Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Goodbye to Julie Hat: Patterson cap company loses long battle to
compete with Chinese labor, poor economy
 |
| Jeanett Wood is one of only about two dozen employees left at Julie Hat Company. In its heyday, the company employed nearly 200 area workers and sent its products worldwide. |
By Jason Deal - Staff Writer
jdeal@theblacksheartimes.com
Every work day for the past three decades, Diane Dixon has put in an eight hour shift at Julie Hat Company in Patterson.
That will likely all come to an end this week.
Julie Hat, once one of the county’s largest industrial employers, is expected to close its doors, probably by week’s end.
“It’s a sad, sad thing,” says Dixon. “This is not just a job - it has been my home away from home.”
The production manager says she’s enjoyed her more than 7,500 days spent on the job.
“My co-workers are like my family,” she explains, adding that her next step is still uncertain.
Dixon has helped support her family, including her husband and four daughters, with her work at the factory.
“All I know is that I will have to find something else to do,” she says. “Somehow, someway I will.”
Dixon’s story is played out almost two dozen times over as the factory’s 22 current employees face the prospect of looming unemployment.
Tom Boyett, manager of Julie Hat, says mop-up work will continue through the end of the week, finishing up the company’s few remaining orders.
“We will have the Department of Labor coming in to help our employees find new jobs,” he says. “Many of them have been very loyal and we want to make sure they are taken care of.”
Glenda Cason and Jena Todd are examples of the longevity. The two have done the company’s accounting since 1980. Todd started as a newly-wed and recent high school graduate that year.
“I walked in and told Mr. Dedi Thomas I needed a job and I have been here ever since,” Todd says. “Mrs. Glenda took up where my parents left off and finished raising me.”
Boyett, who has been manager of the plant since 1996, says he, too, is sad to see the closing come.
“We’ve had great employees and great times here,” he says wistfully, his desk surrounded by product samples and catalogues from the company’s hey day. “We’ve had a good run at Julie Hat.”
The company, founded in 1979 by Benny James, began in Waycross and was named for James’ daughter, Julie. Shortly after, the business was bought by Patterson businessmen J.P. Barnard, Buddy Echols and Dedi Thomas and Sam Scott of Waycross. The factory was moved to its current location on Industrial Drive in Patterson and did a booming business.
Originally housed in a 15,000 square foot building, the factory more than doubled during an expansion in 1989, maxing out at 35,000 square feet. At its high water mark, the company also employed as many as 175 people.
In addition to hats and caps, Julie Hat has also manufactured aprons, bags, stadium seat cushions and has done screenprinting and embroidery on t-shirts.
Boyett says the current recession is the backbreaking blow, but he points out other factors play a major role in the closing. America’s cut-and-sew industry began having difficulty in the mid-1990s. Government policies such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) turned out to be the death knell for Julie Hat and thousands of companies like it.
“First the sewing, cap and apparel jobs went to Mexico and now they have gone to China,” Boyett points out. “The Chinese can offer a product six or seven dollars cheaper per piece than we can. We just can’t compete with that.”
Company owner Buddy Echols agrees.
“Basically, the trade agreements just made the industry unprofitable,” says Echols.
Boyett points out the number of American sewing factories represented at the industry’s annual conferences dropped from 45 in 1996 to just three in 2007. Julie Hat was one of those three.
The company managed to hang on by adapting and putting out high-quality products, however ” many with national and international appeal. Reducing staff and abandoning half the factory’s floor space were also part of the company’s survival.
A Japanese firm bought thousands of Patterson-made caps, fueled by an Ashton Kutcher-induced style creating a youthful demand for trucker caps.
“They wouldn’t buy the Chinese-made hats,” says Boyett. “They had to come from America.”
Julie Hat was happy to oblige.
The company has also made thousands of caps for the U.S. military, including many shipped to Iraq. Closer to home, caps worn by UPS drivers all over the nation and bibs worn by caddies in both the Professional Golf Association (PGA) and Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tournaments were made in little ol’ Patterson.
“The caddy bibs have kept us alive for the last little while,” says Boyett.
Lately, environmentally-friendly caps, made from recycled plastic soft drink bottles, have kept the factory running.
Julie Hat turned a profit as late as two years ago, but things have deterioriated since. The company eventually lost the UPS contract as part of a total uniform shift by the company to a source in China.
The Chinese, of course, don’t have minimum wage requirements, insurance, worker’s compensation or other benefits to worry about in competition, Boyett points out.
“They pay people 60 cents an hour to work 60 hours per week,” he says. “Our latest minimum wage increase was more than a Chinese worker earns per hour.”
In addition to losing the UPS contract, that’s when fuel surcharges, the looming recession and even the housing market began to spell the end.
“We are wasting money keeping the doors open,” Boyett says dejectedly. “Unless there is a miracle from God, we will close up by Friday.”
Boyett says the “green industry” might offer a glimmer of hope of saving the factory, but right now there is nothing concrete. Echols says the owners are looking at all options, including selling or leasing.
“We have some folks who have expressed an interest in the company and in the building, but right now that’s all it is. There is nothing set in stone.”
Patterson Mayor Sammie June Thomas says the closing will be a big blow for Patterson.
“I am saddened to see Julie Hat close,” she says. “They’ve been good for our community. Still, I am hopeful we can find something to bring jobs back to our area.”
Meanwhile, on the production floor, remaining crew members are finishing up the last remaining orders. The last day won’t be easy.
Seamstress Norris Sapp has been with the company for almost two decades. She says the closing has been hard to take.
“I’ll be honest with you,” says Sapp. “I will miss coming to work here. On the last day, I will probably shed some tears.”
Read these stories and more in the January 21 edition of The Blackshear Times
(Subscribers click here to log in and read the entire paper online.)
• MLK remembered: Maureen Brown is honored as King Holiday top citizen
• Patterson domestic dispute turns into stand-off: Incident lasts for almost seven hours
• Comfort Inn coming in spring
• Blackshear reviewing 5 percent hotel tax
• Bidding for new school underway
• Ag building needs room to grow: Commissioners asked to expand facility’s cramped quarters
• County shelling out more for beaver bounty
That will likely all come to an end this week.
Julie Hat, once one of the county’s largest industrial employers, is expected to close its doors, probably by week’s end.
“It’s a sad, sad thing,” says Dixon. “This is not just a job - it has been my home away from home.”
The production manager says she’s enjoyed her more than 7,500 days spent on the job.
“My co-workers are like my family,” she explains, adding that her next step is still uncertain.
Dixon has helped support her family, including her husband and four daughters, with her work at the factory.
“All I know is that I will have to find something else to do,” she says. “Somehow, someway I will.”
Dixon’s story is played out almost two dozen times over as the factory’s 22 current employees face the prospect of looming unemployment.
Tom Boyett, manager of Julie Hat, says mop-up work will continue through the end of the week, finishing up the company’s few remaining orders.
“We will have the Department of Labor coming in to help our employees find new jobs,” he says. “Many of them have been very loyal and we want to make sure they are taken care of.”
Glenda Cason and Jena Todd are examples of the longevity. The two have done the company’s accounting since 1980. Todd started as a newly-wed and recent high school graduate that year.
“I walked in and told Mr. Dedi Thomas I needed a job and I have been here ever since,” Todd says. “Mrs. Glenda took up where my parents left off and finished raising me.”
Boyett, who has been manager of the plant since 1996, says he, too, is sad to see the closing come.
“We’ve had great employees and great times here,” he says wistfully, his desk surrounded by product samples and catalogues from the company’s hey day. “We’ve had a good run at Julie Hat.”
The company, founded in 1979 by Benny James, began in Waycross and was named for James’ daughter, Julie. Shortly after, the business was bought by Patterson businessmen J.P. Barnard, Buddy Echols and Dedi Thomas and Sam Scott of Waycross. The factory was moved to its current location on Industrial Drive in Patterson and did a booming business.
Originally housed in a 15,000 square foot building, the factory more than doubled during an expansion in 1989, maxing out at 35,000 square feet. At its high water mark, the company also employed as many as 175 people.
In addition to hats and caps, Julie Hat has also manufactured aprons, bags, stadium seat cushions and has done screenprinting and embroidery on t-shirts.
Boyett says the current recession is the backbreaking blow, but he points out other factors play a major role in the closing. America’s cut-and-sew industry began having difficulty in the mid-1990s. Government policies such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) turned out to be the death knell for Julie Hat and thousands of companies like it.
“First the sewing, cap and apparel jobs went to Mexico and now they have gone to China,” Boyett points out. “The Chinese can offer a product six or seven dollars cheaper per piece than we can. We just can’t compete with that.”
Company owner Buddy Echols agrees.
“Basically, the trade agreements just made the industry unprofitable,” says Echols.
Boyett points out the number of American sewing factories represented at the industry’s annual conferences dropped from 45 in 1996 to just three in 2007. Julie Hat was one of those three.
The company managed to hang on by adapting and putting out high-quality products, however ” many with national and international appeal. Reducing staff and abandoning half the factory’s floor space were also part of the company’s survival.
A Japanese firm bought thousands of Patterson-made caps, fueled by an Ashton Kutcher-induced style creating a youthful demand for trucker caps.
“They wouldn’t buy the Chinese-made hats,” says Boyett. “They had to come from America.”
Julie Hat was happy to oblige.
The company has also made thousands of caps for the U.S. military, including many shipped to Iraq. Closer to home, caps worn by UPS drivers all over the nation and bibs worn by caddies in both the Professional Golf Association (PGA) and Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tournaments were made in little ol’ Patterson.
“The caddy bibs have kept us alive for the last little while,” says Boyett.
Lately, environmentally-friendly caps, made from recycled plastic soft drink bottles, have kept the factory running.
Julie Hat turned a profit as late as two years ago, but things have deterioriated since. The company eventually lost the UPS contract as part of a total uniform shift by the company to a source in China.
The Chinese, of course, don’t have minimum wage requirements, insurance, worker’s compensation or other benefits to worry about in competition, Boyett points out.
“They pay people 60 cents an hour to work 60 hours per week,” he says. “Our latest minimum wage increase was more than a Chinese worker earns per hour.”
In addition to losing the UPS contract, that’s when fuel surcharges, the looming recession and even the housing market began to spell the end.
“We are wasting money keeping the doors open,” Boyett says dejectedly. “Unless there is a miracle from God, we will close up by Friday.”
Boyett says the “green industry” might offer a glimmer of hope of saving the factory, but right now there is nothing concrete. Echols says the owners are looking at all options, including selling or leasing.
“We have some folks who have expressed an interest in the company and in the building, but right now that’s all it is. There is nothing set in stone.”
Patterson Mayor Sammie June Thomas says the closing will be a big blow for Patterson.
“I am saddened to see Julie Hat close,” she says. “They’ve been good for our community. Still, I am hopeful we can find something to bring jobs back to our area.”
Meanwhile, on the production floor, remaining crew members are finishing up the last remaining orders. The last day won’t be easy.
Seamstress Norris Sapp has been with the company for almost two decades. She says the closing has been hard to take.
“I’ll be honest with you,” says Sapp. “I will miss coming to work here. On the last day, I will probably shed some tears.”
Read these stories and more in the January 21 edition of The Blackshear Times
(Subscribers click here to log in and read the entire paper online.)
• MLK remembered: Maureen Brown is honored as King Holiday top citizen
• Patterson domestic dispute turns into stand-off: Incident lasts for almost seven hours
• Comfort Inn coming in spring
• Blackshear reviewing 5 percent hotel tax
• Bidding for new school underway
• Ag building needs room to grow: Commissioners asked to expand facility’s cramped quarters
• County shelling out more for beaver bounty
 |
 |
|
| NEW! Give us your best quips, quotes and comments on The Vent | Lawmen identify Connell murder suspect |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of theblacksheartimes.com
.
