LIGHTS GO DOWN IN LAST RITCHIE GARMENT FACTORY

(04/06/2004)

Turn the lights out! The last of Ritchie County's garment factories has been destroyed by the North American Free Trade Act, according to owner Lee Biles. "It wasn't because of the people ... It's just because we couldn't get the work," he said. Biles said, even though workers in Ritchie County were working for low-end wages, the garments can be made in Mexico 75% cheaper. His company - Five B's - tried to compete by promoting their garments were made in America. It didn't work. Ritchie County once had several garment plants, now gone. Kellwood, the former Spencer Manufacturing Company, which once supplied several hundred jobs to regional workers, was among other garment makers that shifted to Mexico.

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