Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VALfTY WST CLOTH Perspective THAD WILLIAMS You will note in another section of this Clothmaker ihai we have restructured our Company. We now have three dis tinct business units, Clinton, Chatham and EFA, and four support functions — Finance, Information Services, Purchasing and Human Resources. Each business unit will have day to day and long term responsibility for its marketing and operational activities and receive support from the four staff areas. We have capable, forward thinking, management providing leadership to all areas of our business, and I am confident each individual will do an outstanding job. Space does notallow me to mention every per son by name, but I do want to say a special welcome to the newest members of our leadership team — Derrill Rice and Alan Ken nedy at Chatham, Jim Robbins and Don Berlin at EFA and con gratulate Josh Hamilton at Clinton, as he assumes additional responsibilities. Recently, we completed surveys at Clinton, Geneva and EFA among our Associates to see how they feel about their relation ship with their Company. We were told by the “experts” doing the survey that most of our Associates are well informed, but expressed frustration with our group insurance plan and express ed some concern with a few other areas affecting them. Each area of concern will be addressed with our Associates and when change is justified, it will be made. I want to talk about the issue most often addressed by our Associates — group insurance. Our Associates are frustrated with the administration of our group insurance plan, and I am too. I assure you something is being done about it. Recently, we announced that another com pany will be administering our plan. I know this change will provide us with much better service. Administration of our group insurance costs us several hundred thousand dollars a year, and frankly, I do not think we have been getting our money’s worth. I have had a lot of problems with my own claims, and I am sure you have too! Now that we have a company servicing our plan whose primary business is administrative services to group insurance plans, our administrative problems should be behind us. Another group insurance issue addressed by our Associates is cost versus benefits. It is true your contributions to the plan have gone up; it is also true your out-of-pocket expenses have increased. But to keep plan benefits at the same level they once were, your plan contributions would be increasing at a much higher rate than you have experienced to date. We have opted to change both costs and benefits to reduce the overall impact on you when you really need health insurance coverage. Our plan protects you against large medical losses, and this is as it should be. The Company is committed to paying at least fifty percent of the costs of your medical coverage. In every year in (Continued on back page) Johnson and Johnson Representatives Give Clinton High Marks on Quality Hm. Bill 'Rakopulos Dee All Bill Bates Representatives from Johnson and Johnson, producers of sports and surgical tapes as well as a range of other products, visited Clinton to observe the production of greige fabrics used in their operations. Dee All, of Johnson and Johnson’s Technical Services, explained a number of the specific requirements which must be met to satisfy the company’s expectations. Among which she notes, “is a consistent amount of size and other add-on which must be dealt with in the bleaching operation as well as the proper ten sion on package rolls.” “The quality of the fabric is excellent,” she added as she explained the use of Clinton air jet woven fabrics in the production of tape. All of the Johnson and Johnson representatives gave Clinton’s fabric high marks for fabric quality, piece length, package size, tension on rolls and delivery. Bill Bates, who keeps a close watch on how goods finish, noted that the “quality of your fabric ranks very high when compared to both internal and external sources. Our employees recognize the quality of Clinton fabrics” he added. While at Clinton, the group toured the Company’s cotton selection lab where Bill Hill explained the many tests performed on cotton before it is purchased for the manufacturing process. Clinton Division President Josh Hamilton and Executive Vice President Ted Davenport explained each of the manufacturing processes to tne guests and noted specific methods used to enhance the quali ty of fabrics produced. George Marshall South Carolina Textile Citizen of the Year George Marshall has been named Textile Citizen of the Year by the South Carolina Textile Manufacturer’s Asso ciation. Marshall, a Plant No. 2 Spinning Technician, was selected from nominees submitted by SCTMA member companies across South Carolina. Marshall will go on to compete with nine other state winners for the National Tex tile Citizen of the Year Award. A native of Joanna, the award recipient has been widely recognized for his contributions to both the industry and the com munity where he lives. He is involved in the Joan na Textile Festival, Clinton’s successful Fun Day team activities, a yam manufacturing Quality First team and numerous other activities in his plant. Marshall served as a member of the Joanna Volunteer Fire Department and is a member George Marshall of the Lion’s Club where he’s a past president and a former Citizen of the Year. In his church, he has been active in the Personnel and Finance Committee and is a former Training Director. He is a member of School District 56 School Board and serves as its Vice Chairman. In 1990 he received an award for achieving the highest level of training available for school board members — the Boardsmanship Institute Award. Marshall, an Eagle Scout, has been active in Laurens County scouting for 33 years and received the Silver Beaver Award in 1989. “Marshall has an outstanding work record in the Spinning Department and possesses many leader ship and organizational skills which he utilizes both on the job and in his community service work,” said Plant No. 2 Manager Mac George.