Georgia's Textiles/Carpet Industry

Georgia's textile industry includes apparel, carpet, and textile companies employing almost 107,000 workers and generating an annual payroll of $2.7 billion, making it the state's largest manufacturing employer. Georgia is also the U.S.'s second largest textile employment state.

The industry is the 6th largest exporter in Georgia, selling goods valued at $830 million to some 80 countries. In all, more than 700 textile companies in Georgia ship products valued at $20 billion annually. A key indicator of the industry's vitality is its investment in plant and equipment. Annually, the textile industry invests more than $400 million to upgrade, expand, and modernize its manufacturing facilities, to further protect the environment, and to safeguard its workforce.

The textile industry in Georgia is heavily weighted by carpet manufacturers whose products represent nearly half of all textile shipments in Georgia, over 74 percent of all carpet shipments in the United States, and over 44 percent of the world's total. Georgia is home to 174 carpet mills employing more than 50,000 people with an annual payroll in excess of $2 billion.

In contrast, Georgia's apparel operations continue to decline, cutting more than 20,000 jobs between 1997 and 2000. NAFTA and competition from low-wage countries around the world contribute to the apparel industry's accelerated decline.