Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
American Silk Mills Taps David Corbin as CEO
February 6,
2019 by Jane Chero in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Executive Changes, Industry 
American Silk Mills (ASM/Company) has hired David. R. Corbin, an accomplished, entrepreneurial business leader with experience across the home furnishings industry as chief executive officer. He will assume responsibilities previously held by Cynthia Clark Douthit prior to her retirement.
Douthit will consult with the Company in areas of design and product development.
Prior to joining ASM, Corbin held positions as president and CEO at Real Home Furniture by Oak West, chief operations officer at Steve Silver Company, president of Southerland, Inc., COO/SVP at Chromcraft Revington, Peters Revington and Cochrane and, chief marketing officer/vice president of marketing at Home Meridian International.
Under his direction, Corbin will focus the company around building the ASM brand among current and prospective customers as well as improving operations through continuous improvement and innovation. Future plans for the Company also include expanding its business through strategic acquisition.
“We appreciate Cynthia and her tireless dedication to developing the reputation for design leadership and quality American Silk Mills enjoys today,” said Updeep Singh, deputy CEO at Sutlej Textiles and Industries Limited (Sutlej), American Silk Mills’ parent company. “For nearly two decades, Cynthia has graciously contributed both her knowledge of the industry and her reputation for design creativity.”
“At the same time, we are pleased to welcome David to our executive team,” Singh added. “We have great respect for his strategic leadership and unique level of executive management and marketing experience, and we welcome his vision for the growth and development of our business and portfolio of products. We are confident that his entrepreneurial management style and product development expertise will position ASM to best meet current and future demand for its high quality textiles, product innovation and business opportunities.”
“I am very happy to join the ASM team,” said Corbin, “and I look forward to contributing to the Company’s growth through continuous improvement of operations and customer service, new product development and innovation, and through strategic acquisitions. He added, “the synergies between ASM and Sutlej offer infinite opportunity for alignment across the Company that will expand the resources of the Company and benefit our North American customers. I’m excited to begin working with the team to identify these synergies and optimizing them to their full potential.”
Sutlej Textiles and Industries Limited is the flagship textiles company of the KK Birla Group headquartered in India. It is a leading textile solutions provider, producing a range of products including spun yarns, fabrics for home furnishings, contract drapery and upholstery. The ASM parent company is an internationally-recognized industry leader in the use of state-of-the-art technology and implementation of eco-friendly and sustainable manufacturing practices and processing.
American Silk Mills was acquired by Sutlej Textiles and Industries Limited in November 2017. ASM was founded in 1896 and remains among the oldest and most established of the American textile brands.