DuPont

Accents
INDUSTRY
It’s made
By Briana Murrell
here
From its beginnings as a
hub of riverfront trading,
Cumberland
County
has
always
been
home
to
businesses and products that
benefit people around the
globe. Today, thousands of
workers produce everything
from special films, fibers and
chemicals to rubber and tires,
sports apparel to bras, gelatin
powder to the newest military
technologies. It’s all made
right here in the Sandhills.
DuPont
Founded in 1802 as a gunpowder plant on the Brandywine Creek, today
DuPont produces films, fibers and special chemicals used in everything from office
building windows to solar cells and the panels lining the trailers of 18-wheelers.
The Fayetteville Works Plant opened for commercial production in 1971 near the
banks of the Cape Fear River, providing a unique access to water that would help with
the production of several major DuPont products. Today, the plant has grown to include
more than 2,200 acres.
Fayetteville’s DuPont plant is the world’s sole producer of Nafion® and SentryGlas®
that help create safety glass to protect against such things as major storms or
devastating car accidents. More than 460 employees manufacture these products used
by homeowners, businesses, the military and others every day.
“DuPont’s mission,” said Karen Wrigley, plant manager, “is to translate science into
products people can use.”
54 | Accents • 2010 - 2011
Soffe
The unique companies here
are also rich in history. Milton James
Soffe, a true entrepreneur, started the M.J.
Soffe Company in 1946 selling products
to the military in Fayetteville. Today, the
company now known as Soffe is one of
the country’s leading manufacturers of
activewear clothing. Products are shipped
across the nation and sold in department
stores, college bookstores, sporting good
stores and to all branches of the military.
Soffe also has a factory in Roland, an
online store and three retail stores
in Fayetteville, Smithfield and Myrtle
Beach, S.C. The company is known for its
cheerleading shorts that come in a variety
of colors and styles for girls and women.
In 2003, Delta Apparel acquired the
M.J. Soffe Company, but the mission
has remained the same, “To focus on
the consumer and provide a world class
customer experience.”
Fayetteville’s
largest
homegrown
employer, Soffe continues to expand its
existing collections and create new ones.
Ron Wagenseil is executive vice president
of sales.
“M.J. Soffe is a growth company,”
he said. “We strive to be the leader in
activewear apparel.”
When Milton James Soffe began
distributing wholesale foreign and
domestic tobacco pipes from his garage
in 1946, he had no way of knowing how
successful his company would become.
The radical transition from pipes to
clothing began through the manufacturing
of laundry bags and draperies for the
military. After relocating and opening
TOP 10
numerous warehouses and buildings in downtown Fayetteville, M.J. Soffe sold a line of
products that included bicycles and binoculars, and later added textiles to that list in
1968. But it wasn’t until Soffe’s son Jim became president of the company that apparel
became Soffe’s signature product.
“Anything can be fixed if you work hard enough at it,” Soffe said. “It’s frustrating
when you look at the front end of it, but when you look at the back end, it’s pretty
rewarding.”
Now publicly owned by Delta Apparel and with Ken Spires named as the new
company president, Jim Soffe has transitioned into the role as chairman emeritus, but
he and his fellow employees continue to work together with an openness that separates
them from other large corporations.
“We are one big family that still runs our business,” Soffe said. “Once I finish my
three years, I’m hoping they’ll let me stay on another year. I love working with the
people here and helping with things that I still know about – being a part of the team.”
Cumberland County’s 10 Largest Employers
1. Cumberland County Board of Education
2. Department of Defense
3. Cape Fear Valley Health Systems
4. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc
5. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Inc
6. County of Cumberland
7. City of Fayetteville
8. Fayetteville Technical Community College
9. Veterans Administration Hospital
10. OSC-Central Payroll
Source: Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce (2009)
www.FayettevilleNCChamber.org | 55
Nitta Gelatin USA
Not only does Fayetteville have businesses with local roots,
foreign companies have chosen to locate here as well. Nitta Gelatin USA, Inc. produces
gelatin for various foods as well as medicinal purposes.
The Japanese company invested close to $26 million in a plant not far from
Smithfield Foods and Prestage Farms, two of the largest pork processors in the state.
Pork products are used to make the gelatin powder used in pill capsules and foods like
gummy candies and marshmallows.
The plant opened in 2006 and is the only one of its kind in the United States. As the
most technologically-advanced gelatin manufacturing facility in the world, it can be
solely operated by three employees and run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365
days a year. Nitta Gelatin USA, Inc. produces 3,000 metric tons of gelatin every year
with the majority being shipped to Canada and Japan.
General Manager Chad Kormanek joined the company when the new plant was slated
to come to Cumberland County. He was there for the entire designing and building
process and has been with the plant since day one.
“We expect to see continued growth locally,” he said, “and in the future gelatin
ventures of Nitta.”
The Partnership for Defense Innovation
Rather than providing a specific product, the Partnership for
Defense Innovation focuses on providing a service to the community. This one-of-a-kind
program has its center of operations in Fayetteville.
PDI’s two programs, the Defense and Security Technology Accelerator and its
research and development lab, have roots here, too. Fostering advancement in defense,
security and intelligence technology, along with research and development, PDI began
as a 75-page concept and is now a business that creates jobs and generates revenue for
the state of North Carolina.
With support from the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce and
federal and state funding, PDI was established in November 2006 and opened for use in
January 2007. Its 15,000-square-foot headquarters on Ramsey Street near downtown
features offices, conference rooms and laboratories with the latest technology and full
audio/visual capabilities.
PDI also operates offices on the campuses of North Carolina State University, the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Western Carolina University.
56 | Accents • 2010 - 2011
Goodyear
On the opposite side of
Cumberland County is a 2.2 millionsquare-foot plant on 400 acres in North
Fayetteville. The Goodyear Tire plant
opened as the Kelly-Springfield factory
in April 1969 and produced its first tire
that December. It has been manufacturing
light truck and passenger tires of different
types and sizes ever since. Employing
nearly 3,000 workers, tires made here
are sold and distributed primarily to
large companies and businesses in North
America.
Goodyear produces aircraft tires and
motorcycle tires along with truck and
passenger tires. With a mold plant in
Statesville, a wire plant in Asheboro and
about eight tire manufacturing plants in
North America, the Goodyear Company
is a principal leader in the tire-making
industry.
www.FayettevilleNCChamber.org | 57