Rough news for Laurens County. - East Dublin plant to lay off 159 workers.

Once Laurens County's largest employer by far, Victor Forstmann will be down to a little more than 100 workers come July 19. The county's last conventional textile plant announced that 159 of its 270 workers will be laid off.

The company that once employed more than 1,500 workers makes the fabric used in the green jackets given to winners of the Masters golf tournament, the red stripe on the pants of Marine dress uniforms, and the wool used in Major League Baseball caps.

A statement issued by the company said increased competition from China and other Asian markets was "a major factor" in the layoffs. It also noted that in January the World Trade Organization abolished quotas on textiles from developing countries.

The county's largest employer, Mohawk Carpet, is considered a textile industry by the Department of Labor, but Forstmann is the last clothing textile mill in the county. According to Department of Labor figures, nearly 7,400 textile jobs within a 45-mile radius of Dublin have been lost in the past five years.

(5-24-05, The Macon Telegraph.)