The long-faded American textile manufacturing industry is making a comeback, industry experts say, and Cumberland County may benefit from that growth with a new factory that is expected to employ at least 300 people.

An American clothing manufacturer plans to build a cut-and-sew factory in the Southeast and have it operating roughly eight to nine months from now, said Robert Van Geons, the president and CEO of the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corp. A cut-and-sew factory assembles fabric into clothing.

The Fayetteville area is part of a small group of finalists the company is considering for the plant, Van Geons said. He’s trying to persuade the company to build it here.

Toward that cause, Van Geons and his economic development agency have set up an online survey for potential workers to fill out and show they are interested. The survey is at jobsfayetteville.com. The survey also allows potential workers to submit their contact information to be notified if the jobs become available.

The deadline to complete the survey is 5 p.m. Friday.

The results of the survey will help the company see whether it would be able to hire enough workers to meet its needs, Van Geons said. His agency conducted a similar survey last summer when an online retailer was trying to decide where to build a large distribution center. (Ultimately, the distribution center never was built anywhere, he said.)

The survey describes the company as “a premier clothing manufacturer.” Van Geons declined to identify the firm. He said it makes brand-name items that many people would recognize.

According to Van Geons and questions on the survey:

• Workers without experience could get free training through the community college system.

• The company is also looking for experienced people.

“They really do take care of their employees, and that’s the focus of their leadership,” Van Geons said. The factory would be modern, with air conditioning, automation and amenities to make the plant a pleasant, fun place to work, he said.

Fayetteville and the surrounding rural counties at one time had many people with cut-and-sew factory skills, as well as other skills from textile manufacturing. Textile mills were an economic engine in small North Carolina cities and towns for much of the 20th century.

Then in the late 20th century and early 21st century, American textile plants closed as clothing makers moved operations overseas in search of lower-cost labor.

It became extremely difficult for American plants to compete. For example, average wholesale boutique import price for a pair of mens and boys denim trousers was $7.60, said Lloyd Wood, a spokesman for the National Council of Textile Organizations.

A cheap wholesale price from a far-distant overseas factory can be costly for retailers later, said textile industry consultant Will Duncan. Duncan also is the executive director of SEAMS, a trade group for the sewn products industry.

The challenge stems from the logistics, he said: Orders from overseas tend to be large and made long in advance. Six months later, when the product arrives, the retailer may find itself caught with a large inventory of unpopular product that it has to discount heavily to clear off the shelves, he said.

Conversely, Duncan said, if the product is popular and sells out, the retailer won’t be able to restock quickly from an overseas manufacturer and so will lose higher profit sales.

Plants in the United States can make smaller batches (reducing the loss should a product be unpopular) and produce them in a few weeks (allowing the retailer to quickly get usa dropshippers of higher-profit popular items), he said.

Even if the American plant has a higher wholesale cost than the overseas plant, Duncan said, its ability to quickly respond to consumer demand can sustain profit margins for retailers.

North Carolina has advantages that draw new textile plants here, said David Hinks, dean of the College of Textiles at N.C. State University.

“It’s a very exciting time” in the industry, he said, and the university speaks monthly with textile companies looking to invest here.

“There is a resurgence of textiles in our state and in the U.S. generally,” Hinks said, “but North Carolina is showing signs being — continuing to be — the preferred state for investment because of our supply chain of yarn manufacturing and fabric manufacturing as well, all the way through apparel and other product development.”