Posted July 12, 2016

 

For years, we’ve all heard about the “skills gap,” or the widening shortage of manufacturing employees in the U.S. And facing years of negative press amid unprecedented contraction and false stereotypes, the textile industry has found it especially difficult to attract talent to its production ranks.

 

The problem has been elevated recently as the industry, experiencing a fortuitous reversal of fortunes, has found itself in bigger need of employees to continue to upward trajectory into a brighter future. Some employers have told me the industry has lost an entire generation of people joining their ranks. And that puts tremendous pressure on them as they seek to replace their aging workforce. I’ve heard several speakers address this issue in recent years, but their solutions seem practical only in theory.

 

In the spring, I gained firsthand knowledge of how two South Carolina entities – fabric maker Inman Mills and the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance (SCMA) – are trying to proactively take this bull of a crisis by the horns. Inman Mills is working with local school districts in Spartanburg County to bring students into their facilities and tell their good story, while the SCMA recently launched its South Carolina Future Makers initiative aimed at increasing the skilled workforce pipeline entering advanced manufacturing and technical-related careers.

 

Inman Mills telling its good story

 

Twice, I sat in on visits by students and administration at Inman Mills’ adjoining Mountain Shoals and Ramey plants in Enoree, S.C. Inman officials explained their needs to the Woodruff High School principal and guidance counselors, along with the district superintendent, and brought in seniors from the school to tour the plants and tell them about the good things they have to offer. Though the students, like many of the younger generation today, seemed somewhat apathetic to the story being shared, I was impressed by the company’s capabilities – and I’ve been around this industry for nearly a quarter century.

 

“We’re focusing on the workforce of the future,” Rob Chapman, Inman Mills’ chairman, CEO and treasurer, told me. “We have to attract a younger workforce, not only among our production employees but also in our management. So we’re trying to show them that we have a good work environment with good wages, good benefits and good jobs.”

 

Like many textile producers, Inman Mills was hit hard during the industry’s contraction, downsizing from about 1,300 people to about 500 in 2001. “With all the plants closing all around us, when someone was looking for a job, the word on the street was ‘don’t get into textiles’ because they are going to be here,” said Chapman who also serves as chairman of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO). “But we survived all that and we’re here. And that’s why we’re trying to show people in the community and these students what we’re all about because when you bring them into our plants and show them what we have, they understand the opportunities here.”

 

From Chapman, Vice President of Manufacturing George Abbott, Plant Managers Brad Burnett and Kemp Smith and other company management, the students and faculty learned that the company specializes in technical fabrics used in numerous military and consumer applications, many with high-tech protective properties.

 

“We’re a different company today than we were 15 years ago,” said Chapman, whose company also runs a co-op program for high school students. “We make a lot of fabrics that go into flame-retardant products such as bedding and a lot of technical fabrics that we didn’t make in 2000. And we now have the capability to run 25 fibers, whereas before we ran two – polyester and cotton. And we’ve had to do that to survive.”

 

And all of this high-tech production is happening in these students’ backyards, though most of them probably don’t know this, Smith said. “The textile industry is the ‘secret industry,’ ” he said. “You cannot buy a single thing in the store or see anything on television that says ‘Inman Mills,’ but textiles are a substrate of all the industries. Textiles go into all industries and many products, including the Wilson football.”

 

Last year, Smith spoke to the entire senior class at the local high school, and the company hired five graduating seniors, he said – but none have lasted, he added.