You can’t talk about Hollingsworth Funds without a view into the man and company behind it all: John D. Hollingsworth, Jr. and Hollingsworth on Wheels.
Born in 1917 in Atlanta, John D. Hollingsworth, Jr. moved to Greenville at a young age and worked for his father’s textile machinery business, JD Hollingsworth on Wheels (HOW). He briefly attended Furman University in the late 1930’s before joining his father to run HOW. He took over the family business in 1942 and grew it into a major machinery manufacturer with clients worldwide. Those who knew him best say he had the mind of a mechanical and electrical genius. In 1976, Mr. Hollingsworth received his first patent for a beater roll; the first of several patents that revolutionized the metallic card clothing process. He invented machinery that separated textile fibers ten times faster than earlier machines and ultimately was credited with helping to revitalize America’s textile machinery industry. Mr. Hollingsworth transformed the family business into one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fiber-processing equipment with over 5000 employees operating across 18 countries. In 1989 a local newspaper claimed that “the sun never sets over Hollingsworth, Inc.”
