Charlotte, NC, Mar. 5--Invista plans to establish a regional headquarters in Charlotte, employing 160, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.
Invista would base its textile-fiber leadership group in Charlotte, along with related administrative personnel, company officials say.
The local operation is being established as part of Koch Industries Inc.'s $4.4 billion acquisition of Invista from E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co.
Charlotte is one of four cities Invista has targeted for corporate offices it calls "business centers." Others are planned for Atlanta; Wichita, KS, where Koch is based; and a site near Wilmington, DE, where Invista is headquartered.
The size and location of Invista's Charlotte operation have not been determined, says Erica Luongo, local communications manager for Koch subsidiary KoSa, a polyester fiber manufacturer that has a regional headquarters here.
Invista operates as a division of DuPont, which expects to complete the sale by midyear. Industry insiders say the deal may close much sooner, however, possibly by the end of March.
Koch's plans for Charlotte and the other three cities are contingent on its completing the purchase.
Charlotte was chosen as an Invista center primarily because of KoSa's presence here, company officials say. Koch's goal is to build a fiber-manufacturing giant whose products are used in a broad range of apparel, automotive and industrial goods.
The Invista group here will oversee the company's tire cord, mechanical, rubber goods and polyester filament business, Luongo says.
Houston-based KoSa employs 130 at its regional headquarters here and also operates production plants in Salisbury, Shelby and Wilmington, as well as Spartanburg and Winnsboro, S.C.
Its total employment in the region approaches 1,600, though it laid off 150 workers at the Shelby plant late last year, cutting that site's work force by nearly half. Worldwide, KoSa employs 6,500.
Invista, meanwhile, has 18,000 employees and business interests in more than 50 countries. It is known for such brands as Lycra, Stainmaster, Teflon, Coolmax and Thermolite.
"The textile-fibers group seems to have been a low priority in terms of funding and investment for DuPont," says Cass Johnson, interim president at the American Textile Manufacturers Institute in Washington. "[Koch] appears to want to put money into Invista, which is good news for Invista and for the textile industry as a whole in the U.S."
Koch hasn't spelled out the relationship Invista will have with KoSa, but it's evident the operations will have close ties. This week, calls to Koch seeking comment on its plans for the Invista operation in Charlotte were directed to the local KoSa office at 4501 Charlotte Park Drive.
Luongo, the KoSa spokeswoman, declines to disclose whether incentives played a role in the company's choice of Charlotte as one of Invista's business centers. However, Carol Gee, an Invista spokeswoman in Wichita, has previously acknowledged that the company is working with economic development officials in all states where regional headquarters will be located.
The state of Kansas lured the company to Wichita with economic incentives valued at $4.4 million, according to published reports.
Details regarding possible economic incentives in North Carolina were not available.
If 160 workers are based here, the Charlotte center will be the smallest of the four Invista sites.
The Wichita and Atlanta centers are expected to employ about 200, and the Delaware site -- which now employs 600 -- will see its staffing reduced to about 250.
