International Textile Group's Burlington WorldWide division is scheduled to close the Burlington Industries wool dyeing and finishing plant on Main Street in August and will move the production to North Carolina by May or June next year.
It is a big setback to some 500 residents, who are employed by the company, will either retire, look somewhere else or go to North Carolina.
The plant once considered as the largest dyeing and finishing plant in North America provided jobs to around 1,200 people.
The reason for the closure is attributed to tough foreign competition and decreasing demand by the military. On the other hand, very few Virginia sheep producers prefer wool production and the one who does search for good market and the rest by and large sell their wool to Mid-States Wool Growers Cooperative.
marketing@alchempro.com
