Opportunity Threads
Opportunity Threads is a textile manufacturer in western North Carolina.1 It is a democratically-owned cooperative that produces high-end textiles. Creativity courses through every element of Opportunity Threads from their in-house design and patternmaking to its business model, the way it produces textiles, and the way it treats its employees.2 It is a $1.2 million operation with 20 employees. The cooperative operates a zero-waste facility3 and provides quality jobs: full time work, benefits, living wage, cross-training, and opportunities for ownership.4
Steven L. Dawson, “Social Enterprise: Proceed, with Caution,” The Pinkerton Papers, February 2017, p5, http://www.thepinkertonfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pinkerton-Papers-No4-Dawson-FINAL-WEB.pdf.
2Steven L. Dawson, “Social Enterprise: Proceed, with Caution,” The Pinkerton Papers, February 2017, p5, http://www.thepinkertonfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pinkerton-Papers-No4-Dawson-FINAL-WEB.pdf.
3See “What do you do with scraps?” http://opportunitythreads.com/faq/.
4Steven L. Dawson, “Social Enterprise: Proceed, with Caution,” The Pinkerton Papers, February 2017, p5, http://www.thepinkertonfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pinkerton-Papers-No4-Dawson-FINAL-WEB.pdf.