TEXTILES.ORG
One woven plant to close, another expanded.
By Ron Bygness
Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Propex Operating Co. LLC has announced plans to consolidate its woven geotextile facilities in southern Georgia.
During the next six months, the company’s 1 million-square-foot Nashville, Ga. plant, located north of Valdosta, will shut down, transferring most of its woven geotextile capacity to Propex’s Hazlehurst, Ga. facility, southwest of Vidalia.
About 180 employees are affected by the Nashville shutdown. The Hazlehurst plant will get an expansion to 1.4 million square feet and will add about 145 workers.
Propex president and CEO, Mike Gorey, noted that this move is a response to the company’s excess capacity, the result of federal defense cuts, the end of stimulus dollars, and the industry’s shift to nonwoven products.