Today our class visited Glen Raven Inc. in Glen Raven. The primary function of the company is dyeing and processing textiles. They are a global company that distributes performance fabrics to manufacturers who use the fabrics to create products for clients. Established in 1880, the Glen Raven Inc. has been passed down throughout the Gant family for 4 generations. Founder John Q. Gant established his company with a solid emphasis on quality.
The slogan for Glen Raven, “Let endless possibilities begin” enhances the vision for the company and pushes employees to always be creating the next bigger and better products. A main goal of the organization is to create products that companies do not even know that they need yet. This one-step-ahead mentality allows the company to be successful against competitors in similar markets creating the same products.
Glen Raven is a private company that operates for profit. One unique thing about the Glen Raven company is that rather than taking in all of the revenue to the Gant family, the family actually reinvests its income back to the company so that newer and more innovate designs can be produced. This allows Glen Raven to expand their target clients and create products that can be used in a wide range of various fields. Some of their main productions go into fields such as: military, furniture, automotive, protective, filtration, mining, and logistics. All of these various departments allow Glen Raven to be a diverse company with a diverse client base.
Much of the discussion focused around the marketing strategies of the company. I found it very interesting how much emphasis the company puts on its social media presence. Molly Lambert, one of the marketing employees, explained how it is her job to design, manage, and create new social media posts to be seen by both current and potential clients. She explained how she is required to make sure that all of the company posts are managed and responded to in a timely manner, as well as make sure that any emails sent abide by North Carolina spam laws. It was also interesting how she mentioned that working in the social media department can be somewhat of a customer service position. Dealing with problems of clients of Glen Raven can be a tricky task and must be directed to the proper department in order to be managed correctly.
Although Glen Raven is not a widely known company, their products are important and go into many other final products. Their work is important and quality and it was very interesting to have a behind the scenes look at what they do.
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