Some of the biggest names in US activewear will assemble in Honduras later this month for the Apparel Summit of the Americas where attendees can tour the new United Textiles of Americas (Utexa) synthetic yarn spinning operation.
Taking place from 27-29 November in San Pedro Sula, the core event will be centred around the grand opening of the new Utexa operation. Built in Choloma, Honduras, it is 500,000 sq ft in size and contains state-of-the-art equipment – most of it of European design – to produce, texturise and finish massive amounts of yarn.
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The event is being organised and promoted to the US industry by the Americas Apparel Producers’ Network (AAPN). Currently, around 230 people from 115 organisations have registered to attend, including nearly 20 US brands and retailers.
The summit was initially inspired by the Honduras 2020 plan, presented at the AAPN Annual Conference in 2016.
After that event, Chuy Canahuati of Elcatex convened meetings in Honduras with producers from El Salvador and Guatemala to coordinate the goals of Honduras 2020 and how the results would significantly increase capacity for the exploding market in activewear in the US.
As forecast by the plan, today Honduras is attracting many millions in foreign investment; creating thousands of new jobs; improving infrastructure and ports; enhancing education; building safe affordable housing; generating stable renewable energy; and increasing the capacity for apparel production in the Americas.
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By GlobalDataThe keynote speaker at the conference will be Simon Mainwaring, a specialist insustainability and ‘purpose-driven brands’, who will analyse the purpose and visionary plan of Honduras 2020.
Other speakers include Ed Gribbin, CEO of Gribbin Strategic; Kurt Cavano, founder and president of GT Nexus an Infor Company; and Anthony Anzovino, chief sourcing and merchandising officer of Haggar Clothing Co.
A panel session will also comprise Steve Cochran, CEO of Tegra Global; David Ha, CEO of TexOps; Aaron Ledet, VP of Americas sourcing, VF Corporation; and Ricardo Pettenati, CEO of Pettenati Industrias Textil SA.
