National embroidery summit at Stevens will examine ways to save the industry
Stevens Institute of Technology will host a summit meeting Nov. 30 to outline a strategy to help save the U.S. embroidery industry, a once-thriving industry in the North Hudson area which has been experiencing a decline in recent years. Summit attendees will encompass all segments of the industry from across the U.S., including embroidery machine manufacturers, the fashion industry, and the computer and e-commerce areas, among others.
The Nov. 30 summit will be a work session from noon to 2:30 p.m. at Stevens' Wesley J. Howe Center, 4th floor Skyline Room. The Howe Center is located about one block east of 8th Street and Castle Point Terrace in Hoboken, N.J. (Note: Press are welcome to attend the full summit, which includes lunch. Please call the contact above to make arrangements. If unable to attend the full event, interviews will be available before and after the event.)
Since the early 1990s, Stevens has been deeply committed to assisting the North Hudson Embroidery Industry as a regional source of local manufacturing in a global economy. The North Hudson Embroidery Industry produces almost 70 percent of the fine embroidered products that are sold in the American market.
In 1997, under the direction of Professor Silvio Laccetti, Stevens undertook an extensive survey of the industry and outlined a plan for assistance. The executed plan resulted in notable successes in obtaining state loan funding for modernization. Stevens and Laccetti were also involved in a public relations campaign on behalf of the industry.
Attendees at the Nov. 30 summit will seek to develop new initiatives involving, for the first time ever, all segments of the embroidery industry, along with critical allied industries. Industrial participants will include Tajima Corporation, Brother, and Hirsch International. Presentations will be made by Professor Ken Parsons of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, by Professor Laccetti, and by Meri Lobel, the Director of Folk Arts for Northern New Jersey with the New Jersey State Endowment for the Arts. Other participants include the United Textile Workers of America, the National Association of Embroidery Professionals, and the Embroidery Trade Association. Organizers expect that an Embroidery Advocacy Program will result from the meeting to coordinate a long-term campaign to revive and improve the industry.
Elements to be discussed include: 1) a personalization campaign - embroidery used as self-expression for monograms, logos, and the like; 2) targeting new industries, e.g., maritime and sailing; 3) designing and advertising an "Embroidery Just In Time" strategy to enhance competitiveness; 4) opening cooperative ventures in the Caribbean; 5) a public awareness campaign; 6) a high-fashion initiative.
The sessions, chaired by Laccetti, Stevens professor of humanities, will include two presentations at a working lunch, an open and frank discussion, and a call to action.
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.
Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
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