Mayor to reopen Greene County stocking manufacturing plant

UNION POINT - The Chipman Union stocking factory, which closed last year and put more than 700 people out of work, will reopen this summer under new management led by Union Point Mayor Ben Stewart. <br> <br> The plant -- once the city&#39;s largest employer -- will open as Union Hosiery. Stewart was to complete the acquisition this week, with the new plant scheduled to open in July. <br> <br> Union Hosiery initially will employ about 120 people. <br> <br> Stewart is buying the company through his Stewart Properties LLP. He declined to disclose terms of the deal and was unavailable for comment Wednesday. <br> <br> Stewart owns about 60 Stewart Finance offices in Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. The textile manufacturing industry is his latest business venture. <br> <br> Union Point, with a population of 1,669 residents, is about six miles northeast of Greensboro. Chipman Union closed operations in Union Point and Greensboro last year, eliminating about 700 jobs. The company began as a textile mill in 1884.