THE MILL WHISTLE
Eden, N. C., December 1,1975
No. 11
!!?fview With W. C. Battle:
pany’s Strong Recovery
sCredited To Employees
Jif
7t>ad
and more people out
. ‘a than H.T
last year, Field-
tnore machinery and
not running than it
W^l'^an working. Now we
most of our plants
Sad some of them six
-u days a week.”
Jlj^^^^tement was made by
!'WjJ* C, Battle, president of
Inc., in an in
i' On recession struck
customers’ orders
it was obvious that
itl, i^iih The Mill Whistle in
ly'j ”® discussed the com-
vi|v ^overy from the reces-
®ome of the reasons for
|*((i^'^®very. He attributed
^®ay’s strong comeback
° the loyalty and dedi-
ctnployees.
lOtl
take strong and severe
to protect the health of
’’y- We realized that in
y. the mills we were
our loyal workers to
lousiness Department of
i^Sham Community
Will offer a course in
V a al Awareness
Sfiagy 100) in Eden in the
i( 'laarter.
bourse is a required
Course
nounced
ii'^tor degree candidates in
Administration and
i 'al Science and carries
hours of credit,
it is open as an
course to adults not
jlj* ^he AA degree.
alass will meet on
Ij^rays from 7 to 9 p.m. for
» beginning December
® Leaksville Township
^Administration Building
Highland Drive.
■ tij bourse may register on
'1s of the first class. Ed
lie instruct the class.
and capitalization on
capabilities and
and will utilize the
V,:'onal techniques of
red experience,
*ons, class participation.
"'Sion
l^^ollees
undue financial hardships,” Mr.
Battle said.
“Even though we planned the
closings so as to have as little
impact as possible, we knew that
things would be difficult. It was
with tremendous satisfaction
that I observed the under
standing and cooperation of
these people whose basic income
had been severely affected.
“We also did much by way of
reducing the salaried payroll,
implementing efficiencies in
every aspect of the business,
asking people to do more than
they had done before, and when
the recovery came, asking them
voluntarily to work at times
seven days a week.
“Again* the response was
tremendous. There is no doubt
that the willingness of the em
ployees of Fieldcrest to shoulder
unusual burdens and to make
sacrifices above the usual
sacrifices has been the most im
portant element in the strong
recovery we are experiencing.
“When our policies came in
for accounting in the third quar
ter of 1975, the element of profit
increase over 1974 percentage
wise was way above the volume
increase. The thing that is most
gratifying to me is that our peo
ple have been able to achieve a
very significant increase in
profit with a much lesser in
crease in volume,” Mr. Battle
said.
He went on to say that the
third quarter of this year was the
best quarter profitwise in the
history of the company and that
he feels the fourth quarter will
be strong.
In discussing the steps which
the company took during the re
cession, Mr. Battle said:
“The recession caused us to do
many things that will, in the long
run, be very beneficial. The re
cession caused us to look in
depth to the efficiency of our
■company, of our operations from
staff right on through manu
facturing to marketing.
“We have made a great num
ber of adjustments, and we
called on our people to perform
at a greater capacity, and they
responded magnificently. We
have substantially, reduced our
salaried payroll. We have sub
stantially reduced the level of
inventories, and we intend to
maintain them at a lower level.”
He said the company had re
duced the numbers of stock
keeping units in all lines. This
has resulted in much more effi
cient manufacturing because it
makes it easier to produce the
products which are in the line
as it is not necessary to be
continually changing from one
style to another.
“Also, our annual interest
payments are way down. We
have established very hard
guidelines that will be used as
danger signals for us to see that
the levels of efficiency are main-
(Continued on Page Eight)
Children’s Parties Set
iliA^bot already registered
""Urse is aimed at the dis-
making to direct
toward greater
of themselves and
“Pecos Pete,” who performed
on the Old Rebel Show over
Channel 2, WFMY-TV in
Greensboro, for several years,
will be the featured entertain
ment at the annual Christmas
parties for the children of
Fieldcrest employees at Eden
and at Fieldale, Va. Sunday
afternoon, December 14,
He will present a Western
show consisting of sharp
shooting, trick and fancy roping
and bull whip tricks. He was on
the Old Rebel Show for 12 years
and then was with Channel 12,
WXII-TV and WQTR radio in
Winston-Salem.
The Fieldale party will be in
the auditorium at the Fieldale-
Collinsville High School at 2 p.m.
The Eden party will follow at 4
p.m. in the auditorium at
Morehead High School.
Beginning Monday, December
8, tickets to the parties will be
available from the supervisors.
Employees should request
tickets as promptly as possible
and should ask for only the num
ber that will actually be used.
Musical entertainment will be
furnished by Mamie Dickson of
the Sheeting Mill Accounting
Department and Harold Squires
of the Draper Industrial
Engineering Department. They
will also lead the children in the
singing of Christmas songs.
The highlight of each party
will be the arrival of Santa
(Continued to Page Eight)
Happy Winner!
Looking pleased is Frank Biegar, of Plant Service, Blanket Greige
Mill, winner of a 9 x 12 Karastan Oriental design rug in Eden United
Fund drawing. He chose pattern 716.
Redman Named Director
Hamilton M. Redman, retired
vice president-finance and a
present director of the Norfolk
and Western Railway Company,
has been elected to the board of
directors of Fieldcrest Mills,
Inc.
The announcement was made
at Eden by William C. Battle,
president and chief executive of
ficer of the company.
Mr. Redman retired as an
active officer of the Norfolk pd
Western in March, 1973. He is a
director of the Virginia National
Bank, is chairman of the board
of trustees of Southern Seminary
Junior College, and is a cor
porator of the Presbyterian
Ministers’ Fund.
HAMILTON M. REDMAN
He joined Norfolk and West
ern in Roanoke, Va., as a vice
president in 1958. He was named
vice president-finance January
1, 1959, and was elected a direc
tor in April, 1960. He went to the
Norfolk and Western from the
Berkshire Life Insurance Co.,
Pittsfield, Mass., where he was
a vice president and treasurer
and a director.
A cum laude graduate of Penn
sylvania State University, Mr.
Redman began his business ca
reer as a security analyst for
Eastman, Dillon and Co. Then
he was the trust officer at the
Provident Trust Co., Philadel
phia, and vice president and
manager of the Trust Depart
ment of the National Bank of
Commerce of Seattle, Wash., be
fore moving to Berkshire Life in
March of 1951.
Mr. and Mrs. Redman live in
Botetourt County, Va.