Mohawk Officially Opens Bennettsville South Caroli

Bennettsville SC, March 16, 2006--Three hundred jobs were added to Marlboro County's economy Wednesday when Mohawk Industries officially cut the ribbon on its new plant in Bennettsville, according to the Florence Morning News. The 500,000-square-foot Oak River North plant began preliminary operations in December but is now in full swing. The 300 new employees working there bring Mohawk's total employment in Marlboro County to about 900 workers. The plant makes the raw materials that go into Mohawk carpets, which are made at a plant in Georgia. Mohawk Chief Executive Officer Jeff Lorberbaum told employees at the grand opening ceremony Monday that they are the main reason the company chose Bennettsville for its newest plant. "As we considered our options to expand, you really stood out," Lorberbaum said. "This facility is a vital part of our overall strategy of controlling our own raw materials," he said. Gov. Mark Sanford was on hand for the ceremony. He said companies such as Mohawk that locate in rural areas are important for the overall economic health of South Carolina. "These kinds of plants are in essence beachheads for economic development in rural counties," Sanford said. "It's kind of like when you see a McDonald's locate on one corner, then you see a Chic-fil-A or an Arby's locate there. It's the same way with manufacturing plants." The newly constructed plant makes and dyes yarn for carpets with state-of-art equipment. While the textile industry in general has been on the decline in the United States because of cheaper overseas labor, Mohawk is able to expand operations without sending jobs overseas because of high productivity, Lorberbaum said. "The carpet industry is different from other textile industries," he said. "It is highly automated, which means you can be highly productive anywhere in the world. We already had a highly trained work force here, and it made sense to expand here in Bennettsville." Mohawk began operations at the new plant in December, but it took time to train new workers and gear up the plant to full swing, said Larry Perugini, division manager at Mohawk. "We had the availability of a work force that's already trained," Perugini said. "But this is all new equipment, and we had to give the new employees time to train up." An integral part of training the new workers was Northeastern Technical College. The college set up a five-week training course for potential employees at the Mohawk plant. "We've actually trained 502 people for Mohawk with the pre-employment program we set up," said Dr. James Williamson, president of Northeastern Tech.