Military industry growing in North Carolina

State effort seeks to replace lost jobs

SPINDALE -- For anyone familiar with the state's ravaged textile industry, First Choice Armor's sewing room would be a shock: 100 workers stitching, their humming machines a cheerful undertone to a radio blaring "Same Old Lang Syne."

The state is dotted with dozens of vast, empty mills -- or their wreckage. First Choice, though, moved into one of those shells in 2006 and is running six days a week -- two shifts in some departments -- making body armor, helmets, and bulletproof shields for SWAT teams. It has 200 workers and hopes to expand, said General Manager Paul Koren.

One reason for its success: Its customers include the military. That makes it exactly the kind of company that state and local leaders are trying to woo, or nurture from local roots. That push, which began in 2004, is aimed at capitalizing on the presence of some of the nation's largest military bases to replace jobs and income from faltering industries such as textiles, furniture and tobacco. There are signs that the efforts are paying off.

Success will mean more badly needed jobs in textile towns such as Spindale, where First Choice moved from a smaller factory in Massachusetts in 2006. Spindale, population 4,000, had lost four major textile plants in just a few years, each employing 500 to 1,000 people, said Mayor Micky Bland. The lost taxes and utility fees had cut so deeply into the town's budget that since 1999 its staff shrank from 80 to 45.

When the armor company came down to hold a job fair, 1,600 people -- most of them former textile workers -- stood in the rain for a chance at a job, Koren said.

'We're glad you came'

"There were five of us, so we couldn't even talk to all of them," Koren said. "The biggest thing we heard was, 'Even if you don't hire me, we're glad you came.' "

State commerce officials say it's hard to precisely measure the impact of military-related business here, in part because many companies also sell civilian products and services. The anecdotal evidence of growth, though, is strong. First Choice isn't even unique in Rutherford County: A new company that will paint armor for military vehicles announced last week that it would open a plant in neighboring Forest City. In nearby Rutherfordton, Cary-based 3Tex makes high-tech cloth used in body armor and other miliary applications.

A Maryland company announced this month that it was expanding a plant in Elizabeth City to build unmanned, tethered balloons used by the military for surveillance and communications. Other announcements across the state this year include plants for three armored truck companies -- two of them in old textile mills -- and the decision by a California company that provides spare parts for military aircraft to move its headquarters, warehouse and manufacturing operations to Kinston.

The greater focus on military industry and contracting began in 2004, when state leaders began crafting a strategy to lobby the Pentagon ahead of its massive 2005 round of base closings. The strategy was not just to protect Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune and the other bases but to grow them.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue headed the base-closing initiative. Among her ideas was the creation a year ago of the North Carolina Military Commission, a group funded by private industry to boost military business.

Other groups have sprung up to help the push. A business incubator called the Defense and Security Technology Accelerator opened last year in Fayetteville, and in the same city the N.C. Military Business Center opened in 2004 with a grant from the legislature to help businesses target military contracts. The center is a collaboration between industry and the community college system.