These days, the buzzword in the Robeson County textile sector is lay-off, which has been caused mainly by increasing labour cost and various free trade agreements.
The County has lost more than 5,800 textile jobs in the last decade, according to the guesstimate of the Economic Development Office (EDO) for Robeson County.
The local textile industry was taken by storm by the last week's news that a combined 380 jobs from Outer Banks and Fun-Tees would be leaving Robeson County.
In Scotland County, the terry towel-weaving plant WestPoint Home would close this month, leaving 370 Robeson County residents high and dry in the unemployment line.
Clayson Knitting in Red Springs lays off 125 people in February –a staggering 71 percent of its workforce - and changed from a manufacturing plant to a distribution center.
Haynesbrands Inc, which owns Outer Banks, also made an announcement to the effect that 1,700 jobs from a Mexican plant would be moving to Central America.
The county had a 6.9 percent unemployment rate in July, higher than the national and state averages, but significantly down from the double-digit figures from earlier this decade.
Figures from EDO indicate that there are about 1,300 textile jobs left in Robeson County.
The textile players in the area, who have survived the present scenerio are: Alamac American Knits, Contempora Fabrics and Kayser-Roth.
marketing@alchempro.com
