______________________________________________________________
When brothers Philip and Carl Leff established their yarn manufacturing business in 1921 , their primary focus was on providing New York ’ s sweater trade with high-quality wool yarn . So , the brothers established their first manufacturing plant in Jamestown , New York , giving birth to National Spinning Co ., Inc . Ltd – now a leading USA-based supplier of raw white and fiber-dyed short staple and long staple spun yarns . Current CEO and President of National Spinning , Jim Booterbaugh , tells us about the company ’ s successful expansion and acquisition of Carolina Nonwovens .
“ In the 1960s , the Leffs decided that manufacturing was a little bit more economical in North Carolina . They moved the operations there , including the corporate office , and that ’ s where the company has been ever since . Over the years , it has continued in the yarn manufacturing arena , but expanded beyond wool into acrylic , nylon and polyester ,” he begins .
However , as global situations changed , this innovation was not enough to keep the company afloat . “ The textile industry in the United States was booming , probably like it was in England , until the 1980s . At which point , more products started coming from other places around the world – particularly from the Far East – and the demand for US textile yarns peaked and then started to recede .
“ In the early part of the 2000s , we recognized that we had a declining business on our traditional textile side , and that we needed to do something to bolster the company ’ s future in the face of increased competition from imports . We did our research and discovered that the nonwovens industry in the United States was growing consistently at an eight-to-ten percent annual rate ,” he continues .
It was this realization that pushed National Spinning to investigate expanding its business
184