October 29, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Almost two months after learning that Omega Apparel would be closing its doors in Smithville, county and city leaders have reached a deal with a new apparel manufacturer to begin operations there. The transition could begin as early as this week.
During Monday night’s monthly meeting, County Mayor Tim Stribling announced to the county commission that the California based company has signed a two year lease including renewal options with the county industrial development board and City of Smithville which own the buildings located near downtown.
The parent company is a textile manufacturer with 30 plus years of experience and has operations in Mexico and Taiwan as well as the United States producing first quality sports apparel and other garments.
Stribling did not disclose the name of the manufacturer nor provide any further details about the operation saying the President of the company would make a statement about his plans at a later time. He did praise all those involved in helping him secure this deal.
“County Attorney Hilton Conger, Smithville Mayor Josh Miller, City Attorney Vester Parsley, and I have worked hard on this over the last month and I want to thank them for their help. This gentleman flew in here from California and initially met with me, Mr. Conger and representatives of the Upper Cumberland Development District to work out the details and draw up a lease. Things went quiet for a while and we didn’t hear back from him but on Thursday Mr. Conger got word that things were about to happen quickly and informed me that we needed to move on it so the lease was signed today (Monday). It’s a two year lease with two-2 year renewable options for a total of six years. This is good news for the county. It will keep people employed so the factory will not have to close completely and open back up,” said County Mayor Stribling.
In September, officials of Omega Apparel informed its employees that the company had decided to close its Smithville operation. After one worker asked why, a spokesman reportedly said the plant was closing due to a large previous debt too big to overcome.
Although Omega had contracts with the federal government to manufacture military apparel, it produced other product lines too according to an employee who spoke with WJLE but asked not to be identified.
“We had the contract for the Navy dress blues, the women’s white slacks and the last cut of the Armed Services uniform skirt,” he said. However, the plant was also under subcontract with an east Tennessee company to produce parkas, some for the military and some commercially.
Repeated phone call requests to talk with company officials in September went unanswered and WJLE was not able to confirm the allegation of a large debt.
Omega Apparel began operation here in 1994 and later changed ownership. It reportedly employed approximately 130 people.