SEAFORD, DE -- Seaford textile manufacturer INVISTA announced it is looking to sell its businesses and five supporting global manufacturing locations, including one in Seaford.
INVISTA posted a press release on its website making the announcement Tuesday and saying, "INVISTA intends to explore strategic alternatives for its nylon fibers business."
"This includes INVISTA’s fiber-focused portfolio: airbag and industrial fibers, the CORDURA® businesses, and five supporting global manufacturing locations: Seaford, Delaware; Martinsville, Virginia; Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Gloucester, UK; and Qingpu, China," the release says.
“Consistent with our Principle Based Management™ business philosophy, INVISTA continuously assesses the external value of assets to make sure they are owned by the company best positioned to grow the business,” said Francis Murphy, INVISTA President and CEO. “Nylon fibers is a great business, and we believe there are other companies with different focus and capabilities that could create even greater value with those assets. If, however, through this process, we find that other companies don’t value it more highly, we’ll continue to operate the business.”
INVISTA purchased the world's first nylon plant and Seaford facility from DuPont in 2004.
Seaford Mayor David Genshaw expressed optimism about the future, citing the $20 million that INVISTA has invested in the local facility over the years.
"The opportunity that INVISITA sees to sell this to somebody who might be interested in growing this business, we look at it as a positive," says Genshaw. "We certainly love to see that site that's a few hundred acres being used more to employ to more people. We certainly would like that for Seaford and Western Sussex."
Phil Kimbrough, who refers to himself as a 'DuPont brat,' and others in the community have been wondering about the future since INVISTA arrived in town. Kimbrough hopes to see the site expand but is prepared for other possibilities
"To leave the facility just standing there and not being used in my opinion might be the cheapest thing," says Kimbrough. "To go in to tear everything down and build something new to me, there'd be a lot of money involved in that. But, let's hope that everything works out for the best."
The Seaford facility currently employs about 120 people. Resident Michael Bedard says he'd hate to see those jobs eliminated.
"I know they hire a lot young people here, so keep more young people here," says Bedard. "We really do need the younger generation to build a legacy cause it's a beautiful area. It's why I moved here."
Mayor Genshaw also says INVISTA will sell all five manufacturing locations as a package deal.
WBOC did reach out to INVISTA to see if there is any more information the company can share.
A spokesperson tells us there are no additional details at this time, but there will be more to come as things progress.
