Business is on the upswing as Southern states; in particular, wool textile companies with tax breaks, reliable utilities, modern ports and airports and a dependable, trained and nonunion workforce.
Marriott International announced last week that all towels in its 3,000 U.S. hotels would be manufactured by Standard Textile in plants here and in Union, S.C., a move expected to bring $23 million worth of business and 150 jobs back to the United States.
Standard Textile said it will spend $10 million renovating plants here and in South Carolina to support production for Marriott. The company plans to add 150 jobs between the two plants and in its Cincinnati headquarters by the end of this year.
Kyle Fletcher is Executive Director of the Industrial Development Authority for Thomaston and Upson County. She says people in town are glad to see a revival in their textile business
"There's been a real sense of excitement here especially among the employees here at the Standard Textile Facility in Thomaston and as a community as a whole. We have a rich history in textile manufacturing and the new advanced manufacturing here at this plant is going to be a real asset for this community," says Fletcher. "The textile industry suffered major hits a couple of decades ago. We're very excited that Standard Textile was able to maintain those difficult times and now there's a definite resurgence in what we're seeing in textile manufacturing...especially right here in Thomaston,"
Textiles, mostly cotton, once dominated the economy of the South. Employment peaked in June 1948 with 1.3 million jobs. However, about 650 textile plants closed between 1997 and 2009, draining thousands of jobs and depressing communities.
But rising wages in China and other countries, combined with higher transportation costs and tariffs, have prompted foreign and domestic companies to consider American manufacturing sites. Also, with more consumers looking for the "Made in the USA" label, some companies are turning to American goods.
The hotelier joins a number of other companies, including Walmart, Apple and General Electric, that have pushed for more U.S.-made products in recent years.
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