N.C.-Based Textile Firm Opens Factory In China I Glen Raven, a Burlington, N.C.-based manufacturer of technical textiles, recently opened its first Asian manufacturing site in Suzhou, China. n an apparent sign of the times in the global textile industry, a North Carolina-based textile manufacturer has opened a factory in Suzhou, China. Glen Raven, one of the industry's venerable manufacturers, which several decades ago was credited with development of panty hose, has opened a 190,000-sq.-ft. (17,650-sq.-m.) facility to produce the company's high-tech Sunbrella performance fabrics. The plant, which will employ more than 300, will serve Asian markets in addition to providing fabrics to Glen Raven customers around the globe. Let Europe Eat Cake S weet teeth can be found the world over. To satisfy those cravings in Central and Eastern Europe, Scottish bakery group Lightbody, founded in 1885, plans to build a factory in Louny in the Usti region of the Czech Republic. Named not for what a consumer becomes after eating its products, but rather for founder John Lightbody, the company specializes in celebration cakes, and plans to create up to 500 jobs within the next five years.    "Louny is located 60 kilometers [37 miles] from Prague and its international airport and offers us good access to markets in both Western and Eastern Europe via the Czech motorway network," said Dee Scott, operations director at Lightbody. The company will hire designers and confectionery specialists to create new products for markets in Central and Eastern Europe, Scott said. Construction was due to start in October with production to launch next June.