“Everyone seems very positive so far,” Jordan said during the first-day fair. “The hope is that everybody will leave with one or two potential suppliers or customers, so we’re pleasantly encouraged. All of these countries have free trade agreements with the U.S., so they get the benefit of speed and duty-free shipment if they source from the U.S.”

 

The tour is a signature event of the sourcing program, which seeks to develop business relationships throughout the cotton textile and apparel chain with the objective of increasing exports of U.S.-manufactured cotton products to the Western Hemisphere, she added.

 

Participants included seven U.S. uniform-buying companies, 13 U.S. yarn and fabric mills and 19 uniform manufacturers from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru.

 

Participants’ impressions

 

One of those U.S.-based companies, Contempora Fabrics of Lumberton, N.C., has participated in CCI sourcing programs for many years, said Alex Whitley, the company’s vice president of sales.

 

“This is a great networking event,” he said. “We’ve made several contacts throughout this event. And there is also networking between current suppliers – new developments and technology exchange. So it’s not always just about finding new customers – sometimes, it’s beneficial to meet with the people you’re already doing business with.”

 

Contempora Fabrics produces circular knits, and its niche business is team sports, performance apparel and corporate identity, Whitley said. For that segment, it produces a moisture management polyester product.

 

“We’re running virtually any fiber you can think of today,” Whitley said. “To be a domestic supplier, you have to be versatile and flexible. So we’re using any number of fibers, from very technical products such as a carbon yarn to basic cotton to basic poly/cotton to 100 percent polyester – whatever the market needs.

 

“The analogy I use is we’re like a drugstore,” he added. “You come in with a prescription and we find a way to fill it.”

 

Another fabric maker and longtime CCI member, Hamrick Mills, Gaffney, S.C., was also on hand.

 

“We met some new people today and we have some opportunities going forward to provide fabrics produced in the U.S. from U.S. cotton and polyester,” said Roy Lockett, a company sales rep. “We see some future business opportunities from this. We’ve also seen a few existing customers and we’re mutually working with other U.S. companies right now. We’re supplying fabric to several U.S. companies and working downstream with the uniform manufacturers, trying to have them request our fabric, of course.

 

“We know a lot of the people here and have established friendships and relationships, and that’s what it’s all about – trying to help each other and our industry in the U.S. and keep it strong by working together.”

 

A first-time representative was Keer America, Indian Land, S.C., the U.S. yarn-production subsidiary of China-based Keer Group.

 

“Every relationship here is new for us,” said John Pearson, the company’s regional sales manager. “We’re upstream, so a lot of the times when it comes to the spinner, we don’t meet face to face with the uniform provider. But we’re still a part of the supply chain, and they’re helping us network with vendors that are supplying them the fabric for cut and sew. So we’re helping each other out.”

 

Other activities

 

The opening conference session featured a panel of experts who addressed the cotton market outlook and cotton product innovations. Following the conference, the U.S. mills and uniform companies met with Central American, Mexican and Andean garment manufacturing executives for private meetings to discuss business opportunities. They also visited with Cotton Incorporated and learned about its innovative new technologies.

 

After the trade meetings, manufacturers had the opportunity to visit the following U.S. textile mills: Alamac American Knits, LLC; Antex Knitting; Buhler Quality Yarns Corp.; Carolina Cotton Works, Inc. (CCW); Contempora Fabrics; Cotswold Industries/Central Textiles; Frontier Spinning Mills, Inc.; Hamrick Mills, Inc.; Keer America Corporation; Milliken & Company; Parkdale; SAS Textiles; Swisstex Direct; Shuford Yarns; Tuscarora Yarns, Inc.; and Zagis USA.

 

Participating U.S. uniform buyers included Chefworks, Elbeco, OOBE, Propper, Superior, Timberland and VF Corp.

 

Longtime textile business development executive Peter Hegarty helped organize the visits from the foreign guests.