SCOTLAND NECK - Great American Knitting Mills hung on as long as it could. But in 1995, with its parent company bankrupt and the whole U.S. textile industry heading offshore, the sockmaker closed its plant, and all at once, 125 people in a town of 2,200 were out of work.

One or two other textile makers moved into -- and out of -- the small complex between Eighth and Ninth streets, which had housed textile manufacturing since at least 1890. At one time, there had been two hosiery mills in Scotland Neck. Finally, there were none.

Now, a West Virginia shirtmaker that has found a niche making uniforms and monogrammed shirts wants to build on what the other businesses left behind: the mill complex and a ready supply of workers who remember in their very muscles how to make the machines hum.

"It's perfect for us," said Harry Candland, vice president of Carter & Mayes of Paden City, W.Va. "The plant itself is a really nice plant. It's laid out very nicely for us and has a lot of advantages. But the reason to come to North Carolina is the experienced work force."

In the past two decades, North Carolina has lost tens of thousands of jobs from what had been its biggest industries for generations: textiles, tobacco and furniture-making. Rural communities suffered along with larger ones as factory after factory closed.

Jobs in banking, pharmaceuticals, technology and tourism have helped rescue much of the state's economy. But in Scotland Neck, the biggest employer may once again be a textile plant.

Barbara Brown hasn't been able to find work in three years, since she had to quit a job at a peanut processing plant in Robersonville. Brown can't afford a car, and the friend she rode with was switched to a different shift.

"I'd like to work in that mill, yes, I would," said Brown, who had heard of Candland's plans from a friend. "I need work."

An unexpected snag

It still isn't clear whether Candland's North Carolina venture -- Phoenix Textile Apparel Mills Inc. -- will be able to bring the mill and the dreams of its would-be work force back to life. Because of the town's relatively high-priced electricity -- especially during periods of peak demand -- Candland is no longer sure he can make the plant profitable.

Like the striped bass that make their annual run up the Roanoke River eight miles north of town, Candland was swimming against the current when he announced he had bought the old hosiery mill and aimed to have some manufacturing lines running by early 2008.

Candland says his company has succeeded by doing what overseas competitors can't. In his highly automated plant, he can take an order for two shirts or 20,000, then spin and dye the yarn, knit the fabric, sew and monogram the shirts, and deliver them within a week. Dealing with a manufacturer in China, he says, takes several weeks, and if there's a problem with the order when it arrives, it can take another span of weeks to correct.

Scotland Neck, which has lost more than 5 percent of its population since 2000 and has a median per-capita income that's half the median for the state, is excited at the prospect.

"It's very important," says town administrator Nancy Jackson. "We would be very tickled, very pleased to have him here."

There are some service jobs in what remains of Scotland Neck's small but once busy downtown. A handful of restaurants face the stretch of U.S. 258 that becomes Main Street as it runs through town, along with a bait-and-tackle shop, a movie rental store, a law office and a liquor store.

Scotland Neck recently has begun marketing itself as "An Outdoor Paradise," inviting hunters and fishermen to ply the nearby woods and waters and bird enthusiasts to visit the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Center, a nearby breeding and research center.

Next page >