Sarla Flex – Manufacturing facility to produce yarn and thread – Manufacturing or industrial: Sarla Performance Fibers, based out of Mumbai, India, began the expansion of a new polyester yarn and thread manufacturing facility in rural South Carolina in early 2013. The manufacturing nature of the international project brings traditional textile industry back to South Carolina and is part of the state’s larger redevelopment efforts to attract manufacturing businesses that can effectively operate in rural areas.SarlaFlex will create 150 direct long term jobs in a highly distressed rural area with a 25.4% poverty rate and 17.6% unemployment rate. The project anchors a commercial park in Walterboro, attracting other resident companies and catalyzing critical economic development in the area. (NNMF NMTCs: $13 million)