Where ideas and opportunity are woven into reality...
The Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC) and Catawba County are the premiere destination for innovative and emerging textile companies specializing in advanced textiles, sustainable materials, and cutting-edge manufacturing processes.
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Here's why...
The Manufacturing Solutions Center can help you...
IMPROVE.
Accredited ISO/IEC 17025 Testing Lab offers diverse methods for textiles, furniture, plastics, and more, ensuring product quality.
INNOVATE.
Provides product development prototyping resources, solving manufacturing issues and helping you acheive your product goals.
CONNECT.
Connects domestic manufacturers and suppliers within the textile supply chain or helping source domestic materials.
EMPOWER.
Empowers the next generation of textile talent through comprehensive training programs designed to grow skills and knowledge in modern textiles manufacturing.
ACCELERATE.
Houses an on-site ecosystem designed to rapidly develop, launch, and scale products/companies, while ensuring incubator clients retain full control if their IP.
GROW.
Green marketing is a practice whereby companies seek to go above and beyond traditional marketing methods.
Trusted by Companies and Entrepreneurs
Throughout the Country...
Relocated HQ from
Washington State
Relocated HQ
from Washington State
UNDER ONE ROOF
"It's this intersection of textiles, of testing, of biotech, of prototyping that is all under one roof that really doesn't exist anywhere else in the country."
Jordan Schindler
CEO & Founder of Clothing 2.0
Relocated HQ
from Florida
SAVED US TIME
"The knowledge that they're able to sort of bring in and impart to us has saved us so much time... It's been helpful for us to be able to pull from the MSC prestige."
Jason Wilkins
Managing Partner of Innovaknits
Relocated Operations/R&D
from Illinois
PRIME LOCATION
“The MSC places us in a prime geographic location within the US textiles industry. The resources and support available at MSC will undoubtedly accelerate our innovation & growth.”
Matt
Padberg
CEO of
Pleneri
Strategically located in one of
the best business climates in the country...
Save
Money
The Hickory MSA, which includes Catawba County, is ranked #1 in the U.S. for the lowest business costs, according to Forbes.com. Catawba County and its municipalities prioritize maintaining low property tax rates, while North Carolina boasts the most competitive corporate income tax rate in the country. Additionally, the manufacturing and textile industry average wages are below the national average. Catawba County further benefits from a low Cost of Living Index and competitive industrial power rates.
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Find Experienced Workers
Within a 45-minute drive, Catawba County offers access to a population of over 822,000 and a skilled, experienced labor force of more than 413,000. The county has the highest percentage of manufacturing employees in both North and South Carolina, triple the national average. Over 24,000 workers are employed by more than 420 manufacturers in the county, which maintains a unionization rate of less than 1%. Additionally, 27,566 workers are employed by North Carolina’s textile manufacturers, with 4,575 within a 45-minute drive time.
Reach Customers & Resources
Bisected by I-40 and located less than 30 minutes from I-77 and I-85, Catawba County is within a one-day drive of 60% of the U.S. population. The county is also less than an hour from Charlotte Douglas International Airport. North Carolina is home to many leading textile research centers and industry organizations, several of which are located in the immediate region. This proximity has fostered a growing cluster of advanced textile companies and suppliers within a 50-mile radius.
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Train & Upskilll
Employees
Catawba County is home to three higher education institutions: Lenoir-Rhyne University, Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC), and Appalachian State University at Hickory. These institutions are committed to partnering with industries to provide tailored training programs for employees at all levels – from production workers to engineers and management. Innovative initiatives like K-64, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Catawba Promise, and CVCC’s Workforce Solutions Complex further support this collaboration.
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At the hub of the national research and
industry partnerships that are
pushing the textile industry forward...
NCTISE
The North Carolina Textile Innovation & Sustainability Engine
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The North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine (NCTISE) will advance our nation’s capacity for innovations in textiles that maintains a lens of environmental sustainability and with an eye toward circularity, positioning the Engine as a global leader in this sector.
Advanced Functional
Fabrics of America
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AFFOA is revolutionizing the textile industry by transforming traditional fibers, yarns and textiles into highly sophisticated, integrated, and networked devices and systems, enabling novel products & business models that leverage fabrics as a service.