T^tre$fone North Carolina
MARCH 1976
Textiy Company
• If you
•were to pui
the plied cord
in this roll of
nylon end-
1 o - e n d , it'd
stretch in a
straight line
3,330 miles—
something
like from Gas
tonia to Van
couver, B.C.
Here, loom changer Rosevelt Jamison readies
the 3.024-yard roll for its next stop at the dip-
and-heat-treating unit before it starts on its long
-way to another factory where it will be built
into tires.
This roll has 1938 ends (single cords of warp).
TEXTILES DIVISION
Energy-Saving
The Firestone company’s cur
rent Energy Conservation pro
gram aims to—
• Reduce company energy
consumption substantially, and
• Save the equivalent of 125
million gallons of oil annually
by 1980, measured against 1972
usage levels.
To accomplish these goals,
savings quotas have been set for
each of the company’s facilities
or groupings of facilities. Aver
age goal for Firestone’s world
wide operations is 20 per cent
reduction. Goals vary at differ
ent locations because of the dif
ferences in energy-saving po
tential from plant to plant.
Firestone Textiles Company
units at Gastonia, N. C.; Bowl
ing Green, Ky.; Bennettsville,
S. C. and Woodstock, Canada
have a division goal of 13 per
cent reduction by 1980.
First major aim of the savings
BG In C of C Hall of Fame
When Bowling Green in late January was named an
All-Kentucky City for the third time in as many years, it
qualified to join the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s Hall
of Fame. The awards program which recognizes community
development, was themed “Opportunities for Progress.” It
is sponsored by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
Representatives of winning tions was done on district level
cities received the awards from
Gov. Julian Carroll and Pete
Rose of the Cincinnati Reds
baseball club.
Bowling Green’s entry, spon
sored by the Chamber of Com
merce and local chapter of Na
tional Secretaries Association,
presented broad aspects of com
munity development, ranging
from participation in a national
flood insurance program to the
creation of 650 new employment
opportunities.
JUDGING of entry presenta-
last fall and on state level in
December. Entry coordinators
placed Bowling Green in all
possible categories on which to
base presentations. These are:
Hospality industry, industrial
development, commercial de
velopment, comprehensive plan
ning, residential, local govern
ment, recreational and cultural
programs, public health and
welfare, education, utilities and
service, ecological improvement,
and energy conservation.
BIG CLEANER
• James M. Price (front)
and Odess S. Killian of the
painting service (Shop) add
ed color and weather protec
tion to the giant vapor stack
of the electrostatic cleaning
installation of Gastonia No. 8
fabric-treating unit last
month.
The latest clean-up equip
ment which replaces an
original device installed in
1972, is intended to meet
State and Federal air-quality
standards.
Pure steam used in cooling
hot gases from No. 8’s treat
ing ovens is the only materi
al released to the environ
ment, via the connecting pipe
(photo) leading to upper
stack.
Three Plants to Local Economy:
More Than $16 Million
• • More than $9 million. The amount that operations
of Firestone Textiles Company at Gastonia put into the
local economy in 1975. James B. Call, company presi
dent, also noted that:
making the fabric about 61 inches wide. Of
current production volume in synthetics at Fire
stone, Gastonia, nylon is the predominent fiber
processed. Polyester, rayon and fiberglass fol
low in order. There is limited production in
such other materials as Kevlar (Fiber B); and
steelcord.
Savings
by the Yard
The program
is designed to
reduce energy
usage measured
in BTUs per
pound of product
produced. Fire
stone Textiles,
an exception,
measures en
ergy - usage re
duction in BTUs
per yard of tire
fabric produced.
program is to accomplish at least
half of the savings goals for the
various plants and facility
groupings during the current
fiscal year. The energy-savings
program began with the new
year in November and will end
Oct. 31, 1976.
• The company’s 1,200 fac
tory and office employees
earned $8 million in wages
and salaries during the year.
And goods and services
bought in the Gastonia area
cost the company $1.7 mil
lion during 1975.
• The Gastonia plant, op
erated by The Firestone Tire
& Rubber Company since
1935, weaves rayon, nylon,
polyester, fiberglass and steel
wire into fabrics used in tire
cords and industrial applica
tions.
During the year the plant
processed more than 75 mil
lion pounds of textiles—this
shipped throughout the
United States.
Operations of the Bowling
Green (Ky.) unit of the com
pany added nearly $6 million
to the economy last year. The
plant’s 582 factory and office
employees earned $5.5 mil
lion in wages and salaries
during the year.
The Kentucky textile oper
ation spent about $395,000 for
goods and services in the
Bowling Green area in 1975.
The Bowling Green plant
has been operating since
early 1968, producing tire
fabric or nylon, polyester and
fiberglass. Of these materi
als, the plant processed near
ly 53.4 million pounds in
1975.
At Bennettsville (S. C.) the
company’s operations in 1975
added about $1.2 million to
the local economy.
The plant’s 135 factory and
office employees earned
$898,000 in wages and salar
ies last year. Also, $319,000
went for goods and services
in the Bennettsville area in
1975.
The S. C. plant, operated as
a Firestone textiles division
facility since 1943, weaves
nylon fiber into fabric used
in production of all types of
tires. During the year, the
plant processed more than 13
million pounds nylon fabric.
Bennettsville: Service Records
• Clyde F. Poison, ply twist
er cleaner; and Charles Sweatt
Jr., ply twister operator, com
pleted 30-year service records
with the company's Bennetts
ville plant in February.
Also, Margaret McCaskill,
Quality Control inspector, com
pleted 5 years credited service
in February.
• Metric's Coming. To change
pounds to kilograms, multiply
the number of pounds by 0.454.