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THE MILL WHISTLE
Vol. 32
Eden, N. C., May 20, 1974
No. 21
"Open House” Set At Laurelcrest Plants
A large attendance is expected
at the “open house” to be held at
Laurelcrest Carpets, a division
of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc., at
Laurel Hill Sunday afternoon.
May 26, from 12 o’clock noon
until 5 p.m.
The general public in Scotland
County and the surrounding
counties is cordially invited to
make tours of the Laurelcrest
facilities. A special invitation
has been given employees to
attend and to bring their
families and friends.
Visitors will be able to see the
various processes and
machinery used in the
manufacture of Laurelcrest
carpets, beginning with the raw
materials and carrying through
to the finished carpet.
Representative types of
machinery will be in operation
during the tours.
Door prizes to be awarded
include three 9 x 12 rugs.
Refreshments will be served to
all making the mill tours. Infor
mational material will be given
to each guest-
The Laurelcrest Carpet Mill,
formerly Morgan Carpet Mills,
was purchased by Fieldcrest
Mills, Inc., in January, 1967. It
was a new tufted plant started in
1965 with the latest type- of new
equipment in an air conditioned
plant. Since the purchase there
have been a number of
expansions and improvements
in the plant and machinery.
In foreground. Carpet Mill; left background. Yam Mill and Service Center;
right background, new waste water treatment plant.
In a $6 million expansion
program started early in 1969, a
parallel or semi-worsted
spinning plant and a warehouse
service center were constructed.
This expansion consolidated in
the area all operations related to
the Laurelcrest Carpet Mill.
Because of the need for
additional parallel spinning
Managers At Laurelcrest Plants
capacity, a second phase of
construction at the Yarn Mill
was started in March, 1973, and
completed in December of last
year. This expansion doubled the
existing capacity of the Yarn
Mill and represented an
additional investment of $3'/2
million.
The latest example of
improvement is the modern
waste water treatment plant
which conforms to all
Environmental Protection
Agency and State regulations for
the treatment of industrial
waste, recently completed at a
cost of approximately $600,000.
Managers of the plants at
Laurel Hill are Larry W. Owen,
Carpet Mill and Service Center,
andLu^ M. Skinner, Yarn Mill.
Mr. Owen has been with
Fieldcrest Mills since February,
1970, when he joined the com
pany as plant superintendent of
the Laurelcrest Carpet Mill. He^
became plant manager later
that year and was named
general manager of the Carpet
Mill and the Service Center in
January, 1973.
A native of Newnan, Ga., he is
a graduate of the University of
Georgia with a bachelor of
business administration degree.
“6 joined Callaway Mills
Company immediately after
graduation and worked in a
number of responsible positions.
He was superintendent of the
Calumet Mill in LaGrange, Ga.
lor years immediately before
joining Fieldcrest.
Mr. Skinner has been with
Fieldcrest since April, 1954,
when he joined the company as a
shift foreman at the Karastan
Spinning Mill at Greenville.
While at the Greenville plant, he
served in a number of
supervisory capacities including
superintendent, night forerrian,
and foreman of the Carding,
Spinning and the Winding and
Twisting Departments. He was
named plant manager of the
Karastan Spinning Mill in 1970,
and went to the Laurelcrest
Yarn Mill as plant manager in
February, 1973.
Fieldcrest Is One Of Top 500
Companies Listed By Fortune
L. W. OWEN
L. M. SKINNER
Fieldcrest Mills, Inc., is
ranked 452nd in Fortune
Magazine’s annual directory
listing the 500 largest industrial
corporations in the U.S., based
on the company’s 1973 sales
amounting to $290,814,000.
Fieldcrest has been on the
“top 500” list each year since
1963, with a first-year ranking of
486th.
In categories other than sales,
Fieldcrest ranks 341st with its
10.3 percent net income as a
percent of stockholders’ equity;
404th with its 2.84 percent
earnings per share growth rate
1963-73; 348th with its 3.2 percent
net income as a percent of sales;
313th with its 12,575 employees;
429th with its net income of
$9,354,000; and 432nd based on
assets of $198,171,000.
Among other textile firms
listed, their rankings based on
1973 sales, were:
Burlington Industries, 71st,
down from 66th; J. P. Stevens,
152nd, down from 148th; Springs
Mills, 280th, up from 305th; Dan
River, 338th, down from 326th;
Cone Mills, 377th, down from
367th; Cannon Mills, 397th, down
from 337th; and Collins and
Aikman, 423rd, down from 394th.
Dividend
Declared
Directors of Fieldcrest Mills,
Inc. voted on May 2 to pay a
quarterly dividend of $.35 per
share on June 28 to holders of
record June 14.