ATMI Announces Officers;Ellis Addresses ChallengesIn his keynote address at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI) in Bermuda, ATMI President Doug Ellis addressed recent industry challenges and made some personal predictions about the future of the U.S. textile industry.Ellis acknowledged that the past year and a half has been a difficult one speaking specifically of the Asian financial crisis, the industry battle for the Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) trade package and Chinas entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).Despite these challenges, Ellis said he is pleased with what the industry has accomplished during the last year. For example, the American Textile Alliance (ATA) was formed to represent the entire textile manufacturing complex in the U.S. and could be expanded to include the Canadian and Mexican textile manufacturers.Ellis concluded his address with some personal predictions for the next decade, saying: “it will end up being a very good one for the U.S. textile industry, and history is on my side.”At the meeting, Roger W. Chastain, chief operating officer and director, Mount Vernon Mills Inc., Greenville, S.C., was named president of ATMI. Also elected were Charles A. Hayes, chairman of the board, Guilford Mills Inc., Greensboro, N.C., as first vice president and Van May, president and CEO, Plains Cotton Cooperative Association, Lubbock, Texas, as second vice president. May 2000
