Apex Mills – Insight Textiles will make a capital investment of $3.1 million and create 140 cumulative new jobs according to a recent performance agreement between the county and the company.
According to the performance agreement, Apex Mills will receive $300,000, which was awarded by the Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund through the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority (VEDP), to induce it “to acquire an existing facility and to equip, improve, and operate a knit fabrics and dye manufacturing facility in the locality.”
The company must create and maintain at least 140 cumulative new full-time jobs, with an average annual wage of at least $39,253, according to the agreement. Seasonal, temporary, or part-time positions, or positions that are created when a job function is shifted from an existing location in Virginia, and positions with construction contractors or vendors, do not qualify as new jobs.
“Each new job must require a minimum of either 35 hours of an employee’s time per week for the entire normal year of the company’s operations, which ‘normal year’ must consist of at least 48 weeks or 1,680 hours per year,” the agreement states.
An estimated $3.1 million capital expenditure made by or on behalf of Apex Mills will be used for the acquisition, equipping, improvement, and operation of the facility.
The performance agreement states approximately $2,060,000 of that amount will be invested in machinery and tools, approximately $236,000 will be invested in furniture, fixtures, and business personal property, and around $300,000 will be used in the acquisition of an existing facility.
“Approximately $501,000 will be invested in the construction, expansion, and up-fit of the buildings for the facility,” the agreement states.
County Administrator Beth Simms said the company has until June 30, 2026, to meet all the requirements of the performance agreement.
If the county, in consultation with VEDP, deems that good faith and reasonable efforts have been made and are being made by Apex Mills to achieve the targets, the locality may request an extension of the performance date by up to 15 months. Any extension requires the prior approval of Apex Mills and the VEDP Board of Directors.
It’s not unusual for localities to have performance agreements with companies, Simms said and explained that performance agreements with financial incentives may be offered when localities or the state are trying to recruit, keep, or expand a business.
“The state has kind of offered incentives based on job numbers, and then our locality’s incentives are based on machinery and tools tax rebate,” she said.
The county also has performance agreements with Ten Oaks, LLC/Prolam, LLC, and others.
She added the funds are post-performance incentives, which means companies are required “to meet the criteria” before receipt of any state or local money.
Apex Mills/Insight Textiles
In January 2023 Apex Mills Corporation acquired the former HanesBrands fabric manufacturing facility in Woolwine to house Insight Textiles, LLC, which is part of the Apex Mills companies. Apex Mills is a family-owned, leading United States manufacturer of specialty industrial fabrics.
Jonathan Kurz, president and CEO, said the Apex Mills family of companies has been manufacturing American-made textiles for 80 years.
“We are confident that our investments and the skilled professionals we employ will drive our company’s success to new heights. A large part of our decision to locate our innovative fabric facility in Woolwine, Virginia was driven by the work ethic and skill of the workforce in the surrounding communities which we so greatly value. We are committed to our customers, our community, and the support of the domestic textile industry,” he said.
Combined with the nearby warping and knitting facility in Graham, N.C., and the corporate and sales headquarters in Inwood, NY, Kurz said Insight Textiles enables the company to deliver application-driven solutions to its customers and a broader range of new markets with greater speed and manufacturing flexibility.
The acquisition also helped extend the scope of the company’s product lines to include elastomeric fabrics in the orthopedic, medical, hospitality, and home furnishings industries as the facility houses warp-knit tricot, raschel, and Rascheltronic equipment, an automated dye lab, and offers a wide range of fabric finishing and treatments.
“By investing in our people and facilities, we can continually hone our expertise and cultivate relationships with customers, suppliers, and vendors to consistently deliver advanced textiles that meet the evolving needs of the market,” Kurz said.
Senior Marketing Manager Joan Izzo said Apex Mills manufactures American-made high-performance specialty industrial fabrics that solve business-critical problems from an engineering, innovative, and performance perspective.
“Our fabrics are sought by Fortune 100 companies across industries serving aerospace and defense, NASA, active sport, apparel, automotive, construction, contract furniture, environmental, filtration, government, healthcare, intimate apparel, medical/rehabilitation, military, orthopedic, safety & protection, transportation, and wastewater,” she said.
Izzo said the company uses an Application Driven Design methodology, which means the specific demands of its application drive each project.
“Through in-person collaboration, on-site development, and quick response, Apex Mills employees work with product engineers and designers to develop technical textiles and revolutionary designs that meet customers’ product goals,” she said, adding the company can accelerate the development process, reduce costs, and adjust fabric structures in real-time by utilizing advanced prototyping capabilities.
For example, Izzo said the facility’s 3D spacer fabrics feature two fabric surfaces with an entanglement of yarns in between that provides varying levels of cushioning for body-support furniture like office chairs and cushion pads.
“Our Berry-compliant fabric solutions manage moisture and odors to make high-performance end-use garments comfortable and lightweight” for military physical training uniforms, Izzo said.
Izzo said fabrics are also used to make backpack linings, and interior and exterior components for use in tactical gear, headgear linings, sports gear, outer garments, hospital cubical curtains, simulated golf screens, apparel, and hospitality applications.
Specialty products include soft and durable three-dimensional (3D) spacer fabrics, solid knit fabrics, mesh netting fabrics, high stretch, and recovery elastomeric fabrics, in addition to fabric dyeing, finishing, and surface treatments that are sustainable, fire retardant, moisture wicking, antimicrobial, and abrasion resistant.
Izzo said once yarn is secured from a vendor/supplier to fit the customer’s needs, individual bobbins of yarn are put on a creel which is then pulled through a machine and put onto a beam cylinder in a process called warping.
“All our yarn that is knit at Apex Aridyne or Insight Textiles has to be beamed because our company only uses warp knitting machines. Greige or ‘unfinished’ fabric is produced from knitting,” she said. “Sometimes we purchase greige fabric if it is circular knit or lace because we don’t knit these fabrics internally. In addition, some customers may supply us with greige fabric to be dyed if it is something that they knit or weave.”
Izzo said Insight then dyes the fabric within its automated color lab before it is finished through a tenter frame. Employees then inspect the fabric and test it before shipping it to the customer.
Insight uses four different machines with a variety of knitting capabilities to make its variety of products. Its tricot machines produce solid and micro-opening mesh knit fabrics in both elastomeric and rigid qualities used as substrates in form, tape, adhesives, and apparel markets.
The raschel machines produce large holes and fine mesh constructions (elastomeric and rigid qualities). Compression/medical, netting engineered to specification for military, outdoors, food, filtration, geo, and aqua applications,” she said.
Double-needle bar machines are used to create 3D spacer fabrics, with two surfaces and a cushioned inner layer, used in footwear, bedding, furniture, safety, and consumer products.
Izzo said the jacquard raschel produces solid and localized patterned performance knits used in medical, body-mapped, premium athletics, intimate apparel, and conductive textiles.
Insight currently employs 108 people in full-time positions at its Woolwine facility and is actively seeking individuals to join its inspections and quality control, finishing, and shipping departments.
“We look forward to welcoming new talent,” Jimmy Dollarhite, plant manager, said.
Those interested in applying should visit www.www.apexmills.com/careers. For hiring information, individuals should contact Gina Gunter at ggunter@insighttextiles.com or (276) 930 2323 or stop by the facility.
