Biddeford mill keeping busy

"WestPoint Home, which changed its name from West Point Stevens after emerging from bankruptcy in 2005, has more than once reached the verge of obsolescence and found new ways to remain profitable. Forty years ago, as the last of the cotton-weaving mills were leaving Biddeford, WestPoint textile engineers were told to come up with a viable new product or close the factory, according to Bill Plante, the plant's manufacturing and service manager.

In response, inventor Francis Spencer led a group of fellow employees through a process that developed the Vellux blanket. Vellux is a lightweight fabric that consists of a thin layer of foam sandwiched between fluffy coatings of chopped nylon fibers, or flock. The blanket is produced through an adhesive process and requires no weaving."

- Portland Press Herald