NAT Taps Robinson
Textile maker Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. named Thomas C. Robinson chief operating officer. Robinson was previously vice president of cotton operations, planning and technical support for the apparel division of the International Textile Group. He got his start in textiles in 1984 at Burlington Industries. Over the course of his 20-year tenure at Burlington, he held several executive positions, including executive vice president of manufacturing and operations planning. Jason Finnis, NAT co-founder and previous COO, will become chief innovation officer of the company, and former Adidas executive Jay Nalbach joined NAT as chief marketing officer. NAT also announced plans to open a permanent production facility in Kingstree, S.C., to replace the company’s testing facility, which opened last year. NAT develops environmentally sustainable resources from flax, hemp and other bast fibers. The company’s Crailar Fiber Technologies Inc. subsidiary has developed proprietary technologies for production of bast fibers and cellulose pulp in collaboration with Canada’s National Research Council.
