Textile Industry Likes NC Voice

by Tony Mecia, Charlotte Observer

WASHINGTON - The textile industry is applauding the appointment of a native North Carolinian to the top textile post in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

            President Bush named Jim Leonard, a 34-year veteran of Burlington Industries, the department’s deputy assistant secretary for textiles, apparel and consumer goods last month.

            Leonard, 62, oversees about 45 workers who monitor international trade. Staffers follow quota allotments and international shipments of textile and apparel, as well as other goods, including tobacco and shoes.

            Leonard also heads the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, which works with other government agencies to ensure that foreign countries abide by trade pacts.

            Predecessors in Leonard’s post have come from political, not industry, backgrounds. Leonard retired from Burlington in 2000 as the company’s director of government relations. Previously, he was an economic analyst with the Greensboro-based textile giant, now under Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection.

            Robert DuPree of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute said Leonard’s Burlington background makes him well-suited for the job.

            “He knows the industry, and he knows the problems we face,” DuPree said. “It means we’ll get somebody who will give us a fair hearing on our issues.”

            Leonard, a Winston-Salem native who holds undergraduate and graduate mathematics degrees from N.C. State, said he’s been impressed with the administration’s dedication to seeing the textile industry succeed.

            “I am genuinely convinced that this administration is going to be responsive to the industry,” he said.