South Korean manufacturer will bring PPE facility and new jobs to NC town
A South Korean company bringing its first U.S. manufacturing facility to Garner boasts that it makes clothing for one out of every three Americans.
Hansae Co., an apparel company, will produce personal protective equipment (PPE), the town announced Monday. The facility will focus on surgical masks with plans to “expand to other products in the future depending on the market conditions,” the release said.
Hansae Co. will initially hire up to 10 employees and invest $2 million in the new location, the town said. The company will be located at the Greenfield North Business Park at the intersection of U.S. Business Highway 70 and Interstate 40.
Hansae Co. makes clothes for several popular U.S. apparel brands, including GAP, H&M, Old Navy, Ralph Lauren and American Eagle across operations in seven countries, exporting over $1 billion in clothes annually, according to its website.
“Opening our facility in North Carolina was an easy choice,” said Hermann Chiu, Hansae Co. vice president of sales, in a news release. “The environment is conducive to establishing a business.”
The company seeks to open operations in the last quarter of 2020 and be will be run by Apparel Manufacturing Partners, a subsidiary.
Through its office in Seoul, South Korea, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina helped bring Hansae Co. to North Carolina, said Korey Howard, the partnership’s business development director.
Hansae Co. and the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University developed a collaboration between the company and the college’s students last year, and Hansae Co. looked for real estate in the Triangle after that, Howard said.
“It’s a small investment, but Hansae Co. is a very well-known company in the Korean textile industry and with their relationship with the College of Textiles, this is kind of a foothold in the state for them,” Howard said in an interview. “Once they’re here, they can access some of [the local] talent and see what the business ecosystem is like here, so there will be bigger and better things down the road for businesses like them.”
Joe Stallings, Garner’s economic development director, said in an email that a business partner helped connect Hansae Co. to the town’s staff to arrange the company’s move.
Michael Haley, executive director of Wake County Economic Development, said Hansae will join more than 700 foreign-owned firms in the Research Triangle region, according to the news release. “This will further strengthen our international business community,” Haley said.
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 6:15 AM with the headline "South Korean manufacturer will bring PPE facility and new jobs to NC town."
