Page 36 - Montcross Area Chamber NCG

FEATURE

A Revolution in

Textile Innovation

Gaston College’s New Fiber

Innovation Center is the only
facility of its kind in the world.

By Lydia Cobb
T he concept of textile fibers naturally brings to mind

the fashion industry and the design and making of
clothing. Fiber is profoundly more. Beyond fashion
brands, fiber technologies are revolutionizing healthcare
institutions, automotive suppliers, defense departments
– industries similarly focused on creating better textile
solutions that address sustainability, optimal performance,
and how frontline personnel can work with improved
protection and safety.
Enter the new 40,000-square-foot Fiber Innovation
Center at Gaston College – opened in late 2024.
North Carolina continues to be the epicenter of textile
technologies and Gaston College is redefining the industry.
Truetzschler, a German textile machinery manufacturer,
recently donated $1.2 million in equipment to the Belmont-
based Fiber Innovation Center at the college’s Kimbrell
Campus. The donated equipment features technologies
centered on circularity and reducing the carbon footprint of
fiber and textile production.
“The new facility is designed to help revolutionize
the textile industry as we know it,” said Stephen Sharp,
vice president of Fiber Innovation at Gaston College.
“The current process for developing innovative textile
solutions is expensive, timely, and highly fragmented.
With this center, and through Truetzschler’s gracious
donation, textile innovation can occur from conception to
completion, all here at Gaston College.”
The Fiber Innovation Center is the only facility in
the world where scientists, entrepreneurs, and industry
leaders can take a fiber idea and convert it to a textile
product in one place. Other innovative features include a
new polymer development lab and a fiber extrusion line
and yarn preparation capabilities, made possible by the
Truetzschler donation.

32 MontcrossAreaChamber.com