Carolinas Draw Textile
Brownfield Investment

While a new textile plant in the Carolinas is as rare as hen's teeth, there has been a recent spate of brownfield moves.
        One of the latest was in Liberty, S.C., where a former Greenwood Mills denim plant reopened as Liberty Denim, creating 230 new jobs.
        Another was in Union County, S.C., where Weavetex, a producer of specialty fabrics for industrial usage, announced plans in June to open a plant and distribution center in a facility abandoned by now defunct Spartan International.
        Kawashima Textiles USA, a division of a Kyoto, Japan, company, plans to invest $15 million in the former Wateree Textiles plant in Camden, S.C. The plant will produce fabrics for major automotive suppliers and employ about 100. The vacant building, proximity to major highways and state-provided worker training were key factors for Kawashima's site decision.
        Central Textiles, an industrial fabrics manufacturer of wall-covering substrates, fabric for career apparel uniforms and pocketing for jeans, moved early this year into a former Mayfair Mills plant in Pickens, S.C.
        In Morganton, N.C., Viscotec Automotive Products, a subsidiary of a Japanese supplier to the automotive industry, began weaving in July in a building formerly occupied by a bottling company. The company, which plans to hire up to 250 workers over the next three years, received tax breaks and other incentives which could total $4.2 million over the next several years.