Techtextil-Symposium North America Announces Glen Raven CEO as its Spring 2008 Keynote Speaker

Technical textile manufacturers, researchers and product specifiers will learn the latest in technology and market trends in high-end textiles and nonwovens during Techtextil-Symposium North America (TTSNA), April 1-3, 2008, at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA.

Held concurrently with Techtextil North America (TTNA), the symposium will contain 13 sessions with more than 65 presentations attended by high-level industry professionals.

Keynote speaker Glen Raven Inc.’s President and CEO, Allen E. Gant, Jr., will discuss the company’s success in the global economy by focusing on specialty fabrics that require high-tech equipment and technical expertise.

“Techtextil-Symposium North America continues to be the industry's leading education forum for technical textiles and nonwovens,” said Bill Smith, TTSNA symposium director. “This year’s symposium will once again draw attendance from the highest-level industry professionals eager to learn what renowned international specialists and leading industry consultants have to say.”

In the keynote, Gant will talk about how the fabric solutions provider is navigating through the industry’s height of change by keeping an eye on sophisticated textiles and new market sectors. Gant, the grandson of Glen Raven’s founder, John Q. Gant, will share how the company continues to grow while the American manufacturing workforce has fallen significantly and irreversibly over the past 25 years.

Global Textiles Focus
In addition, six other presentations will be held during the General Session, including highlights such as:
• Trade Issues – Helping or Hurting?, an outlook on U.S. trade with Matt Priest, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles and Apparel for the U.S. Department of Commerce
• European Technical Textiles – Business Development and the Economic Atmosphere with Werner Zirnzak, the deputy director of Industrieverband Garne - Gewebe - Technische Textilien e. V. (IVGT), the German textile trade association for manufacturers and suppliers of textile raw materials, yarns, fabrics, house textiles and technical textiles

Other sessions cover such topics as: National Textile Center research, global expansion concerns, high-performance engineered flexible materials and structures, protection and multi-functional textiles for military uses, composites, extreme fibers, technical knits, automotive, nanotechnology, body armor for law enforcement protection, and enhancing value by finishing.

For the full Techtextil-Symposium North America 2008 schedule and additonal information on each of the sessions, visit www.techtextilNA.com.

Press Contact:
Stephanie Everett
Messe Frankfurt, Inc.
770-984-8016 ext 424
stephanie.everett@usa.messefrankfurt.com

Techtextil-Symposium North America Contact:
Bill Smith
Symposium Director
Industrial Textile Associates
Tel: 864-292-8121
Fax: 864-292-5333
E-mail: billsmith@intexa.com

Other upcoming Techtextil events worldwide:
- Techtextil Russia (27 - 29 May 2008), Moscow, Russia
- Cinte Techtextil China (20 - 22 October 2008), Shanghai, China
- Techtextil (16 - 18 June 2009), Frankfurt, Germany
- Avantex (16 - 18 June 2009), Frankfurt, Germany
- Techtextil India (October 2009), Mumbai, India