Columbus company adding 80 jobs as demand surges for its fashion-based product line

An existing manufacturer in Columbus is adding about 80 jobs in the coming months in response to increased demand for fashion products that use its specialty yarns.

Gildan Yarns will be hiring production, maintenance and supervisory staff for its plant at 16 Corporate Ridge Parkway in east Columbus, the Georgia Department of Economic Development said Monday.

It’s likely that many people in the Chattahoochee Valley have never heard of Gildan, a subsidiary of Gildan Activewear. The Montreal-based company quietly purchased Swift Spinning Mills last July, according to the online site, eTextile Communications.

“This included both mills in Columbus, Ga.,” Geneviève Gosselin, Gildan’s communications and marketing director, told the eTextile at the time. “The acquisition of Swift will help meet Gildan’s long-term continued yarn capacity growth needs specifically related to strategic specialty ring-spun yarns. Their two facilities are conveniently located in close proximity to our other five yarn-spinning plants located in the United States.”

Swift Spinning, which dates to 1906, had about 300 employees when it sold all of its private stock to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan in 2013. Its operations in the past have included the Corporate Ridge location and a plant 3313 4th Ave., near downtown Columbus.

“The textile industry is making a strong return in the form of manufacturing high tech, and specialty yarns and fabrics,” Pat Wilson, Georgia economic development commissioner, said Monday in a statement. “This announcement gives a nod to our infrastructure, workforce and other business assets that make Georgia competitive. I am glad to see Gildan take advantage of these assets and grow in Columbus.”

Gildan Yarns President Chuck Ward said the company has pumped more than $400 million into its seven yarn-spinning plants in the region, with more than 1,400 people on its payroll. He said that shows the “confidence” the manufacturer has in the communities in which it operates facilities.

The yarn made inside the plants such as those in Columbus go into final products that include activewear, innerwear, hosiery and socks. The company said the additional production will be for goods sold in its “fashion basics” business segment in North America.

Overall, Gildan has about 50,000 employees globally. Its own brands include Gildan, American Apparel, Comfort Colors, Gildan Hamme, Gold Toe, Anvil, Alstyle, Secret, Silks, Kushyfoot, Secret Silky, Therapy Plus, Peds and MediPeds. It also has a sock licensing agreement with Under Armour.

“Our team and our partners will provide Gildan Yarns with expertise and resources to make it easy for them to identify qualified and dedicated people that are interested in working with a company that can achieve success in our community for a long time to come,” Russ Carreker, chairman of the Development Authority of Columbus, said in a statement.

The state said those also working on the project to land the additional manufacturing jobs include the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Department of Labor, and Columbus Technical College.

The jobs announcement comes nearly three weeks after Atlanta-based NCR Corp.’s decision that it will be closing its two Columbus plants in the coming months. The city will be losing 360 full-time workers, with the local NCR facilities also using nearly 700 temporary staffing workers to assemble ATMs and point-of-sale equipment.

This story was originally published May 7, 2018 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Columbus company adding 80 jobs as demand surges for its fashion-based product line."