McKissick Says Long-Term Outlook for Textiles is Very Optimistic

CONTACT: LISA GARRETT, EXT. 2315

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10/9/2001
(By Lisa Garrett)

PENDLETON --- Falling interest rates, tax cuts and a trained and productive workforce make the long-term outlook 'very optimistic' for textiles, an industry which prides itself on productivity, creative fabric applications, and leadership in environmental, safety and health areas, said Smyth McKissick, president of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, at Tri-County Technical College's 29th annual textile management scholarship banquet.

"The most important reason for optimism is that we have the best people in the world working in the textile business, and that includes each and every one of you," McKissick told the 28 students receiving scholarships. Since 1988, McKissick has served as president of Alice Manufacturing Company's four plants in Easley. He succeeded his father, Ellison S. McKissick, Jr., and is the fourth generation of his family to head the textile manufacturing company, which is Pickens County's largest employer.

He began his speech by citing steps that the textile industry has taken to strengthen its competitive position over the past two decades.

For years, the U.S. textile industry has invested more than 2 billion dollars annually in high-tech equipment and facilities. "It is because of this commitment of capital that the American textile industry is consistently ranked as one of the most efficient and productive textile industries in the world. Just a decade ago, we shipped $39.40 worth of product for every hour an employee worked. The comparable figure last year was $54.20, adjusted for inflation, a productivity gain of 38 percent. This increase in productivity was 30 percent larger than the average for all manufacturing," he explained.

Today's technology allows the industry to develop and manufacture textile fabrics, such as breathable fabrics that resist cold, fabrics that can immediately dispense medication to the site of a wound, bacteria resistant carpets for hospitals and artificial arteries for heart surgery patients, he said. "I might add that our nation's military depends on the innovation of the textile industry to help it to meet the needs of our men and women in uniform," he added.

The industry also has demonstrated leadership in the environmental area, as well as in the safety and health of its workforce, he said. "It is my view that this commitment to a clean environment and to the well being of our associates is what truly sets us apart from our foreign competitors," said McKissick.

He continued: "It is the most productive and efficient textile industry in the world. It is immensely adding to the quality of lives by producing innovative fabric and materials including our all-important defense needs. It is by far the most environmentally-sensitive and safety conscious textile industry in the world."

Despite all of this progress, more than 100 textile plants have closed over the past year and 60,000 people -- several thousand of those from the Upstate -- have lost their jobs.

McKissick said reasons for this crisis include "currencies from practically all of the major textile exporting countries in Asia all but collapsed in 1997 and 1998. There have been dramatic imports into our country right along with this drop in the Asian currency. Imports have increased 80 percent since 1996," he said.

"Last year and for most of this year, prices have dropped and margins for everyone in the business have been squeezed to the point that we've witnessed the plants closing and entire companies failing," he said.

The textile industry isn't alone in this current crisis, he said. "Every facet of manufacturing, from computer chips to automobiles, has been adversely affected in recent months. We in the textile business continue to believe that a fair trade policy must be implemented. We don't expect preferential treatment, but we hold fast to the fundamental belief that we can compete with anybody in the world when the rules of trade are applied fairly."

He remains optimistic about long-term outlook for the industry.

"Textile manufacturing remains the largest employer in the manufacturing segment of our state's economy," he said. Nationally, it is one of the largest manufacturing industries with nearly 500,000 employees in almost every state, an annual payroll of more than 15 billion dollars and shipments of close to 80 billion dollars.
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