Looming
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MOTIF online course
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Greetings!
Imagine, if you will, the olden days – a "prehistoric" world with no Zoom, Webex, FaceTime, Skype, et al. … say, 2010 (or, for many of us, January 2020). Now imagine, in a world of shelter-in-place restrictions, how difficult it might be conducting business and trying to engage in a semblance of normalcy around industry events without those technical marvels that bring us together and put us face to face on screens, without all the flesh pressing and germ passing. How would we manage? If you think the world has stopped turning the last eight months, how could we possibly have carried on with our industry affairs without “seeing” each other? By conference call? Hmm … it sure would be difficult to conduct such events as trade shows, conferences, awards ceremonies, board meetings, etc. without the webcam. Talk about cancel culture – certainly, without camera-driven virtual technology, the list of gatherings that would not have taken place this year would have outnumbered the ones that did.
But yet, these events have occurred because of these innovations, which have helped replicate in-person meetups and served as the next best thing to being there. Unfortunately, because of COVID-19 spikes in various parts of the world, it looks like we’re heading into the new year renting more Zoom rooms than conference rooms. And that clouds up things after months of optimism for a return to “real” reality. Still, I encourage you to keep the faith that we’ll soon emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever before – ready to hop on airplanes instead of webcasts, ready to hand out biz cards instead of vCards, ready to dress from the neck down instead of the waist up. Fingers crossed (and breath mints bought). …
Classifieds
Promote your brand, services, products
As you plan your 2021 marketing programs in the coming weeks, please consider using eTC for your marketing and promotional activities. Contact us here for more information.
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2020 Industry Champion
As announced recently, the eTC Editorial Board reached the decision to name the American Textile Worker as the 2020 eTC Industry Champion. Several worthy company nominations were submitted, but because 2020 is such a unique, unusual and unprecedented year for our industry and the world, the board believed that spreading the wealth to the heart and soul of all of our operations was the way to go. After all, these gifted people have demonstrated the true spirit of what our industry is all about by stepping up BIG TIME to address the dire shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when our neighbors and friends needed it most.
They proved the resilience, flexibility and dexterity that we always knew existed by pivoting, in many instances, to produce this critical gear for our healthcare heroes, first responders and the general populace.
We plan to review and applaud the extra efforts of the American Textile Worker later this year, and we would love for any company that participated in the manufacture of PPE to be a part of this feature story. If your company pivoted into the production of medical textile equipment or was already involved in this sector, please email a summary of your activities here. I realize such an undertaking will not be all encompassing, but I hope it will be representative of our Herculean efforts.
Also, if you would like to commend our colleagues through congratulatory ads on this feature page, please let me know here.
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STA Northern & Southern Division Virtual Fall Meeting
Poli sci professor 'mines Ps’ and takes ‘Qs’ on election
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At the second Southern Textile Association (STA) Northern & Southern Division Virtual Fall Meeting last week, Dr. Susan Roberts, an esteemed and often-cited political science professor at Davidson College, assessed the recent U.S. elections.
During an informative presentation and highly engaging Q&A, she offered a rundown of the eight “Ps” that should be examined after this election cycle: Polarization, Pandemic, Population, President Trump, Patchwork quilt (of disparate state voting laws), Polling, Party and Projections.
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SUSTAINABILITY:
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#TBT
Aaron Feuerstein, then third-generation owner and CEO of fleece manufacturer Malden Mills of Lawrence, Mass., is pictured keynoting the 2003 Southern Textile Association (STA) Annual Meeting in Savannah, Ga. He had made national news, including a segment on CBS’ 60 Minutes, after the Malden Mills factory burned down in 1995.
Feuerstein used his insurance money to rebuild the factory and to pay the salaries of all the unemployed workers while it was being rebuilt. He spent millions keeping all 3,000 employees on the payroll with full benefits for six months. By going against common CEO business practices, especially at a time when many textile companies were downsizing and moving overseas, he achieved global fame. Feuerstein is now 95 years old. (Photo by Devin Steele)
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If you would like additional information on Federal Contracting Opportunities please contact the North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) www.ncmbc.us
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Devin Steele
PHOTO AT RIGHT:
Dino Knit tube, knitted face shield made in N.C., courtesy of Trex Machine Group.
• Knitted with yarn made from recycled plastic water bottles
• Infused with DuPont Silvadur antimicrobial treatment
• UV fast P adds 50 SPF of UV protectant provided by Huntsman
Get your customized face shield here.
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