Fire Rescue News - Absecon Mills textile factory to bring back workers after devastating fire

Posted: Thursday, April 21, 2011 8:01 pm | Updated: 11:08 pm, Thu Apr 21, 2011.

By JENNIFER BOGDAN Staff Writer pressofAtlanticCity.com

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — The massive mechanical looms at Absecon Mills are once again churning out material at the factory where a devastating fire struck less than a month ago. By Monday, the company expects to have all of its 100 employees back on the job.

Each day the factory was closed was a day too long for....Continue Reading

company President and CEO Randy Taylor. Although getting his employees back to work will be an accomplishment, Taylor said he’s still focused on everything that’s left to do.

“I’m the kind of person who wants to exceed expectations,” Taylor said. “I’m still frustrated with the pace. When someone tells me something will be done tomorrow, I want to know why it isn’t today.”

On April 3, a nighttime fire destroyed the company’s shipping and receiving area, some stock and a small weaving room with 12 looms — a little more than 13 percent of the company’s 90 looms.

Fire walls at the factory on the corner of Vienna and Aloe avenues kept the blaze from spreading into offices and the main manufacturing area. Those rooms still sustained heavy smoke and water damage, which has left the company to professionally clean its remaining 78 looms and replace carpet in its office space.

Replacement looms have been ordered from Germany but won’t be delivered for nearly two months. In the meantime, the company plans to run double shifts to keep up with production.

About one-third of the company’s workers have already been brought back to work at the plant in the Cologne section of the township where the now-rusted debris from the fire still remains. The company plans to rebuild the damaged areas.

When will that process begin?

“As soon as possible, if not sooner,” Taylor said earlier this week as he walked amid looms still covered in plastic to protect them from soot.

Gaily Von Schlichting, director of communications for Absecon Mills, said the employees are optimistic and many of the company’s customers have called saying they plan to remain loyal to the brand. Still, walking among the debris left behind the fire is difficult, she said.

“It leaves a little bit of pain to see what’s been lost here,” Von Schlichting said.

It’s possible the company might never find out why the fire began. Galloway Fire Chief Ron Garbutt said while it’s clear that the blaze started along the back wall of the shipping area, officials still aren’t sure what caused it.

“We know that the fire wasn’t suspicious,” Garbutt said. “Other than that, it doesn’t seem likely that we’re going to have an exact cause due to the extent of the damage. With the amount of heat and what’s been destroyed, inspectors couldn’t point to any one thing.”

Absecon Mills, which opened in 1978, is one of the area’s largest manufacturers. Taylor started the company with just seven employees and 10 looms. The textiles produced at the plant are now shipped all over the world. Nationally, the fabrics are used in seating at Regal Cinemas, Newark’s Prudential Center and Madison Square Garden. The company also has government contracts.

Textile manufacturing is a decades-old tradition in the Taylor family. Taylor’s brother, Douglass, is president and CEO of Douglass Industries — another textile plant in nearby Egg Harbor City. That plant was founded by the Taylor brothers’ parents in 1954. The brothers co-own both businesses.

Had it not been for his brother and Douglass Industries, Absecon Mills would have had a much more difficult time getting back on its feet, Randy Taylor said. All customer service operations for Absecon Mills are currently being run out of the Egg Harbor City facility.

Contact Jennifer Bogdan 609-272-7239 JBogdan@pressofac.com