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Blair Mills has new owner, laying off 250
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BELTON — Blair Mills has a new owner and will close by the end of the year, eliminating 250 jobs, company officials said Wednesday.
The company, which manufactures towels for hotels and other businesses including Sheraton, Hyatt and Marriot, has been in business for 102 years, said Billy Rice, president.
Blair Rice, Billy’s grandfather, started the company.
“We’ve signed an agreement with 1888 Mills in Griffin, Ga.,” Rice said. “We are selling them the business, but they already have a facility in Georgia, so the will not need our Belton facility.”
The new company manufactures towels as well, but it also has a facility in Pakistan, Rice said.
They will maintain the same customers that Blair Mills supplied, but they will be able to serve them better, Rice said.
“They’re a global company, and that’s what you’ve got to be these days,” Rice said. “We’ve got a loyal, dedicated customer base, but they need global services to get price points to be competitive.”
The Belton facility’s 250 employees learned of the closing this week, Rice said. Company officials have asked personnel managers from other area companies to bring job applications to the Blair Mills employees and will try to set up job interviews whenever possible, Rice said.
Blair Mills owns the patent for Fibertone, a process of making towels with colors that withstand bleach. The 1888 Company will use that process, Rice said.
Officials with the city of Belton could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
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Billy Rice is on the Dist 2 school board. Remember that two years from now at election time, folks!
I miss the good old days when the South would gleefully steal jobs from the North. Now it's a race to the bottom as companies realize labor is cheaper overseas.
Another example of how Belton is dieing due to poor leadership and incompetance by the mayor, administrator and city council.
Their answer will be to raise water and sewer rates and property taxes.
Hope the machinery will not be shipped overseas.
Could have been tougher to turn a profit under an Obama tax code. I keep thinking about the way Obama says "Pokiston....". There is a reason certain foreign nations like him & this is a good example of why. US corps will be outsourcing more jobs in an effort to offset increased taxes (if Obama gets in).
Why would you sell a company when you knew it would cost 250 people their jobs? Why weren't the employees offered a chance to buy the mill themselves? It's all greed.
I just hope the new owners have a sense of smell. If your not fron Belton you have no idea what we know. In other words in the hot summer if you want to cool off go jump in s__t creek on Griffin Rd.,or you can set on your porch and enjoy the smell of urine in the air. The Rices have been dumping chemicals in the water system for years and the City of Belton has done NOTHING to stop them because they own Belton. Well you can have it.
in response to Freedom_Of_Speech
Do you ever have anything nice to say? If you don't like what is going on in Belton, MOVE or run for office and try to improve things.
in response to clemson_girl
If you don't like to read what I know don't read it and myob.
Belton needs an economic development plan coordintated with the county, legislative delegation and SC Dept. of Commerce.
But it will not happen until the town gets a new mayor, council and administrator.
in response to ElCid
How do you blame the Mayor of Belton. He use to be my neighbor when I was a child and some of the council people I went to school with or lived in my neighbor hood.
Yes our jobs are all going overseas. A lot of places have closed doors on older mills just like there doing to Blair Mill. I don't like seeing us all losing our jobs either. I Pray that everyone that has lost there job in mill shut downs further their education. It is getting and got to be a tough World we live in. My heart goes out to these family's that are loosing there jobs all over our country. I raised my children working in cotton mill for 26 years and it was all I knew and I even loved weaving but its not the Mayors fault I no longer work in mill. I blame the Presidents that sent our jobs overseas and Congress too!!! Years ago, I studied the reason they are sending all companies overseas due to the trade off our President (not Mayor) and Congress signed the bill for this!!!!
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