Posted January 13, 2014
I think most of you will agree: The closest person to “rock star” status the U.S. textile industry has ever had was Roger Milliken, who led Spartanburg, S.C.-based Milliken & Co. for 71 years. In some ways, he was larger than life – while also being one of the kindest, most compassionate people you’ve ever met. I was fortunate enough to have a few brief encounters with the legendary leader, who commanded a room not only with his 6-foot-something height but his enormous contributions to his community, the state, the industry, manufacturing and the world. (Read his biography here.)
One of those times was at ITMA, the global textile machinery trade show, in Paris in 1999. I watched him walk the expansive halls with a few other Milliken & Co. managers, but he could hardly get 20 feet before someone – usually from another country – would stop to ask if they could take a picture with him. (He always obliged.) I realized then the stature and respect he held in the world.
So I think it was fitting – an easy decision, really – for the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance (SCMA) to name its prestigious Defender of Manufacturing Award after Milliken following his passing in 2010 at age 95. The alliance last month bestowed the 2014 honor on two state leaders with strong ties to the textile industry – 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). Both DeLoach and Templeton knew Milliken and had great things to say about this incredible man. (Read more here.) The common theme that emerged from DeLoach and Templeton’s words was Milliken’s integrity, work ethic and passion for excellence.
With the Milliken name living in posterity through this award (and in many other ways), perhaps it’s a good time to remind ourselves of the principles he carried that helped keep manufacturing in general and the textile industry in particular at the forefront of the American engine for decades. Milliken, of course, was one of those tremendous industrialists who built America’s manufacturing success. He believed that America’s manufacturing leadership was the foundation of the nation’s economic development. And he worked tirelessly to realize his vision of growing his company, providing good-paying jobs to thousands of Americans and looking after their health, safety and well-being.
Milliken's enduring lessons, legacy
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The Milliken & Co. website described his contributions thusly: “His personal examples of uncompromising integrity, of hard work in any just cause, and an inexhaustible passion for excellence shone in his every undertaking. His beliefs were his commitments, whether to life-long education, to quality, to innovation, or as demonstrated in his absolute commitment to the health and safety of all of his associates.” Beyond that, he was one of the country’s great environmentalists “before it was cool,” SCMA President & CEO Lewis Gossett said during the awards program.
As we in this industry continue to survive and thrive, let’s always remember the ideals and standards by which Roger Milliken lived and with which he left us. In many ways, all of us in the textile arena have some of those principles, as evidenced by the fact we still believe in the importance of manufacturing to this country, we go beyond the call for causes with which we believe and we work tirelessly to ensure our future.
Thank you, Mr. Milliken, for those abiding lessons and your prodigious legacy.