Chuck Hayes, longtime CEO of Guilford Mills, dies at 68

Posted 11:20AM on Tuesday 23rd July 2002 ( 22 years ago )

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Charles Albert "Chuck" Hayes, the longtime leader of the struggling textile giant Guilford Mills, died Sunday in South Carolina. He was 68. Hayes had been with Guilford Mills for more than 40 years, and continued to serve as chairman of the company after stepping down from his post as chief executive officer in 2000. "Guilford Mills will always be synonymous with Chuck Hayes," current CEO John Emrich said Sunday night. Relatives said Hayes was vacationing in South Carolina when he died. He had bought a summer condominium at Myrtle Beach on Thursday to serve as a retreat. A funeral home director at Forbis & Dick Guilford Chapel in Greensboro said he had not received a death certificate as of Sunday night and did not know the cause of death. Hayes, who lived in Greensboro, had been active in efforts to win government help for the textile industry and to shape state government in ways friendly to business. He was president of the industry's leading lobbying group, the Washington, D.C.-based American Textile Manufacturers Institute. The group represents about 200 textile manufacturers and suppliers. The millionaire philanthropist will also be remembered for his humbling personal journey to earn his high school diploma years after he had helped to build Guilford Mills into a Fortune 500 powerhouse. After dropping out of high school at age 16, Hayes worked as a dairy farmer in upstate New York. To help make ends meet, he went to work part time for a dye company that did business with Guilford Mills, run by then chief executive James Hornaday. In 1961, Hayes sold his farm, moved to Greensboro and invested the proceeds in Guilford. Ten years later, Hayes was tapped to lead the company as chief executive, the same year it went public. Under Hayes, Guilford Mills be came a dominant player in the textile industry and marked a series of mile stones, earning a spot on the Fortune 500 by 1988. In interviews, Hayes said he long regretted his lack of education, complaining frequently that he was a poor speller. In 1994, years after becoming a millionaire, Hayes earned his GED from Guilford Technical Community College. A generous Democratic political contributor and philanthropist, Hayes also acknowledged to being a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. He said treatment he received at the Pavillon Treatment and Renewal Center in Polk County saved his life. His influence led state politicians to steer almost $7 million in state loans and grants toward the 30-bed drug and alcohol abuse clinic that treated the affluent. Hayes was among the collection of high-powered corporate executives and elder statesmen Gov. Mike Easley assembled early in his term as politicians sought to identify potential tax increases. He was also known as a community leader who had given both time and money to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and local literacy programs, helping others to achieve what he did not until relatively late in life. "He was a firm believer in education," said son David Hayes. "Every time the family has gotten together for the past 10 or 15 years, that's what we've heard about." Guilford Mills, a producer of fabrics used in automobiles and apparel, filed for bankruptcy March 13 joining three other North Carolina textile giants under bankruptcy court protection. The company lost $161 million in 2001 yet remained one of the state's largest companies with more than 4,000 employees. The company blamed much of its financial troubles on a flood of cheap imports that followed 1994's North American Free Trade Agreement, which eliminated or reduced tariffs and restrictions on textile imports from Mexico.

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