New Carolina: South Carolina's Council on Competitiveness

Champion

Rob Chapman, Inman Mill

Website

Overview/Mission

There is significant innovative activity within South Carolina's Textile Cluster. Textiles is a not a dying industry, but a changing one. Two studies on the South Carolina textile industry commissioned by New Carolina - one from Clemson University and one from North Carolina State University - show there are still over 900 company locations and 35,000 employees working in the industry. Textiles in South Carolina have a $21.9 billion economic impact.

 Consider This…

• 16 major textile industry headquarters in SC
• 80 other industry sectors affected by textiles
• 46 out of 46 counties in SC with at least one textile related business
• 664 US patents generated by Milliken Research in the past 10 years
• 2,200 US patents generated by Milliken Research since they opened in 1955
• #1 in US patents by a privately held US company over the last 20 years: Milliken Research
• 63,000 jobs in the Textile and Apparel Industries
• 113,258 jobs from the Textile and Apparel Clusters and complementary businesses
• 912 company location/branches throughout the state

Reference Library

• TRENDS: South Carolina’s Textile and Apparel Industries: An Analysis of Trends in Traditional and Emerging Sectors Clemson University
• ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION: The Contribution of the Textile and Apparel Cluster to the South Carolina Economy Clemson University
• GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS: Improving Global Market Competitiveness of the Textile Industry Cluster in South Carolina
• North Carolina State University, College of Textiles
• If textiles & Apparel Are Dead In South Carolina ... Then 810 Innovative Companies Refuse to Listen.  
• New Carolina's database of over 650 Textile companies -- get a copy by completing our request form