NCTO Announces Winner of the 2020 Paul T. O’Day Memorial Scholarship

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Council of Textile Organization’s (NCTO) Fiber Council announces Lauren Biggs of Charlotte, NC as the recipient of the 2020 Paul T. O’Day Scholarship Award.  She is the daughter of Sheila Price and Alexander Graham Biggs, III, who is employed by Unifi, Inc.

Ms. Biggs graduated in June with high honors from Myers Park High School.  She will attend the University of South Carolina entering the program for Computer Science this fall.  She is grateful to the NCTO Paul T. O’Day Scholarship Committee for choosing her as this year’s scholarship recipient stating, “Your generosity is truly humbling and greatly appreciated. Being awarded the Paul T. O’Day Scholarship will make a huge difference in my finances while I work to achieve my goal of becoming a creative problem solver, leader and innovator in the fiber industry just as Mr. O’Day was for so many years.  Thank you again for this honor.  I hope to one day give back to those who gave so much.”

NCTO Fiber Council Chairman David Poston, President of Palmetto Synthetics LLC, commented, “We are pleased to recognize Ms. Biggs’s record of achievements and passion for learning as we name her the 2020 recipient of our Paul T. O’Day Memorial Scholarship.  On behalf of the Fiber Council, we congratulate Ms. Biggs and wish her continued success in her academic career.”

The scholarship program was created in 2014 in honor of Paul T. O’Day who served as President of the American Fiber Manufacturers Association (AFMA) for more than three decades. The Association merged with the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) in April 2018, and NCTO’s Fiber Council now administers the scholarship program.  Recipients receive a $5,000 award each year, totaling $20,000 for four years of study.  Sons or daughters of NCTO’s Fiber Council member company employees are eligible to apply.

 

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers, including artificial and synthetic filament and fiber producers.

  • U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 585,240 in 2019.
  • The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $75.8 billion in 2019.
  • U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $29.1 billion in 2019.
  • Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.5 billion in 2018, the last year for which data is available.

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