Founded in 1941 in Union City, New Jersey, the company began when Elizabeth Conrad Nagle’s grandfather, a German immigrant skilled in embroidery pattern making, started producing military insignia during World War II. In the early 1960s, the company relocated to Weaverville, bringing with it massive embroidery machines that had literally been embedded in concrete floors.

Andrew Nagle, who serves as co-CEO of A-B Emblem with his brother-in-law, Paul Conrad, says the company’s relocation to Western North Carolina was partly practical and partly personal. Nagle said the family wanted space to grow and a community where they could operate independently without outside interference or labor competition from nearby embroidery plants.

“We didn't have incentives,” Nagle said. “They said, ‘We don't need any of that. We can run our business on our own merit.’”

Over time, the business became deeply intertwined with the region. Family members settled nearby, generations grew up around the factory, and the company expanded into two large buildings. At its peak, A-B Emblem employed roughly 450 people in Weaverville alone. 

A-B Emblem also operates facilities in Mexico and China, a structure Nagle said became necessary as the embroidery industry globalized and American consumers increasingly prioritized lower prices.

“When labor in China is $3 an hour and labor here is $24 an hour, we're never going to be able to compete,” Nagle said. “It's not even practical.”

Still, Weaverville remains the company’s operational and symbolic headquarters. The company’s military production—including US military insignia required to be manufactured domestically with American materials—is still made in North Carolina.

“If our tax dollars are buying military textiles, it has to be made in the United States with US raw materials,” Nagle said. “That's 90 percent of what we make in Weaverville.”

The company’s connection to NASA has also become a defining part of its legacy. Since 1970, A-B Emblem has held a long-standing relationship with the agency, producing mission patches worn by astronauts during space missions. This includes the recent Artemis II mission patch worn by astronauts on a crewed flyby of the moon in April 2026, the first crewed flight in low-Earth orbit since 1972. 

Nagle said astronauts themselves often participate in designing the mission patches, a tradition that stretches back to the Apollo era. While many NASA-themed patches sold in gift shops are manufactured overseas, the patches worn by astronauts themselves continue to be produced in Weaverville.

Nagle said many consumers say they value American-made products, but few fully understand the cost pressures manufacturers face.

“It's hard to put your money where your mouth is,” he said. “As American consumers, we did this to ourselves.”

He pointed to decades of demand for cheaper goods, fueled by globalization and large retailers, as forces that reshaped the textile and manufacturing industries nationwide. Those pressures are particularly acute in Western North Carolina, where housing costs and labor shortages continue to challenge employers across industries. Nagle, who also serves on the Weaverville Town Council, said hiring has become increasingly difficult as living costs rise and larger corporations compete for workers.

“We are just a mom-and-pop cut-and-sew operation,” he said. “We cannot keep our customer base and pay the wages that those folks pay.”

The company currently employs around 110 people in Weaverville, with roughly 70 working directly in production. Nagle said A-B Emblem continues investing in equipment and automation while trying to avoid layoffs and maintain stable employment.

“We're trying to figure out how to grow,” he said.

One idea the company has discussed is developing workforce housing on unused property surrounding the factory—a modern version of the old mill-town concept.

“We've mulled that around,” Nagle said. “We're always looking for solutions, trying to get creative.”

Despite the challenges, the company continues pushing forward, fueled in part by its pride in domestic manufacturing and its lasting relationships with American institutions like NASA.

“Not many people can go, ‘Part of my DNA ended up on the moon,’” Nagle said. “Everybody that works here that touched those patches—their DNA went out into space.”

Learn more at ABEmblem.com.