Invista Nylon Plant in Chattanooga Humming After D
Chattanooga, TN, January 3--More than $4 billion changed hands when DuPont sold its Invista unit earlier this year to Koch Industries Inc., but Invista's manager in Chattanooga said little is different at his plant, according to the Chattanooga Times/Free Press.
"The work itself hasn't really changed," said Ben Melnyczuk. "Invista's a stand-alone entity and has to make do on its own."
Mr. Melnyczuk, who said he took over the nylon production plant in March 2002, said he ended the year with about 400 employees there, excluding contract workers, "down about 25 percent" compared to a year ago.
"The challenge we had for this year was one of restructuring assets and staffing to be more profitable going forward," he said. "We had to do some trimming, but we're in much better position going into 2005."
That's good news to Steve Hiatt, director of existing business development for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
"It's always difficult to go through corporate restructuring, but my understanding is that this plant is done, they're ready to start moving forward and what's ahead is good," Mr. Hiatt said.
DuPont officials had said that company wanted to leave fiber manufacturing and focus more on making electronics and chemicals. It sold in April to Koch (pronounced "coke"), the nation's second-largest private company, which had 2003 sales estimated by Forbes.com at $40 billion.
Koch Chairman and CEO Charles G. Koch said Invista's strong nylon and spandex brands were "a perfect fit" for his company, one of the world's largest polyester makers.
The 55-year-old North Access Road plant, which produced its first nylon right after World War II, once had more than 5,500 workers. By November 2003, though, that number was down to 1,700, including 1,200 Invista workers. Mr. Melnyczuk said DuPont retains a small manufacturing operation there, as does Dusa, a joint venture of Sabanci International and DuPont.
Mr. Melnyczuk, who declined to discuss sales or volume at his plant, said the reduction of Invista's Chattanooga work force mirrors what's happening in the U.S. textile industry generally.
"The textile industry has tremendous competitive factors," he said. Foremost among those factors, he said, is the ongoing shift in textile production to Asia, where labor is far less expensive.
"But I'll be the first to tell you not to give up on textiles" in this country, he said. "The U.S. textile industry will be smaller than it was 50 years ago, more focused and specialized.
"And the stronger players are still going to be here. The textile industry is not going to disappear," he said.
