Bayer Corp., Charleston, S.C., announced that the $60-million expansion of its Bushy Park, S.C.,
Dorlastan® spandex plant is 25 percent complete and on schedule. When complete, the expansion will
increase the size of the plant from 200,000 square feet to 300,000 square feet and increase
production of Dorlastan by 60 percent.

“We’ve looked at the market, our success and our phenomenal growth rates and know that this
expansion is what we need to continue to service our customers and provide them with
ever-increasing amounts of quality Dorlastan spandex,” said Michael Radermacher, senior vice
president, Global Dorlastan Business.

January 1999

ATI Special Report Not Just Textile Leaders A look at some famous College of Textiles alumni outside the industry.Many influential industry leaders have graduated from the N.C. State College of Textiles. Rather than list the Colleges more well-known success stories, ATI decided to highlight those former textile students who chose to pursue careers outside textiles.So the next time you tune to CNN or go to the record store, dont be surprised if the person that you are seeing or hearing turns out to have been a textile student. General Henry H. Shelton, Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of StaffGeneral Henry H. Hugh Shelton, U.S. Army, became the 14th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Oct. 1, 1997. In this capacity, he serves as the principal military advisor to the president, the secretary of defense and the national security council. Prior to becoming chairman, he served as commander in chief of the United States Special Operations Command.Shelton was born in Tarboro, North Carolina. He received his bachelors of science degree in Textile Engineering from N.C. State University. His civilian education includes a masters of science degree from Auburn University and completion of the National and International Security Program at Harvard University.He was comissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry in 1963 through ROTC. Shelton completed two tours in the Vietnam, where he was a member of Detachment B-52 (Project Delta) and commanded Detachment A-104, 5th Special Forces Group, and a company in the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He was also deployed to Saudi Arabia and participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Most recently he served as the Joint Task Force Commander during Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti.Shelton and his wife, the former Carolyn L. Johnson, have three sons: Jon, a special agent, U.S. Secret Service; Jeff, an Army captain; and Mark, a student at Florida State University. John Edwards, U.S. SenatorLast year, John Edwards won a heated and much publicized race against Senator Lauch Faircloth to become a Democratic U.S. Senator for the state of North Carolina. The senate campaign was Edwards first run for public office.Edwards was born in Seneca, S.C., in 1953, and grew up in Robbins, N.C. His father worked in textile mills for 36 years. His mother had a small furniture refinishing business.He was the first in his family to go to college, working his way through N.C. State and earning a degree in Textile Management. He then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned a law degree. While at Chapel Hill, he met his wife, Elizabeth. They have two daughters, Kate, 16, and Emma, born April 24, 1998.Edwards began practicing law in Raleigh in 1982 and established his own firm, Edwards and Kirby, in 1993. He earned a national reputation in 1997, when he represented a nine-year-old girl from Cary who had been maimed three years earlier by a faulty swimming pool drain.For their work on the case, Edwards and his law partner, David Kirby, were awarded the Association of Trial Lawyers of Americas Steven J. Sharp Public Service Award. Lawyers Weekly U.S.A. named the two among its eight national Lawyers of the Year in 1996. John Tesh, EntertainerSince leaving his hometown of Garden City, New York, John Tesh has taken a different approach to a career as a musician. He grew up in a musical family and started playing piano and trumpet at age six.In high school garage bands, he played covers of Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull and other progressive rock groups. He was named to the New York Symphonic Orchestra and he studied with the instructors of the Julliard School of Music.From there, Tesh went to N.C. State, where he studied music and communications. While at State he also took courses at the College of Textiles.After college, Tesh worked as an investigative reporter, then as news anchor. He was hired as a sports commentator by CBS, which took him to Europe to cover womens gymnastics and the Tour de France bike race.In 1987, while reporting on the Tour de France bike race, Tesh composed an original score to accompany the networks coverage. This musical score gained Tesh his first widespread attention as a musician and composer.Tesh was also co-host of the syndicated news magazine Entertainment Tonight.It was the 1995 Live At Red Rocks concert and video that catapulted Tesh into the mainstream. This one-time concert was one of public televisions most lucrative pledge drive shows ever.Two years later, in 1997, Tesh returned to public television with The Avalon Concert. And like Red Rocks before it, the Avalon album quickly hit the number-one spot on Billboards New Age Chart.Tesh is married to actress Connie Selleca.January 1999

B
uoyed by a 7-percent increase in export deliveries in 1997, German textile machinery
makers are optimistic that overall results for 1998 will prove similarly satisfactory. VDMA, the
German machinery association, says that this growth comes even after a slowdown in the first
quarter of this year.

They consider that ITMA in Paris in June could hardly be timed better, since it would allow
manufacturers to take advantage of a revival in Asian manufacturing. Even if the crisis continued
throughout the year, ITMA could at least mitigate the worst effects, according to VDMA.

Despite all the obstacles, including a high-cost manufacturing base, problems in Asia and
industry disruptions in various areas and individual countries, Germany consistently manages to
maintain its position as the world’s leading producer of textile machinery. Equipment valued at
nearly $5 billion was shipped worldwide in 1998.

At a little more than $2 billion, deliveries to Europe were about the same as last year. The
figure of just at $1.4 billion for Asia was 4-percent more. North America again was a star
performer with exports rising by nearly 26 percent. Shipments to Latin America showed the biggest
gains, rising nearly 54 percent.

Turkey, the single most important market for German textile machinery, showed signs of
cutting back somewhat on investment, in line with a slower pace of expansion that has continued
this year. Despite a 15-percent decline in shipments, Turkey managed to maintain its number-one
spot, although the gap with the United States at number two has narrowed. The next four positions
in the export league are held by Italy, China, Taiwan and Brazil. Mexico, previously 12th, rose to
seventh place. India takes the eighth spot.

Somewhat surprisingly, knitting and hosiery machines, finishing machines, and parts and
accessories form the bulk of German textile machinery and equipment exports, with spinning machines
at 27 percent and weaving machines at 14 percent. However, weaving machines showed a 17-percent
increase; hosiery/knitting machines 16 percent; parts/accessories 12 percent; and textile finishing
machines 7 percent.

Report Charts International Labor Costs And Hours Worked

The latest figures of comparative labor costs in the spinning and weaving industries continue to
illustrate the enormous disparities between the highest paid workers ($24.08 per hour in
Switzerland) and the lowest (24 cents per hour in Indonesia).

Despite the continuing application of robotics, automation and increased lifestyle
expectancies, such differences will continue to play a major role in the economics of textile
production for a good while yet. These extremes are spelled out in an annual survey of labor costs
by Werner International.

Within the European Union, the cheapest labor is in Portugal, with earnings averaging an
hourly $4.51, while one of the most expensive is in Denmark at $23.00. Workers in the United
Kingdom earn an average $13.58 an hour for a yearly workload of 5,210 hours.

In the NAFTA region, Mexico’s hourly rate of $2.33 is dwarfed by U.S. costs of $12.97, and
those in Canada of $13.93. Surprisingly, however, Mexican mills operate fewer hours than U.S. and
Canadian counterparts, with 6,267 hours annually. The United States operates at an average of 8,250
hours and Canada 7,997.

Costs in Asia and the Pacific are low, with the exception of Australia ($11.39) and Japan
($20.70). South Korean cost is $3.63, and mills operate 8,304 hours a year. Hong Kong and Taiwan
show costs of $5.65 and $5.85 respectively, with similar operating times for their mills.

CEMATEX And JTMA Reach Agreement For Expos In Asia

In order to avoid a head-on clash with CEMATEX’s ITMA Asia event in Singapore, OTEMAS will be
held October 8-13, 2001 in Osaka, Japan, instead of October 17-23. ITMA Asia retains its October
15-19 slot.

While OTEMAS, hosted by the Japan Textile Machinery Association (JTMA), is an established
event, started in 1976, ITMA Asia is a new venture, which, according to CEMATEX is designed to
limit the proliferation of textile exhibitions globally.

It would seem, however, that on this occasion, the Japanese are sticking to their guns and
that ITMA Asia will mean an additional show in the area in 2001. Evidently, JTMA spurned a CEMATEX
offer to participate in Singapore as a partner to the eight European components of CEMATEX.

JTMA said it would continue to support OTEMAS and would recommend its members to exhibit at
the Osaka show. Despite Asia’s economic difficulties, JTMA says the region’s main textile
industries remain vibrant and on a solid growth track.

January 1999

Mayer and Cie., Germany, recently held a dedication ceremony to mark the opening of Mayer Circular
Knitting Machinery Inc. (MCK) in Columbia, S.C.

Rainer Mayer, owner and president, said MCK is the newest member of the Mayer Group of
companies, servicing the textile industry with sales, services and spare parts of
Mayer-manufactured-circular-knitting machines, both from the United States and Germany.

Jack King, vice president of Marketing, joined Mayer to cut the ribbon on the new facility.
He said that he and his staff were looking forward to working in the Columbia area.

Visitors at the grand opening were shown a variety of Mayer’s machines, including the Invovit
2.0 II double knit machine, with the new quick change; OVJA 1.6 E double knit jacquard with
individual needle selection; MV4-3.2 single-jersey four-needle structures; and the FV 2.0 rib, with
structure capability.

These machines were demonstrated in the showroom for customers during an open house held a
few weeks after the opening. King said the showroom will always be open to Mayers customers.

January 1999

Freudenberg, Durham, N.C., and Milliken and Co. recently combined resources to revolutionize the
development, production and marketing of weft inserted, woven and knitted interlinings, marketed
under the trade name Vilene®. Vilene is a Freudenberg brand name.

“We discovered our companies had similar histories and shared commitment to service the
apparel industry,” said Tom Turco, director of Marketing, Engineered Performance Products, Milliken
and Co. “Milliken is delighted to work with Freudenberg on the development of a new range of
products. Combining Milliken weaving and knitting expertise with Freudenbergs interlining and
fusible technology leadership is the best way to insure quality and consistency.”

According to the agreement, the base fabrics are produced by Milliken to Freudenberg
specifications. Adhesive systems are applied in Freudenbergs Durham manufacturing facility.

The first combined effort was designed for the tailored clothing market. Freudenberg is
introducing one woven and three weft insertion styles.

January 1999