With inquiries coming in every day from would-be start-up owners wanting information and advice on how to launch cut-and-sew businesses and where to find a supply chain, the center and partners created the Carolina Textile District to become a resource specifically for this purpose. The MSC also created an “incubator” area in its new facility for new companies to operate their business.

 

“We have our hands full, but it’s so much better today than in 2005 when everything was going south,” St. Louis said.

 

A business hatches at the MSC

 

One of those its four incubator businesses, InnovaKnits, was founded by two Floridians looking to open a fully fashion knitwear and apparel contract manufacturing company – a specialty that all but left U.S. shores years ago. One of the co-founders, Neil Tagner, had more than 30 years of experience programming flatbed knitting machines and working in high-end apparel knitting mills in New York and Florida.

 

In the Sunshine State, Tagner met Jason Wilkins at an orthotics and prosthetics manufacturing company, which did some specialized knitting. There, the pair hatched the idea to start their own business, at which time they learned about the MSC. Discussions led them to pack up and start the now one-year-old business at the center.

 

“It was a no brainer,” Wilkins said. “There is no textile and apparel industry to speak of in Florida. So to find anyone with even a remnant of textile experience would be near impossible. It made a lot more sense here. Plus, the I-40 corridor has an entire supply chain of hosiery and yarn manufacturers, so if we need yarn, for instance, we can usually get it in the same day. And there is a great network of experts here at the center, not to mention the equipment that we can piggyback on.”

 

And being located at the MSC adds “instant credibility” to InnovaKnits because of its reputation and the fact the new facility looks like a modern manufacturing facility, he added. Then, there are the intangibles, he said.

 

“It’s hard to quantify, but the walk-throughs in this facility have been very beneficial to us,” Wilkins said. “We’ve had direct leads that have come in and business relationships have been formed. That wouldn’t happen if we were anywhere else.”

 

So, how is business?

 

“It’s unbelievable,” Tanger said. “If I had three more Neils, we would have three times more business now. Our bottleneck to growth will be how many people we can get that has the skillset that he does to program these machines and the breadth of knowledge he has.”

 

The duo hired employees to handle sewing and other functions, and jumped into the fashion and apparel arena because “it’s the low-hanging fruit,” Wilkins said. But eventually, they would like the company to expand into performance athleticwear, he said.

 

“The fashion and apparel industry always needs work done,” he said. “They’re hungry for people to do it in the United States and have quick turn times.”