Barnes to attend governors meeting to discuss textile industry woes

GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) -- Four textile-state governors are expected at a meeting next week to discuss problems in the industry. <br> <br> The meeting next Friday would include governors Mike Easley of North Carolina, Jim Hodges of South Carolina, Roy Barnes of Georgia and Mark Warner of Virginia, said officials at Gaston College and the American Yarn Spinners Association. <br> <br> &#34;I&#39;m glad the governors are getting together to talk. I would just be curious first off to hear what they are doing about any number of issues,&#34; said Mike Hubbard, executive vice president of the association. <br> <br> Based in Gastonia, the American Yarn Spinners Association represents about 80 textile corporations and more than 250 plants. <br> <br> The meeting comes as the U.S. textile industry is suffering through its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Manufacturers blame a flood of cheap foreign imports for the shutdown of more than 100 U.S. textile mills in the last year. Also, such industry giants as Burlington Industries, Malden Mills and Guilford Mills have sought bankruptcy protection. <br> <br>