The Arlington-Va.-based Synthetic Yarn and Fabric Association (SYFA) recently held its annual spring conference at the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel in Charlotte. The conference was titled, “Building Competitive Advantage in Textiles … New Value Drivers,” and featured a wide variety of helpful and interesting presentations.
David Adkins, director of the Americas, Sales, Lenzing Fibers, was the keynote speaker on the first day of the conference and he spoke about the man-made cellulosic fiber market. Other presenters covered a wide range of topics and came from such companies as Patagonia, The Textile Foundry, Sigma Technologies, Daikin America Inc., Brooks Sports Inc., Wells Fargo Securities LLC, TS Designs, Nilit America Inc. and PCI Wood Mackenzie.
During the meeting, the board of directors elected Machell Apple, Grand Rapids, Mich.-based True Textiles, as president to serve a two-year term. Apple replaced outgoing president Roger Crossfield, managing partner, CTC Development Co. LLC. Other officers elected to serve during the 2017-19 term include first vice president Hardy Sullivan, Crypton LLC; second vice president Dan Sistrunk, Milliken & Company; and secretary/treasurer Aladair Carmichael, PCI Wood Mackenzie. Jim Netzel, Dak Americas; Chris Schultz, Applied Materials – Newell Brands; Meredith Boyd, Unifi Inc.; and Kim Hall, Pharr Yarns, will serve as directors during the 2017-19 period.
Sponsors for the spring conference included Gold Sponsor Premiere Fibers Inc.; Silver Sponsor Pulcra Chemicals LLC; Bronze Sponsors Burlington, DAK Americas LLC, PolySpinTex Inc. and Techtextil North America; and Patrons and Exhibitors Sponsors 4M Plants S.r.l., American Fiber Manufacturers Association, Clariant Masterbatches, Durafiber Technologies, Glen Raven, Goulston Technologies Inc., Industrial Fabrics Association International, Milliken & Company, National Council of Textile Organizations, Stein Fibers Ltd., Unifi Manufacturing Inc. and William Barnet & Son.
SYFA will hold its fall conference October 26-27, 2017, at the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel.
May/June 2017
