Sue C. Strickland

See 20th Anniversary Tribute

Ms. Strickland is the most senior Apparel industry organization executive in the US. She married into the organization in 1989 and took control of the AAPNetwork in March 1990, upon the unexpected death of her husband, Don Strickland. Don started the association in 1981 with a group of apparel sewing contractors in Georgia. That small group of factory owners soon grew beyond Georgia's borders to become a Southeast and then a National organization focused on Made in the USA. Today the AAPN is the only international industry organization representing the entire textile/apparel supply chain.

In 1998, Sue changed the name of the organization from the American Apparel Contractors Association to its current name, selecting the strong marketing words ‘producers’ and ‘network’. The ‘network’ part of the organization began in 1994 when, in a joint project with the Clemson Apparel Research Center, she created the first online sourcing database of apparel factories. This database, consisting of hundreds of elements of data and information, continues today.

After working alone for 5 years, in 1995, she hired Mike Todaro, a retired manager of IBM’s apparel industry strategy. This accelerated a series of technology innovations that Sue launched in 1992 with her Fax Sourcing Broadcasts. Other firsts include the first apparel industry website; first industry email broadcasts; first to go offshore in 2001; first CAFTA Summits; first Sourcing Executive Roundtables; the famous Versace’s AAPN Reception at Material World; first ‘best practices’ AAPN Journal; first apparel industry ‘wiki’ called apparelpedia; and the first integrated Web 2.0 website in the industry.

Today, the over 600 individuals from 180 member companies and hundreds of others who use our services constitute the most active, responsive and online business-to-business network in the industry operating under the motto “none of us is as smart as all of us”. Her network has one or more active members from the over 40 steps and stages of the apparel supply chain from cotton growing and yarn spinning to global brands and prestigious retailers.

Sue has taken delegations and advisory trips to such places as Colombia, all of Central America, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Canada, Europe, Romania, Turkey and Hong Kong. She developed a unique, interactive meeting format that starts with networking by design up front, instead of by chance at the end. She leverages the skills of her Board members and others who wish to help in special projects. Her personal work ethic comes from the circumstance of how she got this job, “You don’t know what you can do until you have to, and I had to”.

“During my 20 years at the helm, we have had an almost 100% turnover of people and companies, yet what we do for our members remains the same – networking, meetings, information, match making and production. This tells me that what we do matters, that we mean value and that we’ve kept pace with change”, says Ms. Strickland. “What does not change is me. I tell the truth, and my members know I have their back. This has never been a job. Its personal.”

Sue is native to Ft. Gaines, GA and earned her B.S. in Business Administration at Auburn University, majoring in Marketing. Prior to AAPNetwork, she worked in commercial credit auditing and loan review at The Arizona Bank, Phoenix, AZ and at Bank South, Atlanta, Georgia. She resides and works in Sandy Springs, GA.