Cedartown’s Gildan Yarn facility was purchased in 2003 by a joint-venture company with Frontier Spinning Mills Inc. and is the company’s only such facility in the U.S. outside of North Carolina.
Cedartown’s Gildan Yarn facility was purchased in 2003 by a joint-venture company with Frontier Spinning Mills Inc. and is the company’s only such facility in the U.S. outside of North Carolina.
Cedartown’s Gildan Yarn facility was purchased in 2003 by a joint-venture company with Frontier Spinning Mills Inc. and is the company’s only such facility in the U.S. outside of North Carolina.
Gildan is located in the Cedartown North Business Park.
Earlier this month, it was announced the Gildan Yarn facility north of Cedartown would be closing on February 4, with 107 employees losing their jobs.
Plant management teamed up with the Rome-Floyd Chamber of Commerce and the Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber of Commerce for a job fair at the plant Wednesday, Dec. 21.
A separate job fair was held for the facility’s employees on Dec. 16 as well.
According to Alex Williams, director of workforce development at the Rome-Floyd Chamber, close to 20 manufacturers signed up to be at the job fair with the goal of finding jobs for every single employee by the time the Gildan plant closes.
“We are trying to take unfortunate news and turn it into a success story,” Williams said. “This is a regional effort to help Gildan’s employees find new employment as well as an opportunity for them to consider possible new skills training and educational pursuits.”
According to Pam Power-Smith, president of the Rome-Floyd Chamber, a survey showed 250 manufacturing job openings in Floyd County in July.
“That has probably shrunk just a bit since the fall, but I’d say they are still trying to fill that same amount,” she said.
Other counties are also recruiting the laid-off Gildan employees.
“One company in Dalton has several hundred job openings, and they are basically willing to relocate these workers,” Williams said.
Currently, in the State of Georgia, for every one employed person there are 2.9 jobs available, according to Powers-Smith.
Based out of Montreal, Quebec, Gildan produces activewear apparel for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America with 10 yarn-spinning facilities in the United States, according to its website. The company sells its products as blanks, which are eventually decorated with designs and logos for sale to consumers.
The Cedartown facility was purchased in 2003 in a joint-venture company with Frontier Spinning Mills, Inc. and is the company’s only such facility in the United States located outside of North Carolina.
Once the home to Harriett and Henderson Yarns, the Cedartown facility was part of a $28 million dollar expansion and refurbishing project by Gildan in 2013.
According to Chris Thomas, president of the Development Authority of Polk County, Gildan is one the county’s top 100-plus employers.
“They have always been great corporate partners with our community and our school system,” he said.
Polk Standard Journal Editor Jeremy Stewart contributed to this report
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