Dublin textile plant laying off 150 workers

DUBLIN - Laurens County&#39;s oldest industry, Victor Forstmann, will lay off 150 people because of a reduction in orders. <br> <br> The layoffs will leave the manufacturer of woolen and worsted fabrics with 425 employees. <br> <br> Until the early &#39;90s, Forstmann was the middle Georgia county&#39;s largest employer with about 15-hundred workers. That number has declined since the North American Free Trade Agreement brought increased foreign competition. <br> <br> The plant opened in the late 1940s. It is the last remnant of the textile industry in Laurens County, not counting the carpet industry, and one of the few large textile plants left in Georgia. <br> <br> After filing for Chapter Eleven bankruptcy protection in 1999, it was purchased by Montreal-based Victor Woolen Products.

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