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INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, and The Nonwovens Institute (NWI), announced a collaboration agreement to provide continuing education to the nonwovens industry. This agreement expands upon the ongoing partnership between INDA and NWI, whereby the two organizations have successfully presented training programs, covering the full spectrum of the nonwovens value chain from raw materials to processes to products.

Under terms of the agreement, INDA and NWI will develop and present a full roster of training courses, featuring a combination of classroom learning supported by hands-on activities in NWI’s world-class nonwoven production and testing labs on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University. The two organizations will also work together to explore additional educational programming to serve the needs of the nonwovens industry as they evolve over time.

The current roster of INDA/NWI training courses include:

• Elementary Nonwovens
• Intermediate Nonwovens
• Fiber and Filament Extrusion Fundamentals
• Meltblown Technology
• Nonwoven Bonding Fundamentals
• Nonwoven Fabric Property Development and Characterization
• Nonwoven Product Development and Innovation
• Spunbond Technology

Course registration is open to INDA/NWI members and non-members. The INDA/NWI Short Course Value Pack program enables companies to purchase a block of registrations, which can be used by any combination of employees to register for any combination of training courses, at a discounted rate. Value Packs are available in bundles of 5, 10, 15, and 20 registrations, with discounts ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent, depending on the size of the Value Pack.

North Carolina educational institutions are joining forces with an Honduran university to educate and train thousands of students for the next generation textile workforce to meet a rising tide of nearshoring and onshoring in Honduras, Central America and the United States.

The U.S. Department of State issued a statement of public support for the MOU and the unique collaboration between the U.S. and Honduran institutions.

The initiative will launch a series of educational workforce development programs, ranging from training and certificate programs to undergraduate and graduate degrees, in textile-related areas of study.
 
The partnership comes at a defining moment for the U.S., Honduras and Central America, which are seeing historical levels of investment in textile and apparel production stemming from a global supply chain crisis that has driven a significant shift in sourcing out of Asia to the U.S. and the region. Nearly $1 billion of historic textile and apparel investment is anticipated in the U.S. and Central America this year alone. And this partnership also creates an educational pathway to economic opportunity in Honduras and the region that not only creates a skilled and resilient workforce but can also help to address the root causes of irregular migration.

Current growth projections indicate a need for more than 10,000 new skilled workers in the textile industry in Honduras alone over the next five years.

The U.S. and this region are inextricably linked through a textile and apparel co-production chain under the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) that has generated $12.6 billion in annual two-way trade in the sector and supports 1 million workers in the U.S. and the region.
 
North Carolina plays a central role in this co-production chain. It is the second largest state for textile employment nationally with over 36,000 workers, and the state’s $2.7 billion in textile-related exports leads the nation. The Northern Triangle, including Honduras, is a major export destination for U.S. yarns and fabrics that come back as finished items under the U.S.-CAFTA-DR trade agreement.