If Steve Hawkins had an American Dream, it wasn’t the rise from dishwasher to millionaire, but this sight at nine o’clock in the morning: a hall full of modern sewing machines, 70 wage earners, the return of industrial production to the heart of America Cotton Belt, in the heart of the southern states, in the small town of Swainsboro, 7500 inhabitants, in the state of Georgia.
“After all, we’re in the middle of the famous Cottonbelt. A few decades ago, we were leaders in textile production here,” he says firmly, reaching for a freshly made white T-shirt.
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