News

Berkeley Mills celebrates centennial Saturday

By Bill Moss, Published: May 28, 2024

When shoppers buy Huggies, Pullups and other well-known brands, chances are the product was made from materials produced at Kimberly-Clark’s Berkeley plant in Hendersonville.

One of the longest-standing manufacturing sites in Kimberly-Clark’s 152-year history, the Berkeley plant is celebrating 100 years of care, quality and service on Saturday, June 1.

The centennial celebration, which will take place at the Berkeley site, is a tribute to the thousands of Kimberly-Clark employees who have clocked in over the years and the countless community and state partners who have supported and benefitted from the facility throughout its history.

One of the primary producers of nonwoven materials for Kimberly-Clark’s iconic adult, child and feminine care brands—including Huggies, Pull-Ups, U by Kotex, Depend and Poise—the Berkeley plant is one of the largest employers in Henderson County, with 130 contractors from the local community and 230 full-time workers, many of whom are second-, third- and fourth-generation Berkeley babies.

Several of the plant’s retirees were born on the adjacent mill village land once owned by Kimberly-Clark. Many employees who worked at the plant in the 1940s helped build the original stands and pavilions in Berkeley Mills Park, currently the home of the local amateur baseball team, the Honeycrisps.  

Founded in 1924 as Balfour Mills by Capt. Ellison Adger Smyth, the original development provided both jobs and homes in a 105-dwelling village. In 1946, the mill was purchased by a subsidiary of Kimberly-Clark and renamed Berkeley Mills. The plant produced gauze for its growing feminine care business.

A decade later, Kimberly-Clark researchers developed an innovative process for creating nonwoven gauze, and the first nonwoven assets were installed there by 1957. Flashing forward to the early 1970s, Kimberly-Clark developed a new spunbond process to convert polymer pellets into a versatile nonwoven material in the first spunbonded machine.
By 1989, with three spunbond assets, Berkeley had created a new nonwoven material that strengthened its products and expanded opportunities for new markets. In the next decade, Berkeley helped propel Kimberly-Clark into the future with a new spunbond laminate process that included an automated roll handling system. A 2018 multimillion-dollar investment further expanded the facility’s production capacity, adding more jobs and supporting the growth of its adult pad and feminine care business.

Even beyond its legacy of innovation, Berkeley’s commitment to care extends throughout the Henderson County community in both its sustainability efforts and community outreach. In addition to earning ISO 13485 Certification for quality, Berkeley is 100 percent landfill free and supports Kimberly-Clark’s 2030 Sustainability goals to drive down greenhouse gas emissions.

The Berkeley plant has been one of the largest supporters of the Henderson County United Way, having donated more than $3.2 million in the past 23 years alone. The facility also partners with such community organizations as the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development, Chamber of Commerce, Blue Ridge Literacy Council, West Henderson Youth Basketball, Thrive and Camplify.

“I can think of no better way to commemorate 100 years of service than by recognizing and celebrating with our employees and their families, retirees, and key community partners,” plant manager Joe Canning said. “Their partnership and support have helped us thrive for a century, and I’m looking forward to what we’ll accomplish together in the next 100 years.”