You bring the product idea. We’ll help bring it to life.
CTD connects makers, designers, and entrepreneurs to a reliable domestic supply chain in order to make quality products here at home.
As an enterprise of The Industrial Commons, we’re committed to empowering workers and supporting local communities by providing secure, meaningful jobs, and we aspire to economic, environmental, and social sustainability in every aspect of our work.
By facilitating active collaboration amongst makers and manufacturers across Western North Carolina—and ensuring an ethical, values-based process—we are reimagining the future of the American textile industry.
We can connect you with…
Designers/Patternmakers, Printers, Fabric Finishers, Material Sources, Cut & Sew Facilities, Fulfillment Contacts, Hosieries, Furniture Mills, Dye houses, Fiber Recyclers, & Textile Testing
More and more, American consumers are demanding products that are made locally, in a way that supports a fair wage and sustainable economy.
Located in Western North Carolina—the historical center of textile manufacturing in the U.S.—CTD believes we are uniquely positioned to help revitalize the American textile industry and satisfy market demand. Textile manufacturing has been at the heart of our communities and economy for centuries, so, for us, it’s personal. It’s an opportunity not only to create quality products, but also to generate quality jobs, strengthen local communities, and establish an ethical system of production that can be modeled nationwide.
Timeline
American textiles move to the southeast
Large-scale commercial manufacturing began in the northeast in the late 1700s, but, by the early 1800s, textile mills started moving south to the Carolinas. By the mid-1900s, North Carolina was recognized as the center of US textile manufacturing. Over the next 50 years, textiles became the primary economic driver in the region as well as the foundation of many local communities.
Changes to the industry: offshoring and closures
Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the textile industry underwent many changes. Due to stiff price competition from low-cost labor overseas, the industry shifted toward other countries and away from domestic production. Hundreds of American textile companies closed their doors, mill towns stagnated, and thousands of hardworking Americans lost their jobs.
Textiles today
While numerous businesses shut down, some persevered by carving out a niche in the market, mechanizing, and becoming more efficient with technology and fewer workers. The southeast—and much of America—still has a tremendous amount of infrastructure to support the textile industry, and a wealth of textile skill and knowledge still exists here.
Following the Great Recession, two significant shifts in the textile industry occurred: For one, US consumers increased their support of domestic production in an effort to rebuild the economy, and secondly, companies focused attention on achieving quicker cash-flow, shorter lead-times, and being responsive to consumer demands.
Creation of CTD
Three organizations, Manufacturing Solutions Center, Burke Development Inc, and Opportunity Threads came together to form the CTD in 2013 to help entrepreneurs, existing companies, and local economies benefit from the solutions that only an American supply chain can provide. A one stop shop for all things textile, we connect clients with CTD partners to ensure that high quality products get to market as quickly and efficiently as possible—contributing to the development of just and sustainable regional economies in the process. The textile manufacturers and related companies in our network are dedicated to collaborating and growing together to meet the increasing demand for US textile production.