Mill's revival brings back blankets, US jobs

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FARIBAULT, Minn. — The Faribault Woolen Mills is weaving its way back from oblivion one thread and one American employee at a time.

In 1852, Alexander Faribault founded the Minnesota town bearing his name.

Thirteen years later, the Faribault Woolen Mills opened for business, shipping its products all over the world.

As it blanketed the global marketplace, the factory wove itself into the community — until 2009, that is, when it literally stopped mid-stitch, bankrupted by poor management and a weak economy.

"When they shut the doors here, I was devastated," said 31-year old Jenny Jones, who helped make blankets there for four years until the plant closed. "To drive by here and see this beautiful place closed, it was so hard for me.

"This place means so much; not just to me, but to the community."

The building sat untouched for nearly two years. If you snuck in, you'd see wool still sitting in bins. Blankets were left, half-made. ?

Over time, several interested parties toured the facility, but no buyers. Ultimately, a company operating out of Pakistan offered to buy the equipment. ?

Everything was labeled and tagged for shipment. Then something unbelievable happened. ?

'You could say it was stupidity'
Two men in this quiet community of 23,000 people decided to roll the entrepreneurial dice. ?

Cousins Chuck and Paul Mooty decided to buy it all, from the aging equipment to the formerly global brand.

"The only thing that worked in here were some of the lights," said Paul Mooty, a lawyer who ran another business for the better part of a decade before taking over the woolen mill. ?

At first blush, it didn't appear to be a very good idea.

"For the baseline story, I guess you could say it was stupidity," said Chuck Mooty, who was a retired executive at Dairy Queen.

Both men were successful, and neither needed the money, so why risk family money on a rusty old company that hadn't registered a sale in two years?

"We were both ready for a new challenge," Chuck Mooty said. "It's about bringing jobs back. It's about bringing opportunities back to a number of people. And so it has that community piece.

"It also has that business piece of competition, of how do we take a neat nostalgic brand and hopefully try to create it to be relevant in today's world?"

Faribault Woolen Mills now has 35 employees, most of whom worked there before the company was shuttered in 2009.

The Mooty cousins told NBC that although they're not yet profitable, they are fully funded. In addition, they expect the number of employees to rise to 50 by year's end and double that in 2012.

The impact has already been monumental for the community. ?

"When I got the call, I was excited. I was jumping around," said Jones, who had gone back to school to earn her teaching degree. She dropped that plan the moment an opening became available at the mill. "I love getting up every day coming in here. ?

"It's great having a job again."

The Mooty family is banking on the Faribault Woolen Mills brand and its intrinsic value. It has a 145-year old history and has warmed an incredible range of people — from soldiers in World War I to passengers on airplanes.

Chuck and Paul Mooty also think the return of manufacturing jobs to the Minnesota community could be repeated in other parts of the country.

"People are a little tired of hearing, 'We can't do it,'" Paul Mooty said. "We can do it. We're going to do it here. And I think that message can hopefully carry over to other industries and get back to manufacturing here (in the U.S.)."

Chuck Mooty is less rah-rah when talking about possible manufacturing growth in the United States.

"We bring, hopefully, a competitive price and timeline that says, 'You know what, I'm going to support domestic,'" said Mooty, who noted that fuel, labor and shipping costs are more expensive in emerging markets than they used to be.

The mill means more than just a job for many of the 35 people working there.

Mary Boudreau, 76, worked at the mill for 50 years and came back when it reopened.

"I'd like to see the place go again," she said as she worked with Jones to set a loom for a new rug pattern. "I started here in 1954, and here I am. Still here." ?

And so is the Faribault Woolen Mills.