Five years ago this week, the biggest mass layoff in North Carolina and textile industry history slammed the Charlotte region when Kannapolis textile giant Pillowtex abruptly closed.

The move wiped out more than 7,650 jobs nationwide, including more than 4,000 in Cabarrus and Rowan counties. Pillowtex blamed competition from low-cost imports, but management mistakes also played a significant role.

Pillowtex and its predecessor companies were mainstays for more than a century, but the mills are long gone. In their place, former mill owner David Murdock, the California billionaire who also owns Dole Food, is building a $1.5 billion biotechnology complex.

At the N.C. Research Campus, leaders say a range of jobs will be available to former mill workers -- if they have the appropriate level of education.

About 1,900 ex-Pillowtex workers have sought job retraining through Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, said Jeanie Moore, vice president for continuing education. That means more than half of those eligible in Cabarrus and Rowan counties took advantage of retraining benefits, she said.

We caught up with several former workers to see how they have been doing since the plant closed. Here's what they had to say.

Skeptical about jobs

Between them, Kannapolis residents Max and Linda Bowlin worked in the mills for 76 years.

Linda Bowlin, 62, spent 30 years working with pillowcases and sheets, where she ran an automatic fitting machine.

"When you're used to getting up every day to go to work, then you don't have to, it's kind of depressing every day, and you wonder where your next dollar will come from," she said. "It was tough for a while."

Max Bowlin said they were able to get by after he started getting income from Social Security and his wife received disability payments.

Max Bowlin, 62, ran machines in the weave room and helped in yarn and dye during a 43-year run at the mill. The Kannapolis couple now spend their days watching their two young granddaughters.

They wonder how many former Pillowtex employees will work at the research campus.

"[It] will help a lot of people, but the people who lost their jobs, there's nothing for us," Linda said. "That won't help us old people a bit."

Sherman Butler of Landis worked for Pillowtex for less than four years and wasn't eligible for pension benefits. He was employed in the towel packing department when the announcement came.

Now, it's chicken

For nearly four years, he has been working at Perdue Farms in Concord, running a production line where workers pack cooked chicken and send it to the freezer area.

The high school graduate recently took courses through Rowan-Cabarrus Community College to hone his math and reading skills. And Butler, 27, just started taking a class on how to sell real estate. "You can't depend on anybody," he said of his future. "You have to do it yourself."

The future of Kannapolis appears bright, Butler said. "It's going to be something to see," he said of the research campus. "Kannapolis is going to be different."

Choosing retirement

Mary Roseman worked as a weaver for about 20 years. When the plant closed, the Kannapolis woman took computer classes sponsored by Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

She couldn't find work, so she said she decided to simply retire when she started getting her Social Security checks.

Roseman also took care of her husband, who had been in poor health and died in 2005.

As for the changes coming to the city, Roseman, 65, said she was excited about the potential for Kannapolis, especially for high school students who could have an opportunity to work for a good wage.

Roseman said she enjoys retirement. Just about every morning, she and other friends from the mill meet at a local Hardee's. They used to talk a lot about the company, but now, Roseman reports, they don't do it that often.

"We just talk about normal, everyday stuff," she said.

Retraining to find work

Elvia Tucker, 63, can see the research campus across the street from her workplace.

Tucker, of Concord, is a part-time secretary/receptionist at the R3 center (for Refocus, Retrain, and Re-employ) run by Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. At R3 in Kannapolis, ex-Pillowtex and other displaced workers train for new careers.

Tucker knows what they are up against: She's a former Pillowtex worker, a 29-year veteran who folded pillowcases and sheets.

After losing her textiles job, Tucker took computer classes.

At the R3 center, she attended workshops on creating a resume, dressing for interviews and looking for work after age 50. Before going to the center, she worked for the Cabarrus Department of Aging.

Tucker said the research campus' Core Lab building is beautiful, but she doubts the campus will offer many jobs for longtime Pillowtex workers.

"It might be real good for the young people who can get lots of higher education, but I don't really know about the older people," she said.