National Spinning Company recently announced that they will shut down their plant in Duplin County by the end of the year. Now, state and local officials have started the process of attracting another business to the area.
The yarn manufacturer National Spinning says the closing of their plant in Beulaville is “a result of ongoing challenges in the economy and particularly in textile markets.” The closure will impact 152 employees. Executive Director for Duplin County Economic Development James Wolfe.
“It’ll have a pretty big effect on us especially the community of Beulaville because they are one of the larger businesses on that side of the county and definitely the largest private employer in Beulaville.”
Duplin County is partnering with NC Works to help displaced employees receive training for a new job or enroll in community college classes to start a different career. He says some of the workers may be able to find a job at several companies in the area that are hiring. Wolfe says they’re also actively involved with trying to find another textile business to move to Duplin County.
“If National Spinning might be interested in selling the building and existing equipment sort of as a package deal, you know with the facility up and running, that would give an advantage versus a facility that has maybe been closed for a couple of years or doesn’t have equipment to go along with it.”
Wolfe says they’re coordinating with State and Regional Economic Development Partnerships and Duke Energy’s Business Recruitment Team to put together a marketing plan to attract a textile or spinning operation to Duplin County. Phone calls to National Spinning were not returned. But according to the Washington Daily News, the closure of the Beulaville plant is not expected to affect the operations at the company’s headquarters in Beaufort County.
