A large textile manufacturer has received state financial aid in its effort to start up operations in the former Wellstone plant.

Cherokee County Council on Monday announced that Gastonia, N.C.-based Parkdale Mills, the world’s biggest independent cotton yarn producer, has been awarded a $500,000 Department of Commerce Rural Infrastructure Grant.

The money will be used to ready the spacious former Wellstone plant for Parkdale’s operations, Cherokee County Development Board Director Jim Cook said.

County officials said the grant was one of the largest ever awarded to a local company.

In his most recent conversation about the plant, Cook said he was told Parkdale had begun installing new machinery.

In March, Parkdale Mills entered into a lease/purchase agreement with Wellstone to take over Wellstone’s four plants, including the one on Wilcox Avenue in Gaffney. The company’s other plants are located in Georgia.

A month later, council granted the company a sizeable tax break in the form of a fee-in-lieu arrangement and an infrastructure tax credit in exchange for at least $55 million in new investment.

The plant had employed about 160 workers under Wellstone.