Textile Insight

textileinsight.com Winter 2023 ~ Textile Insight • 33 At Glen Raven, "We are leveraging technol- ogy and becoming much more data-informed," according to Oehmig. Price noted that Milliken was supplementing its workforce with "digital and data. Anytime you can combine science with textiles, you will win," he added. Eddie Ingle, CEO of Unifi, Inc., spoke about the company's new dashboards speeding up production. "We need to go to the next level of automation and connect all the dots. You have more satisfied people when you can move beyond an Excel spreadsheet." Heilig agreed, "We have to invest in new technologies, and in people. In order to be sustainable, we need to hire young people. ink about who we are mentoring." One such program is the SYFA's creation of a new scholarship to support Gaston College's Textile Technology program, launched in fall 2022. Students earning the Associate in Applied Science degree from Gaston can transfer to pursue a bachelor's degree at Wilson College of Textiles at NC State University. Sustainability and Fibers of the Future e textile executives see sustainability as both a challenge and an opportunity to drive innovation. "Unifi built the Repreve brand in 2007 when there was no market," remarked Ingle. "Now the retailers demand we must be sustainable in everything we do." Milliken is one of the first fiy companies globally to achieve approved science-based net-zero GHG emissions targets using the 2021 Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Corporate Net-Zero Standard. "e SBTi is creating questions and conversations," Price noted. "By 2050, cotton will be a luxury fiber," predicted Heilig. "We think about how we can use our resources by becoming a solution provider," referring to the company's investment in CiCLO, a sustainable textile ingredient for reducing plastic microfiber pollution. "Where's the next fiber? What will it be?" he questioned. "Hemp is going to be huge," predicted Amy Bircher, owner and president of MMI Textiles. She called out the company's Ecorive line of environmentally preferred, Berry-compliant performance fabrics. "Future-wise we are very passionate about being different," she insisted. "We are setting up for some unique technologies coming down the pike." "We need to focus on sustainability holis- tically through the supply chain, to be open to sustainable practices and make it work economically," commented Hamrick. Oehmig concurred, "Let's focus on what comes next: relationships and incredible op- portunities for sustainable differentiation and innovation." There's Dignity in our Work e panelists agreed that the domestic in- dustry's efforts to supply the country with PPE during the pandemic not only earned respect but brought new life to textile makers in the U.S. and the Western hemisphere. "Covid changed the perspective of how we need to lean on each other," declared Heilig. "Collaboration is a pillar of our success," agreed Bircher. "We have to stop siloing. We do compete, but we need to cross-utilize our library of talent." Kudos were given to Kim Glas, president and CEO at the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), who liaised with various U.S. government organizations to promote the sourcing of millions of pieces of domestically made PPE. In her dinner address, Glas called U.S. tex- tiles "a strategic industry," and spoke about the need to close the di minimus loophole, a legal provision U.S. trade law that currently allows foreign products valued at $800 or less, per person/per day, into the U.S. market duty free, benefitting exporters such as China. Government contracts from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and other agencies, along with an expansion of the Berry Amendment, are driv- ing new business. In addition, the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act offers R&D tax credits and supports the use of clean energy for small businesses. Price noted, "For years this industry has been on the defensive. Now we have an opportunity to be on the offensive. ere's dignity in our work." n Parkdale Mills is expanding beyond cotton into synthetics and technology. FORCES MAJEURE DEMAND? HEADWINDS THE DRIVERS PERSPECTIVE MATTERS! TAILWINDS LABOR MADE IN USA LEGISLATION AUXILIARY SHORTAGES INFRASTRUCTURE BILL NATURAL DISASTERS CIRCULARITY SUSTAINABILITY INFLATION OCEAN FREIGHT ENERGY PRICES PORT CONGESTION ASIAN RAW MATERIALS ACCOUNTABILITY

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