Posted January 6, 2015
By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Two South Carolina leaders with strong ties to the textile industry were honored by the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance (SCMA) here last month.
SCMA honors leaders for defending manufacturing
Harris DeLoach Jr., executive chairman of Hartsville, S.C.-based Sonoco Products Co., and Catherine Templeton, director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), were presented the Roger Milliken Defender of Manufacturing Award during a dinner ceremony.
Established in 2006, the Defender of Manufacturing Award recognizes individuals in the public and private sectors who have worked to advance the manufacturing industry in South Carolina. Recipients are chosen by the SCMA Executive Committee. The Defender of Manufacturing Award is the most prestigious honor from the SCMA.
“Both Harris DeLoach and Catherine Templeton defend manufacturing by first looking at the interests of the people who work in the factories and for the communities in which they exist,” Lewis Gossett, president & CEO of the SCMA, told attendees during the event. “Harris and Catherine meet the highest standards of integrity and service that were Mr. Milliken."
Catherine Templeton of S.C. DHEC and Harris DeLoach Jr. of Sonoco
In 2012, the SCMA Board of Directors voted to rename the award to honor Roger Milliken, the longtime Milliken & Co. chairman who died in 2010. Milliken’s impact on his community, the state, the textile industry, manufacturing and the world is immense. (Click here to read Milliken’s full biography.)
“Mr. Milliken was certainly a great industrialist,” Gossett said. “But more importantly he was a fierce advocate for American jobs. And even more important than that, he was a fierce advocate for the people who held those jobs. I had the opportunity to have quite a few conversations with Mr. Milliken, and they were always about the same thing: the safety, health and well being of the people who worked for him – every single time. He was also one of the great advocates of his time for our national heritage. Sustainability and the environmental efforts – he was doing those long before they were cool.”
DeLoach called Milliken a friend
DeLoach joined Sonoco in 1986 as vice president of administration and general counsel. In 1990, he was named vice president of Sonoco’s High Density Film Products Division. In 1993, DeLoach was named vice president of Film, Plastics and Special Products before being promoted to group vice president in October of that year. Over the next decade, he continued to move into higher leadership positions within the company, joining Sonoco’s Board of Directors in 1998. After being named president & CEO in July 2000, DeLoach was elected chairman of the board in April 2005. He retired as CEO in March 2013 and remains the executive chairman of Sonoco’s Board of Directors.
“I truly want to thank the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance for recognizing me with this award,” DeLoach said during the event. “It is a tremendous honor to be receiving an award named after Roger Milliken. He was clearly a legend in South Carolina manufacturing and I’m proud to have called him a friend. It also echoes my deep appreciation for Roger’s good work for almost 94 years. He was an outstanding man.”
To read a transcript of DeLoach’s full remarks, click here.
Milliken made early, lasting impact on Templeton
Templeton began her career as a process engineer with Milliken & Company before practicing law at the Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak and Stewart firm. In 2010, Gov. Nikki Haley nominated Templeton to serve as the director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR), where she served until 2012 before leaving to become to the director of DHEC. As director, she has reduced permitting time by 40 percent and deregulated or reformed regulations that have increased efficiency and enhanced agency services.
“(Mr. Milliken) taught me to be timely,” Templeton said in her acceptance remarks. “He taught me to be accountable. He taught me to measure. He taught me to be precise. He taught me to care about the people I worked with. That was the philosophy at Milliken. And it has served me in every job I’ve ever had.”
To read a transcript of Templeton’s full remarks, click here.
