “To turn it around and say, ’we’re ready and able,’ I think is a real testament to American ingenuity and capacity,” said the congressman.Ĭharles Heilig, president of Parkdale Textiles, said many of the company’s plants, including those in Gaston County, had to shutter for part of the spring until business picked back up. It was a quick turnaround time as Parkdale employees were delivering the first shipments in April.Ĭongressman Patrick Henry, who represents Gaston and Cleveland counties as part of the 10th Congressional District, praised Parkdale’s quick pivot. It was important for us to take advantage of the opportunity to do PPE.”Īs part of the government contract, Parkdale Mills produced 75 million face masks and 60 million hospital gowns. “They got all of their payrolls and everything paid for, but we did not. “Every competitor I’ve got qualified, but we didn’t,” Warlick said. He said Parkdale Mills did not qualify for a loan from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program because the company’s employment base was higher than the program allowed. “When you start shutting down malls, shutting down stores. “Our textile business got slammed,” Andy Warlick said. Cotton, (which produces things like cotton balls, cotton swabs and makeup pads) continued to flourish, its textile production came to a halt when COVID-19 struck. And while the company’s consumer products division, U.S. The nearly 500 employees who work at Parkdale Mills’ four locations in Gaston County had a hand in the production of the face masks, as well as hospital gowns that were part of a large government contract that’s helped the company weather rocky economic waters that struck this spring with the coronavirus pandemic.īusiness was off to a good start in 2020, said Andy Warlick.
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