08/18/2026
This is great news!
Gaston Campus Selected as Headquarters for Initiative to Transform Defense Textile Manufacturing!
Gaston’s Kimbrell Campus will serve as the headquarters of FutureTEX, a new Manufacturing Innovation Institute focused on strengthening America’s fibers, textiles, and advanced materials manufacturing capabilities. FutureTEX is a 10-year Department of War initiative aimed at modernizing textile manufacturing in the United States to support the defense industry. The FutureTEX award – which includes $36 million in its first year and has a ceiling of $480 million over a decade – brings together industry, government, university and nonprofit partners to advance manufacturing technologies of textiles for military and domestic applications. FutureTEX will champion workforce development and modernization of facilities and equipment to increase U.S. competitiveness.
FutureTEX will empower American textile manufacturing by adopting advanced technologies and techniques to enable manufacturing of new materials and improve capability industry-wide. The initiative is actively recruiting industry partners to be part of the project, and has already received more than 100 letters of support from industry organizations.
FutureTEX’s goal is to work with American manufacturing to capitalize on digital infrastructure and other emerging technologies making the domestic supply network more robust for the defense industrial base. Core partners in establishing FutureTEX include Gaston College, NC State, Drexel University, Georgia Tech, ISAIC and UMass Lowell.
This selection makes Gaston College the first community college in the nation to host a Manufacturing Innovation Institute. For Gaston County, the Institute will create a national center of activity at the intersection of education, manufacturing, research, and economic development. It will attract companies, researchers, government leaders, and investment to the region while helping existing businesses access technologies, talent, training, and technical assistance.
One of the first objectives under FutureTEX will be for Gaston College and NC State to work together to establish a nonprofit organization that will assume administrative oversight of the initiative. This new institute will be housed at the Gaston College’s Kimbrell Campus in Belmont, N.C., with hubs in Raleigh, N.C., Philadelphia, Pa., Lowell, Mass., Atlanta, Ga.
“North Carolina and Gaston County have deep roots in the textile industry dating back to the late 19th century, making it only natural that our state is anchoring an initiative aimed at strengthening advanced textile manufacturing and supporting warfighters,” says John Hauser, president of Gaston College. “With Gaston College’s deep-rooted commitment to workforce development and the textile industry, we are uniquely positioned to propel this manufacturing innovation institute forward with all of our partners.”
“North Carolina and NC State University have an enduring legacy with both the military and textiles industry, with NC State having the only college in North America dedicated to textiles,” says NC State Chancellor Kevin Howell. “We are honored to serve thousands of military affiliated students and participate in research partnerships that support our armed forces, like FutureTEX. I am proud our university will play a critical role in this national effort that will strengthen our economy and defense infrastructure.”
“FutureTEX is focused on creating a cutting-edge national ecosystem for defense textiles that simply doesn’t exist today,” says David Hinks, chief strategic partnerships officer of FutureTEX and the Prakash Chand Kochhar Dean of NC State’s Wilson College of Textiles. “This will involve commercializing applied research to help American textile manufacturing meet the needs of both the warfighter and the domestic textile industry.
“NC State is a leader in technology commercialization, and the Wilson College of Textiles is a leader in applied research and education, so we’re spearheading this project,” says Hinks. “Transferring administrative oversight to a new nonprofit organization will allow us to focus on our strengths – education, innovation, and commercialization.”
“Drexel embraces new models of innovation that eliminate borders between traditional disciplines,” says Genevieve Dion, director of Drexel’s Center for Functional Fabrics. “FutureTEX brings together a collaborative group dedicated to securing the future of textiles across the US supply chain. We are excited to join this crucial effort.”
“NC State is a national leader in technology transfer and industry collaboration,” says Krista Walton, vice chancellor for research and innovation at NC State. “Our extensive expertise in applied research is evidenced by the many products and successful companies that started at NC State – and as a member of more Manufacturing USA institutes than almost any other university in the nation, our long track record of leadership brings unique advantages to this initiative to advance the future of manufacturing.”
