TEXTILES.ORG 
Schedule
Schedule subject to change
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Come enjoy an afternoon of baseball at Fluor Field, just a short walk from The Westin Poinsett, on what we hope will be a beautiful day in Greenville. Take in breathtaking, panoramic views of the ballpark and mix and mingle with other Outlook attendees before we kick things off Monday morning! A couple of drinks and snacks will be provided.
Come grab a drink with fellow attendees (and possibly find a group for dinner) before the conference kicks off the following day!
FIRST TIME ATTENDEE? Come a half hour early (6 PM) and be greeted by the USINFI and Military Boards and mingle with others like you!
Monday, June 1, 2026
Official session information coming soon!
Official session information coming soon!
Ron Houle, Founder and President, Pivot Step Consultants LLC
We’ve witnessed stunning military operations this year. Every military service has executed with precision, speed and lethality. We dominated the fight on land, sea, air, space, and intelligence. We demonstrate, again and again, our technologies and capabilities on a breath-taking scale. Yet, we have exposed vulnerabilities in our industrial base. We see alarming rates of consumption that could prove to be unsustainable, and some strategic national security objectives remain elusive. This session will provoke thoughts on what all this can mean to relevant supply chains, ways of doing business in the military market, and ties to leadership.
Dean Wegner, Founder & CEO, Authentically American
Join us for a powerful and entertaining keynote from Dean Wegner, a values-driven leader who has led teams as a Helicopter Pilot and Army Ranger, navigated leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies, and founded a mission-driven startup earning national media attention. Authentically American is a story about leadership, purpose, and building something that matters…in uniform, in business, and in life!
Official session information coming soon!
Sara Beatty, President, White Haven Trade
Sara Beatty will provide an in-depth update on the rapidly evolving policy landscape in Washington under the Trump Administration, highlighting key federal policy and legislative developments affecting the industrial and narrow fabric sectors. Topics will include international trade, government procurement, and the ongoing controversy surrounding PFAS (“forever chemicals”).
The session will also address the latest tariff developments and their implications for businesses. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and share experiences, with a focus on practical strategies for navigating a shifting trade and regulatory environment.
Kevin Lee, Executive Director, Institute for AI and Democratic Governance
The textile industry has historically survived every major industrial rupture by adapting both its technical processes and its moral commitments to human labor. Today, the rise of Agentic AI—systems capable of autonomous execution rather than mere recommendation—represents the next structural transformation. While these systems offer a projected $275 billion value pool in supply chain optimization, they also dissolve traditional legal architectures of principal and agent, creating new “liability vacuums” for the modern firm.
In this session, we will explore the legal inflection point where autonomous execution collapses traditional concepts of foreseeability, the hidden risks of brand homogeneity, and the necessity of protecting “Civic Virtues” within AI governance frameworks. Attendees will leave with three essential governance instruments to evaluate whether their organization’s AI strategy supports or undermines long-term institutional health.
As we close out Day One, we’ll take a moment to reflect on the day’s key insights, standout conversations, and shared takeaways. This brief wrap-up will connect the dots across sessions, highlight themes that emerged, and set the stage for what’s ahead tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Join the chairs of U.S. Industrial and Narrow Fabrics Institute for a review of the accomplishments, initiatives and how to be involved with this member group of ATA.
Drew Child, Ph.D., PMP, Vice President of Research and Development, Milliken & Company, Technical Textiles
A well-defined NPD process is essential for managing portfolios and accelerating project velocity, yet too much rigidity can stifle innovation. This presentation describes Milliken’s multi year journey to harmonize its innovation process, sharing both successes and challenges, while preserving a strong innovation culture.
Milliken implemented a common, enterprise-wide Stage Gate framework supported by a centralized digital platform to improve project selection, execution consistency, and portfolio transparency. While harmonization improved visibility, schedule slip and unrealistic portfolio size persisted.
To address these challenges, Milliken adopted an Agile Stage Gate hybrid that combines formal governance with sprint-based execution, and introduced a strategy-linked portfolio management approach, connecting innovation investments directly to long-term growth ambitions.
Shannan Billings, US based Director and Global Lead, Fibers in the Aromatics, Fibers and Derivatives team of Commodity Insights, S&P Global Energy
Examine how today’s geopolitical and policy shocks are reshaping the cost, availability, and trade flows of the petrochemical building blocks behind synthetic fibers. The session focuses on the Strait of Hormuz conflict risk and why any disruption—whether physical, financial, or insurance-related—can quickly tighten global markets, lifting feedstock and energy costs and rippling through olefin and aromatics supply chains that underpin key fiber intermediates.
Beyond geopolitics, we assess how tariff shifts post “Liberation Day” and the removal of the de minimis exemption could redraw sourcing decisions, landed cost math, and the competitiveness of finished goods versus upstream intermediates—potentially accelerating regionalization while also creating new bottlenecks at ports, customs, and compliance functions.
Attendees will leave with practical strategies to navigate the volatility, including: scenario planning for supply interruptions, smarter contracting and index selection, feedstock and supplier diversification, inventory and logistics tactics, and guidance on recognizing whether the market signals point to pent-up demand or structural problems ahead.
Roger Tutterow, Ph.D, Professor of Economics & Henssler Financial Endowed Chair, Kennesaw State University
Six years ago, the economy was derailed by a worst global pandemic seen in a generation. As the associated economic dislocations fade into the history books, the economy faces new challenges.
In this session, Dr. Roger Tutterow provides a timely overview of global, national and regional economies including implication of recent military engagements for the energy markets, the linkages between tariffs, currency valuation and activity in the manufacturing sector, residual impacts of the pandemic on the retail sector and real estate, the structure and effect of shifts in fiscal policy, recent moderations in labor markets, the potential for disruptions from advances in “AI” and ongoing shifts in Federal Reserve policy. The prospects for the 2026 mid-term elections are also considered.
Official session information coming soon!
Questions?
For more information, or website accessibility questions, contact: Jill Newman, Education & Events Manager | 651-225-6953 | jill.newman@textiles.org
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