Long entered the textile industry after spending nearly 20 years working in finance in Europe. (Photo: Instagram/American Woolen)
A textile factory in Connecticut that shut down in 2013, leaving 85 people without jobs, is now producing fabric for the US military. The 475,000-square-foot Warren Mills complex in Stafford Springs was purchased in 2014 by Jacob Harrison Long, a former investment banker who had never run a manufacturing business. Twelve years later, the factory employs about 50 people and supplies material for military uniforms, as Long continues his efforts to rebuild wool manufacturing in the United States.
The factory’s return to production came at a time when much of America’s clothing and textile manufacturing had already moved overseas. Long, however, believed there was still a market for expensive, high-quality fabrics made in the country. Rather than compete with manufacturers producing cheaper textiles in large quantities, he wanted to build a business around specialised woollen and worsted fabrics.
American Woolen Company began supplying fabric for Army service dress uniforms in 2019, according to CT Insider’s report. In early 2013, he acquired the American Woolen Company name, which had once belonged to a prominent American textile business. The mill’s former general manager, Guy Burkhead, said employees had an average length of service of 18 years when the previous business closed, according to a report by Connecticut Public Radio. Some had worked there for as long as 40 years. By September 2014, 21 former employees had been rehired, and additional recruitment was planned.
His decision has since led to contracts with the US Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. It later expanded its customer base to include other military branches and clothing manufacturers. The business has survived for more than a decade, but Long has a bigger ambition. He wants to see more textile factories operating across Connecticut and New England, a region that once played an important role in American manufacturing. For him, keeping the Stafford Springs mill running is only one part of that effort. He began exploring whether a comparable approach could work in the US textile industry. His original plan did not involve owning a factory. He considered outsourcing production while concentrating on designing and selling fabrics. However, after studying the available manufacturing facilities, he decided that producing the material himself would give the business greater control over quality. The new company began bringing workers back as production restarted.