Hudson tours Parkdale, discusses American manufacturing
Congressman Richard Hudson was in Sanford on Tuesday touring the Parkdale plant and seeing how products made here in North Carolina impact world markets.
Parkdale produces more than 1 billion pounds of yarn annually at 34 facilities across eight states and seven countries. The company sells U.S. Cotton products to 428 retailers worldwide and produces enough yard to make 1.56 billion T-shirts each year.
As he toured the plant, Parkdale Vice President of Manufacturing Tad Rogers told Hudson about the company’s products, including the manufacture of yarn used by Berry Compliant Military Garments to make everything from battle dress uniforms to tactical fabrics for special ops.
Rogers said the employees were excited at the chance to show the congressman what they do at the Sanford facility.
“I shared with the congressman when we were walking around the plant,” Rogers said, “that I started 41 years ago looking for gas money — and I was so fascinated with all of the robotics in there that I pursued further education in textiles and became part of this manufacturing. Along the way, I’ve grown so fond of our people and what we do. We’re a family here at Parkdale. This manufacturing has provided so many good benefits from healthcare to good pay for people who can start a family and have an enjoyable life employed with Parkdale in manufacturing. To be able to bring the congressman through here and let him see all of this, everyone was excited. For a week now everyone has been giddy about getting him in here.”
Rogers said he and the employees were “extremely honored” by the visit.
Hudson spoke about the importance of manufacturing and companies such as Parkdale after the tour.
“This is an impressive facility,” Hudson said of the Sanford plant. “It’s clean, it’s well run. It’s producing good jobs right here in our community. More importantly, strategically, companies like Parkdale are how we compete against China when it comes to keeping manufacturing right here in America.”
Hudson said he was supporting policies in Washington to ensure that a level playing field is created. Hudson has been touring facilities as the U.S. is shifting toward returning manufacturing jobs back onto American soil.
“I think the world woke up during the pandemic to this issue,” Hudson said. “I’ve been talking about it for a while, but in the supply chain, we’re too reliant on China. I want to move manufacturing out of China and here to America. If not to America, at least to this hemisphere. I think the textile story in the last 10-20 years is that we’ve used the hemisphere to compete against China.”
The yarn is manufactured here and often sent to places like Honduras, where it is made into something that is returned to the United States for completion.
“It allows us to have on-time manufacturing to comet on price and beat them on quality when it comes to China,” he said.
Hudson said he’s been talking with people around the district about concerns and said some of the issues involve manufacturing and supply chain.
“When I talk to people, they say they can’t find things on store shelves and if they can find, they can’t afford it because prices have gone up,” he said. “If we didn’t make yarn and finish product here, our clothes would cost whatever the Chinese would want to change us. It would be pretty expensive … and we’d lose the jobs that are here beaches this factory is here. We need more manufacturing jobs in America.”