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On June 14, 2001, that chapter in the history of the Upson County community ended with the announcement that 1,400 Thomaston Mills workers would lose their jobs. It was the most severe blow in a series of mill layoffs and closures over a period of two years.
The losses were devastating. The number of textile workers in the area, which once exceeded 8,000, fell below 500. Some 2.6 million sq. ft. of factory space stood empty, much of it in cavernous, century-old buildings. And most importantly, entire families were left without income, health insurance or training for jobs other than mill work. What happened next was truly remarkable. Through the combined efforts of state agencies and community leaders, Flint River Technical College and the Certified Manufacturing Specialist program, and the townspeople themselves, Thomaston responded to the challenges and has discovered a new zeal to unite as a community. As Hueber exclaims, “We are on a mission!” QUICK
RESPONSE Everyone wanted to help, but first they had to get through the initial shock. “It was gut-wrenching,” Hueber recalls. “Our hearts went out to the families who were affected. What if one of their kids got sick? A lot of these folks had put in a full, honest day’s work at that mill every day for 40 years, and that was all they knew how to do.” After shedding a few tears, the Thomaston citizens huddled at the close of the meeting and planned their next steps. Realizing that assistance was available from the state, they asked the officials to return the following day. “Without one single failure, they all came back the next day from wherever they were in the state of Georgia. And they brought more people with them,” says Hueber, impressed by the officials’ supportive response. At that next meeting, hosted by Flint River Technical College, it became clear that there was a two-part solution to the problem. The first was community development: They needed to attract new industry, find buyers for the empty structures, and get tax credits and other incentives from the state. The second involved the families of Thomaston and Upson County: re-training for the unemployed, credit counseling, and help with resumes and interviews.
Flint River Tech put the extra hands to work. Thousands of area residents flocked to the school’s Workforce Services Center over the next few months to learn about options, whether it was signing up for unemployment benefits, enrolling in courses or planning a new career. In addition, Flint River Tech initially housed a resource center that was a partnership of the Department of Labor and the Workforce Investment Board. The center, which subsequently moved adjacent to the Chamber of Commerce, helped people find jobs, get assistance and apply for the NAFTA unemployment extension (see sidebar). The school’s efforts paid off. One year — to the day — after the announcement of Thomaston Mills’ shutdown, Flint River Technical College graduated some of Thomaston’s citizens in one of its largest classes ever. A week later, 62 students received their Certified Manufacturing Specialist (CMS) certifications in perhaps the most aggressive economic development initiative undertaken by the college. FAMILY
TIES Love
explains the concentration of family members in the CMS course. “The
mills were an institution,” she says, “where people for
generations and generations went to work, many times dropping out
of high school to do so. And they made very good livings. Now we have
multiple generations of people who need more training, whether a high
“My daddy, my brothers — they all worked at the mill,” she says. “I was born and raised in Thomaston, and there’s no place I would rather live.” Despite such lengthy experience in a manufacturing setting, Sylvia says she gained significantly from taking the CMS course. “I learned a lot,” she says. “I was quite surprised. It proved we really wanted to better ourselves.” Rhonda, too, preferred to remain in her hometown when she was laid off from Thomaston Mills, where she worked with her brother and sister. She found work out of town but disliked the long commute and 12-hour days. So when the opportunity arose to advance her skill set with the CMS course, she jumped at it. Another graduate from the CMS class was Darlene Buffington, who was a supervisor at Thomaston Mills and oversaw the work of about 70 operators. “A lot of my employees were older and didn’t have a high school education,” she recalls. “It was tough on them to have to start over and go back to school.” Buffington had been taking courses in business and office technology at Flint River Tech, but was forced to abandon her studies because of her constantly changing schedule leading up to the closure of Thomaston Mills. “I knew personally that I needed more education,” she recalls. “The CMS program was already being offered at Flint River Tech, but I didn’t realize how important it was until the mill closed. A lot of people didn’t. You think you can get a job somewhere, but you don’t understand how hard it is.” TEXTILES
TOMORROW Not only is the facility modern, filled with the most technologically advanced machinery, but also the company has positioned itself in a niche market. The 115 employees at this dyeing and finishing plant produce fire-retardant fabric for apparel used by fire departments, military units, and the petroleum, chemical and utilities industries. Southern Mills is taking a progressive approach to training, offering the CMS course onsite. Plant Manager Mike Anderson explains why. “We’re always trying to move to the next level,” he says. “Continuous improvement is what we stress day in and day out. That only happens through our associates.” When the company posted a notice last summer that the first CMS program would soon be conducted at the plant, one-third of the associates signed up, with more saying they would follow suit in subsequent programs. Classes take place daily from 7-9 a.m.; the shift starts at 8 a.m. Thus, workers give one hour of their time and are paid for the other hour.
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Calling it the greatest education program he’s ever seen, Anderson says, “CMS encompasses everything that a manufacturer wants in an associate. The program is well thought-out, detailed and well taught.” In addition to giving a solid grounding in mechanics, computer skills and quality control, he adds, the CMS program provides insight into the business aspects of running a manufacturing plant. “Many times employees work their shifts without understanding what they’re working toward. It’s important for associates to understand that the only way we’ll continue to grow — and they’ll have long-term employment — is by being profitable.” The textile industry is indeed changing, but it is not dying, Anderson asserts. He sees more specialization, further consolidation, increasingly sophisticated technology, and yes, fewer employees in the long run. But those workers must be trained in forward-thinking manufacturing principles, which CMS teaches. “If we’re going to be a manufacturing society, we must have people who understand the programming and interaction of the robotics,” he says. “The technical aspects will become more and more important as we move forward.” Civic
leaders like Hueber now understand the changing face of textiles and
how it affects the community. “We will never be dominated by a
single employer to the level it was,” she says. “Those days
in the textile industry A
NEW CHAPTER Echoing Anderson, Buffington credits the program for helping her appreciate how a business is operated. “I recommend that companies implement a CMS program,” she says, “because it helps each person realize the outcome [of tasks] and put it all together.” An apt phrase, since “putting it all together” is just what Thomaston accomplished. Nowadays, Hueber is continuing the mission, contacting every resource available for assistance in boosting the small-business sector, renovating the historic Hotel Upson and attracting technology-based manufacturers. She commends the rallying effort of numerous entities, especially Flint River Tech and the DTAE for their “can-do attitude” as well as “Kathy Love’s leadership and the commitment of [DTAE Commissioner] Ken Breeden.” And Flint River Tech has its own goals. One of the state’s fastest-growing technical colleges, it will soon build a new industrial training center to expand program offerings in the trade and industrial areas. The center will also include state-of-the-art lab and classroom facilities for CMS, which will complement the other programs such as Machine Tool Technology, Industrial Systems Technology and a new associate degree program currently under development in Civil Engineering Technology. “We
want to continue to be a vital partner to attract industry to this area,”
Love says. “If you asked me how this town is different now, I
would say there is more hope, vision and looking to the future.”
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People who lose their jobs as a result of trade with Canada or Mexico can extend their unemployment benefits if they go back to school, under provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement/Trade Adjustment Assistance (NAFTA/TAA). “Dislocated workers” can qualify for up to 52 additional weeks of unemployment coverage as long as they’re enrolled in an approved training program, such as those offered by Georgia’s technical colleges. A “dislocated worker” is one who was laid off from a company adversely affected by shifts in production to Canada or Mexico or by imports from those countries. In the case of Thomaston Mills, the company didn’t shift production to Mexico, but its sales declined because of cheaper Mexican imports. Flint River
Tech helped the laid-off mill workers get enrolled in school, so they
could meet the requirement for NAFTA’s unemployment extension. |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS | COVER | FROM THE COMMISSIONER TECH TALK | GOOD CONDUCT | MAKING A DIFFERENCE | SCHOOL TO SKILL THE THOMASTON TURNAROUND | GEORGIA'S NEW GOLD STANDARD | READING LIGHTS MEN AT WORK | PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE |
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efore
it closed, Thomaston Mills had been just a brand name of sheets and
pillowcases to most people. But to the residents of Thomaston, Ga.,
the name was a way of life, steeped in the family lore of generations
going back 100 years. The town was synonymous with textiles, and the
townspeople drew both identity and livelihood from the operation of
several local mills, most predominantly Thomaston Mills.
“It
was like having a terminally ill family member,” recalls Betsy
Hueber, president of the Thomaston-Upson Chamber of Commerce. “You
know they’re going to die, but you’re still shocked when
it happens.”
In
nearly all these efforts, Flint River Tech played a central role,
backed up by the numerous resources available through the other colleges
in Georgia’s Technical College System. “The call came
out for the nearby sister colleges to send people to Flint River Tech
to help out,” recalls Kathy Love, president of Flint River Tech,
who was executive VP at Middle Georgia Technical College when Thomaston
Mills closed.
Sylvia
Green and daughter Rhonda Green were one such pair of CMS graduates.
Sylvia had worked at Carters Mill for 25 years, first as a sewing
machine operator and then as an instructor. Expecting to retire from
the company, Sylvia was stunned when it closed in 1999. Still, moving
away from Thomaston was not an option.
Rhonda,
who landed a job with Atlantic Paper & Foil, realizes that more
and more employers are beginning to require CMS certification. “People
who have their CMS will have a better chance of getting a job,”
she says.
About
a 20-minute drive outside Thomaston, through the verdant, rolling
hills near Sprewell Bluff State Park and the Flint River, there’s
another Upson County textile plant. This one, Southern Mills, represents
the future of the textile industry, not the past.
Same
Buildings, 
The 524,000-sq.-ft. Peerless Building was purchased by Cincinnati-based
Standard Textile, which ramped up operations in March 2002. An
international textile firm with operations in France, Jordan and
other U.S. locales, Standard Textile also recently purchased the
Kings Mill plant in Augusta.