MOULTRIE — Over the years, Riverside Manufacturing has remained the thread that holds the county’s economy together. So when word came that the nearly century old cut-and-sew operation is hiring more workers, economic developers were thrilled.

Since January, 127 new jobs were created in Moultrie, with an expansion of 41 jobs in October alone, Riverside President and CEO Jerry Vereen said Thursday. Riverside also grew about 50 percent in its other manufacturing facilities in Edison and Wadley.

That’s good news. Better news is Vereen’s anticipation of more increases in all facilities.

The privately held company has staying power in an industry where clothing manufacturers succumb to the temptation of cheap, foreign labor. Like one of the last Mohicans, everything Riverside sells in America is made in America with American products, Vereen said, and that appeals to companies that care about their employees’ appearance

“It’s not the biggest market in the world, but it’s a nice one,” Vereen said.

Quality is paramount to Riverside’s success. It has the largest quality control laboratory in the uniform industry, according to its Web site. Additionally, Riverside pioneered the addition of a unique serialized number that is permanently affixed to each garment, which allows tracking every step in the manufacturing and distribution process, the Web site said.

Riverside Manufacturing Company, established in 1911 in Moultrie and headquartered here, has become a worldwide leader in the uniform industry. It designs and constructs uniforms to suit tens of thousands of companies in the U.S. and in 202 other countries. Customers include Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Waffle House, Krispy Kreme, Miller, Budweiser, Chevron and Orkin, to name a few biggies.

In recent years, a downturn in nationwide hiring forced Riverside to scale back workers’ hours and let some slots remain open through attrition. But with the economy on the upturn, corporations are hiring again and revamping their images, which spurs more business for Riverside.

Vereen attributes Riverside’s success to a very dedicated group of long-term employees who care about customers and realize they’re in a customer-pleasing business, he said.

“And it really is just as simple as that,” he said.

Colquitt County needs more industry, Vereen said, but is faced with so much competition from other communities just as desperate. Vereen’s chief concerns are getting funding secured to speed up the four-laning project on Georgia Highway 133 and keeping the Marine Corps Logistics Base thriving .

“We think Moultrie should be able to get any good industry they can get. We’re always only leery of those we don’t think have much staying power, because they’ll come in and hire the people, and if they close down, we end up losing people in chunks when that happens,” he said.

Vereen expressed faith in the economic development authority but thinks it needs to spend taxpayers’ money wisely and build to specifications of a solid prospect.

“Sometimes being able to hold your cards and not spend your money until you have a very good prospect is not a bad strategy. We’ve got a fair amount of money for the first time, and I was concerned that we were going to spend the money to spend the money, and it might not be the best thing to get an industry in here…,” he said. “I think we’re sitting in a pretty good position. The number one thing is to get that road — get that access.

“We’re not trying to interfere in that part of local politics. I have a lot of confidence in the town and in the people. We’re not the type industry, except for our management group, that attracts large numbers of people to move into town,” he said, adding that more than 250 Riverside managers live in Colquitt County.

“We lose people when companies like Ball fold. We had spouses of theirs that worked here. … All these things make it more difficult if our pool for jobs here shrinks, and when it does, it makes it more difficult to find people. And so we’re hopeful that more industry will come in that will attract people and hold people here,” he said.

As for the pending designation of Highway 37 as a state scenic byway, that doesn’t trouble Vereen much, although he doesn’t see the distinction as pro-industry, he said.