A new online resource launched by North Carolina State University in partnership with the NC Department of Commerce aims to bolster the state’s textile industry by connecting North Carolina companies with each other and to other markets across the U.S. and around the globe.
   
N.C. Textile Connect (www.nctextileconnect.com) is a comprehensive website designed to foster and encourage business partnerships among textile companies within North Carolina and beyond. It also provides valuable information to prospective customers within the state, inside the U.S. and abroad.
   
N.C. Textile Connect offers a database of more than 1500 North Carolina-based textile and textile-related companies that specialize in various aspects of the industry value chain. The value chain represents the entire group of companies involved in textile production, from design and raw materials to marketing finished products. The web site provides business leaders with information related to companies that specialize in areas such as raw materials, design, manufacturing, production, distribution, sales and support,and other efforts related to the textile industry.
   
Although the textile industry has undergone a major restructuring in the past decade, it continues to be an important industry for North Carolina, and the state still plays a significant role in the global textiles arena. N.C. Commerce Department-funded research conducted by NC State in 2006, titled “State of the Union of the Textile Industry in North Carolina,” showed that the state still ranks first nationally in the number of employees in textile production and fourth nationally in apparel production.  
   
The new website includes detailed information on events, statistics, demographics, resources and products related to the textile industry. The information comes from a variety of sources, including academic, industry and government agencies.
   
“This website provides North Carolina’s textile industry with valuable information and the ability to connect with each other,” said Jim Fain, NC secretary of commerce. “Our Textiles Industry Sector Team works closely with NC State, the industry and others in the public and private sector to enhance global competitiveness.”
   
The commerce department’s textiles team is composed of representatives from industry, universities, community colleges, trade associations, industry service providers and state and federal agencies.