Posted February 16, 2017

 

He doesn’t work for a textile company. He’s not a CEO, an EVP, a VP or any other acronym you find in the industry’s executive-level scrolls. And his office in the South Park area of Charlotte, N.C, is miles away from any manufacturing facility.

 

But, if you ply your trade in the U.S. textile industry, chances are you know Gabe Hill. Or at least know of him. Or perhaps have corresponded with him.

 

Why, everyone knows Gabe, right?

 

Hill is a venerable, estimable member of the industry who has played a hand in changing the lives of thousands of people. In many instances, simply by doing what he does, he has also helped change the fortunes of many textile companies and suppliers, too. Because of what he does – and the length of time he has done it – you could say he has become imbued with a certain man-behind-the-curtains persona.

 

In that sense, you might call him The Wizard. Or maybe Matchmaker Extraordinaire. Either way, he’s a Southern gentleman through and through, someone who loves this industry and all it represents.

 

Why else would he spend 60 years being involved in the industry, working to the ripe age of 82?

 

For a few more days, Hill will serve as president of SP Associates, an employment agency that caters to textiles, nonwovens, fiber, engineering and textile automotive and its vast supply chain. On February 28, he’s calling it a career after 43 years at the firm and heading into retirement. As you can read in this week’s lead story, he’ll miss the many friends he’s made over the years. And he’ll depart with a smile on his face, knowing he is leaving the business in the capable hands of Joel McIntyre.

 

When Hill graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in textile engineering in 1957, he had no idea he would spend most of his career far removed from the smell of fresh cotton or the clank-clank-clank of fast-running looms. In fact, he started his career on that track, first with Milliken & Co. (eight years), then with Celanese (nine years) before finding himself at SP Associates. Literally – he was looking to make a job change.

 

“I was asked by Celanese to transfer to New York, but I had a young family at the time,” he recalled recently. “It just didn’t seem right then. So I came in to see a guy named Leon Gibbs, who was the active president of SP Associates at that time. And we talked for about an hour and he said, ‘I have just the spot for you.’ I said, ‘where?’ and he pointed to the office next door – and that's where I've been ever since.”

 

That was 1974.

 

But his education and pedigree in textile manufacturing worked wonders for him in an employment agency, he said.

 

“The Milliken training and production management duties, plus a degree in textile engineering from Georgia Tech, provided an invaluable background for understanding our client needs,” Hill said. “I've always been a people person, which helped. And the sales and marketing background certainly was useful. But I also think it was important for me to have an understanding of the textile and fiber processes in order to really understand what a client company needed.”

 

At one point in his career, instead of playing matchmaker, the wife of a leader in the industry turned the tables on him. That leader was Jimmy Self, then president of Greenwood Mills in Greenwood, S.C. Self and Hill had played golf together for several years, and at one point, Self’s wife Linda was working with Hill to find the final member of a foursome for a member-guest tournament at Greenwood Country Club.

 

“What she was really arranging was a blind date on the golf course,” Hill said. “Linda and Jimmy knew me well. They understood my golf game and how many hours I spent working and speaking on the telephone and so forth.”

 

Three months later, Hill would marry his second wife, Roseann, and they’ve been a twosome ever since – 35 years and counting.

 

Now – and he’s probably counting the hours at this point – Hill is looking forward to hitting the links, or the fishing pond, or whatever strikes his fancy on any given day.

 

As he leaves this industry and a giant footprint behind, he won’t soon be forgotten by the thousands who know him, especially those who are deeply grateful for his helping changing the course of theirs and their families’ lives.

 

Gabe, I wish you nothing but the best in your retirement. Hit ’em straight, my friend.

 

Send your best wishes to Hill at golfinghill3@gmail.com.