Posted February 10, 2016

 

I often wonder or are asked, “Where are they now?” Sometimes, a memory of someone flashes across the brain or I come across an old business card and ask myself that question.

 

I’ve been fortunate in the last couple of years to find the whereabouts and wellbeing of a number of industry folks I haven’t seen or heard of in ages, either by fate or purposely. Sometimes, that question is answered at a tradeshow or a conference, when I run into one of those familiar faces. On other occasions, someone will contact me who I haven't seen in years. It's always cool to find out that that person is not only doing well but is still plying their trade in the textile industry.

 

Last week, I was delighted to see someone who I haven't seen in more than a decade when I visited Emmitte Winslow in Yadkinville, N.C. Though we reconnected several months ago by email, it was good to sit face to face with a longtime industry colleague. At 71, he is still working full time at the company he owns, Briggs-Shaffner. I was happy to see him and learn that his company is doing well as one of our survivors. (Read this week’s lead story.)

 

I knew Emmitte mostly from his involvement in the American Textile Machinery Association (ATMA), as our paths crossed in various corners of this hemisphere and Europe. Like many septuagenarians I know, he is healthy enough and loves this industry enough to keep the “R” word out of his vocabulary. Retirement is not in the cards and the immediate future for folks such as Emmitte, George Abbott of Inman Mills, Preston Aldridge of Ford Trimble & Associates and Jim Chesnutt of National Spinning, among others. And what a glorious thing that is, to see these veterans of many industry battles continue to want to fight the good fight every day. What a testament that is to our venerable industry and, more importantly, to our people.

 

Thanks to these and many other industry titans, this industry endured its deepest depression and has emerged as a more high tech, more sustainable, more automated, more efficient, cleaner, leaner and meaner Industry that remains an important part of the U.S. economy and the communities in which we serve.

 

So I will continue to ask myself the question, “Where are they now?” More often than not, the answer to that question pleases me. As I’ve learned, many are still in the industry’s offices or plants and collectively contributing to the strength and viability to the world’s oldest manufacturing industry.