The thousands of products that pass through Consumer Reports test labs each year come from all corners of the globe. There are washing machines and water heaters from Mexico, TVs and refrigerators from South Korea, dishwashers and vacuums from Germany. We see lots of appliances that are made right here in the U.S. too, of course. Every country has winners and losers when it comes to quality and performance. Read more
SARAH HOFFMAN/THE WORLD-HERALD
From left, Melissa Kleitsch, Diane Hynek and Laurie Bessler sew American flags at MSA Brand Products in the McBattas Packaging and Printing building in Fairbury, Nebraska. The former Swingster sewing factory — where Bessler worked for 17 years — has been transformed to produce and sell American flags made in the U.S.
The American flag flapping above the McBattas Packaging and Printing building on the north edge of town is unremarkable as flags go.
At 3-by-5-feet, it’s not especially large. Its colors, of course, are the standard red, white and blue, and it has 50 stars and 13 stripes. Read more
WeatherTech
I proudly add the “Made in USA” label to every product I manufacture in my San Francisco factory. Making bags in this country is fundamentally important to me and to my company–but maybe not for the reasons you think.
Here at Rickshaw Bagworks, making our own products celebrates our passion for making things, not a protest of outsourcing or offshoring. I’m not a protectionist, and I’m not a Made-in-America zealot. We live in the modern global economy–I get it. In fact, my original plan was to import partially made bags from China and do only the final assembly in our shop.
But, alas, I’m a stubborn maker at heart. We soon found ourselves designing products we could produce from scratch in our own factory and getting excellent customer feedback for our made-in-San-Francisco goods. So we encouraged letting our manufacturing story be our crucial point of differentiation: We don’t just design what we sell; we make what we sell.
That’s always been my true love. In high school, I took wood and metal shop classes and started my own stained glass business, crafting windows, lampshades, and terrariums for my parents’ friends. Then I headed off to college, got a degree in engineering, and started working in Silicon Valley. My crafting days were over–or so it seemed. Twenty years later, I entered the bag-making business and reconnected with my dormant passion for making things. As fate would have it, that happened at a time and in a place particularly challenging for makers–but also full of opportunity.
Photo Credit: Rickshaw Bagworks
We live in an age when production is more often than not outsourced to anonymous contract manufacturers, predominantly in low-cost labor markets. There are good reasons for that and some horrific and well-publicized downsides. Though economies of scale and low-cost labor have yielded tremendous cost savings for consumers, it seems we may be approaching the limits of this business model, especially after factory disasters abroad have focused more attention on the poor working conditions and environmental impact of these practices. A small but growing group of “conscious consumers” care about the who, what, why, where, and how behind the products they buy. These customers want to connect with the companies they purchase goods from and share their enthusiasm with others like themselves.
So, does it really matter where it’s made? Yes, and no. I believe it’s less about precisely where we manufacture–though San Francisco has fabulous geographic cachet–than about making our own products in our own factory under our own brand name. It’s about connection and accountability–knowing and dealing directly with the maker and trusting the brand. Here at Rickshaw, we design and make what we sell. We own it. The buck starts and stops right here. Making what we sell is our primary differentiator. “Made in USA” is the where of our brand story.
Photo Credit: Rickshaw Bagworks
As a conscious consumer, I’m concerned about the environmental and social justice issues of manufacturing in less-developed, poorly regulated countries. As a maker, I’m optimistic that there’s a promising future for small-scale, innovative specialty manufacturing in America. In my bags, those “Made in USA” labels are shorthand for “quality products, made with integrity by a company that’s accountable and that cares for its employees, customers, business partners, and community, and for our shared planet.”
This is not something that’s exclusively American. Nor is it universally American. But I like to think it’s fundamentally American.
Photo Credit: Rickshaw Bagworks
FROM THE NOVEMBER 2014 ISSUE OF INC. MAGAZINE
(AP Photo/Marker’s Mark Distillery Inc., File) ORG XMIT: NY119
Two California consumers sued one of Kentucky’s best-known distilleries, saying Maker’s Mark tries to spike demand and sticker prices by falsely promoting and advertising its bourbon as being handmade.
It’s time for America’s annual holiday study of contrasts.
First comes Thanksgiving, a heritage slightly scarred by glitzy parades, football, turkey fryer incidents, and overeating, but still imbued with volunteerism, thankfulness, and family.
Then comes Black Friday. Read more
Photo Credit: Kat Mulkey via Flickr
by Alliance for American Manufacturing
Get to the stores before it’s all gobbled up. Read more
Ford Adding 850 New Jobs To Build 2015 F-150. Ford announced today it will add 850 new jobs in Dearborn to build the all-new 2015 F-150 pickup that is the automaker’s most advanced pickup in 66 years.
The new hires will be sprinkled among the various facilities that make up the Ford Rouge Center in Dearborn. About 500 of the jobs will be at the Dearborn Truck Plant that assembles the pickup with three crews rotating over two shifts each day. Nearly 300 workers are for Dearborn Stamping and more than 50 will work at Dearborn Diversified, which also does stamping.
Ford is not taking new applications. The automaker has identified the new hires from its large pile of applications, and some have already begun training. All will be clocking in over the next couple months.
“This is one of the proudest moments I have had in my life,” said Jimmy Settles, head of the Ford department of the UAW, and a third-generation Rouge complex worker.
The $2 billion spent to revitalize the Rouge complex that consists of five plants makes it possible to do things never before done in the auto industry, said Bruce Hettle, vice president of North America manufacturing, at an event this morning announcing the additional employees.
- About 500 of the jobs will be at the Dearborn Truck Plant that assembles the pickup on three shifts. Nearly 300 workers are for Dearborn Stamping and more than 50 will work at Dearborn Diversified which also does stamping.
The Dearborn Truck Plant just finished gutting and rebuilding its body shop to make the 2015 model with an aluminum body instead of the steel bodies used since 1948. Pre-production models are running through the body shop now and are scheduled to run down the full line starting Oct. 20, but that date might be moved up to this week.
The carefully orchestrated launch is on track, said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of the Americas. Production vehicles will start “in a matter of weeks,” but Hinrichs would not say when Job One will be. Trucks will start arriving in showrooms by the end of the year.
The plant runs with three crews but more workers are needed because this next-generation pickup has more features and technology. And building a body from aluminum instead of steel requires all new processes — such as adhesives instead of welding — as well as new manufacturing equipment.
Additionally, some of the stamping work has been brought to the complex, work that had been done by suppliers or other Ford facilities, said Bernie Ricke, president of UAW Local 600, who is pleased with the additional jobs.
Ford has pledged to quickly get production up to full speed because of the sheer volume and importance of the truck. Ford sold 763,400 F-Series last year and analyst Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley estimates Ford’s trucks generate more than 90% of the automaker’s global auto profits.
Ford built up its inventory of outgoing 2014 models to bridge the gap until there are enough 2015 models to satisfy dealers. That will take a while because just as Dearborn Truck hits its production stride, the Kansas City plant in Claycomo, Mo., will go down for six weeks in the first quarter of 2015 to rebuild its body shop to switch to the new truck.
Jonas has written a number of reports expressing concern about the impact of the changeover on Ford’s profitability, but Hinrichs said today the launch is going according to plan, processes are being validated and people are being trained. In the end, Wall Street will be won over by the vehicle itself, he said of the truck that sheds 700 pounds, which will improve its fuel economy.
As part of the national contract negotiated with the UAW in 2011, Ford pledged to create 12,000 hourly jobs in the U.S. by 2015. The automaker has already exceeded that commitment: Last month’s announcement of a second shift of 1,200 workers at the Kansas City plant to make the Transit commercial van brought the total to more than 14,000. More than 3,000 have been added in 2014. Factoring in salaried workers as well, Ford has hired more than 23,000 employees since 2011.
The signs of health are not going unnoticed by the UAW, which has a new contract to negotiate next year.
“It’s always nicer negotiating with a company making lots of money than a company in distress,” Ricke said. Priorities for a new contract in 2015 include economic gains, looking after retirees and continued investment in jobs, he said.
“Ford’s announcement is more positive news for the citizens of Michigan and a further sign of the comeback of Michigan, manufacturing and the auto industry,” said Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in a release.
Ford will have added almost 5,000 jobs in southeastern Michigan since 2011 including:
■ 850 at Ford Rouge Center including the Dearborn Truck Plant
■ 1,800 at Michigan Assembly Plant
■ 1,700 at Flat Rock Assembly Plant
■ 250 at Rawsonville Plant
■ 240 at Van Dyke Transmission Plant
■ 150 at Livonia Transmission Plant
Jobs are slowly making their way back into the U.S.A. Do you see this happening in your area? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
American Giant: Made in America.
With the prevalence of outsourcing factory work to Bangladesh and China, fewer retailers can use those three short words on popular clothing.
Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Tesla finds home in Nevada! Gov. Brian Sandoval announced Thursday that Nevada won a high-stakes battle with four other states for Tesla Motors’ coveted battery factory, but the win comes with a hefty price tag — up to $1.3 billion in tax breaks and other incentives over 20 years that state lawmakers still must approve.
As the nation prepares to celebrate its 238th birthday, “Buy America” efforts are still going strong, though emotions on the subject tend to fluctuate depending on the state of the economy.But what about products, ranging from toothpicks to towels, with specific patriotic motifs? Or the U.S. flag itself? Should those products, which are marketed with an Uncle Sam sentiment in mind, be made in the United States?”It doesn’t really matter to me,” said Luis Rodriguez, a retired postal worker who last week sat on a picnic table in a Satellite Beach park wearing a postal carrier union T-shirt with the famed red-white-and-blue eagle — the Postal Service’s mascot.”What I do is make sure the correct number of stars and stripes are being used,” Rodriguez said. “If not, then I have more of a problem with it. But I’m not really too concerned about where it’s made.”
Vietnam War veteran and former Marine Corps infantryman Chip Hanson disagrees. He believes in a “buy American” philosophy. Patriotic items — including items that will be used in July Fourth parties this week — should be manufactured in the United States, he said. That includes plastic forks, paper plates and napkins.
“Most definitely it should come from our country,” he said. “If you look at what’s happening in our country, we’ve slipped into a situation where we are depending on other nations for our primary items.”
Retailers aren’t tone deaf to patriotic emotions when it comes to buying American. Wal-Mart, for example, pledged last year to buy $50 billion over a decade in American-made products.
Still last week, many of the products sold with patriotic themes were made in places such as the Dominican Republic and China. And how’s this for irony? Wal-Mart sells U.S. flags for $34.72 with the label on the packageproclaiming “Made in the USA.” However, a pole and bracket set sold along aside it are imported from China.
Thank some of the dichotomy to a global economy where cheap foreign labor and low-cost, offshore manufacturing practices make it more difficult for cost-conscious consumers to routinely purchase American-made products.
“People have become extremely price sensitive,” said Steve Kirn, executive director of the University of Florida’s Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research. “It’s hard to have these extremely low prices — and price is king right now for the vast majority of consumers — with low production costs coming from Asian countries, and now, African countries.”
That’s changing, somewhat, as labor costs in places like China rise, Kirn said. A number of U.S.-based textile and clothing manufacturers, for example, are seeing new life because it’s become more cost-effective to manufacture domestically.
“Some of the textile mills in the Carolinas are reopening, and I think there is an appeal to that for a variety of reasons,” he said. “You control the supply chain, you know what the raw materials are and you know what you’re getting. And you’re closer to the place where you’re ultimately going to vend it.”
Wherever you stand on the issue of prices versus patriotism, Florida “Buy American” advocate Roger Simmermaker said July Fourth is a good time for citizens to take stock about how they are spending their money whether they’re going to support jobs in the United States or outside the country.
“We have a Declaration of Independence, not a declaration of interdependence,” said Simmermaker, an author of two books on buying U.S. made products.
“Buying American is about more than just American-made products and U.S. jobs,” he said. “We’re less of an independent country to the extent that we rely on other nations to supply our wants and needs.”
Also beneficial to U.S. domestic user and consumer demand requirements are the rising costs incurred by labor and management in China, and to a lesser extent in other dynamic manufacturing sector nations such as Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
This redounds to the benefit of America’s manufacturers, not only in shrinking costs, but lessening the need of huge advance orders to get the best price from foreign exporters. Also, the ability of domestic U.S. manufacturers through its distribution, to keep inventories current, without overburdening supply, definitely tilts the advantage increasingly to the domestic industrial manufacturing sector.
Although this obvious rebound of the U.S.A.’s industrial sector benefits the American economy as a whole, it probably will do little to alleviate the chronic unemployment, as tightening government regulations and advanced tech, plus increased use of part-time workers do not translate into a torrent of substantial additional production employees.
Morris R. Beschloss writes a regular blog at www.desertsun.com/beschloss and a column that can be found Sunday in The Desert Sun.
What do you think?
Do you agree or disagree with Morris Beschloss? Let us know via comments below.
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Diamond Gusset is proud to announce that it has moved all its production to a new 27,000 square foot facility. It is a modern, clean facility that offers a great working environment. Much of the equipment has been updated.As this facility is also located in Blue Ridge GA., we were able to retain all existing employees and we are in the process of increasing our workforce.
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Connect with Diamond Gusset
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Diamond Gusset jean Company was founded in 1987 to develop an entirely new jean concept utilizing a gusset for extra durability and enhanced comfort.Since that time, we’ve seen many changes in the apparel industry, and by most accounts we should have disappeared along with many other companies that have struggled so hard to survive in this global economy. But instead of survive, we are actually growing stronger now more than ever, and while most companies have gone offshore, merged, or have been totally eliminated, we’ve managed to grow on our foundations. Those foundations are simple….we provide the most comfortable jean available while keeping one eye on history and the other on careful craftsmanship and continual improvement. This combination of tradition and innovation is one key why our customers are our best supporters of brand growth by continually providing vital “ word of mouth “ advertising for us.Peoples needs really haven’t changed that much, but it seems that while other companies seem to be chasing dollars, we have remained focused on the goal….THE PRODUCT, and besides, what’s the point in running a company if you can’t be proud of how you operate? We were taught long ago that if you mind your business well, and provide a great AMERICAN product, then the rest will follow…and you know, life is too short as it is…so why compromise? We don’t and we don’t think you should either.Our vow to stay 100% American Made has struck a nerve with the American psyche. It is a great feeling to walk into our production facility and see all the happy smiles and feel a sense purpose knowing we are part of the solution America is now facing.
Sincerely |
He said that maintaining a healthy domestic steel industry was also vital to the national security.
“We should be careful that a cost-analysis is done to make sure it takes into account jobs,” said Sweeney (D-Goucester), a vice president and general organizer with the International Association of Ironworkers union, whose members erect steel structures. “There are certain things this country has to have to protect ourselves and to be able to produce steel is very important.”
As with all bills that would impose restrictions on the Port Authority, identical legislation to Sweeney’s measure (S-2061) must also be adopted in New York State. He said he was still seeking a New York counterpart.
If Sweeney’s measure becomes law, it would apply to many of the projects slated under a $27.6 billion 10-year capital plan approved by the Port Authority in February.
The use of foreign steel in public projects became an issue in the region last year, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority allowed Chinese steel to be used for work on the Verrazano-Narrows and Bayonne Bridges.
Critics of Chinese-made steel, including the United Steelworkers union, complained that U.S. producers could not compete with mills in China, which pay workers as little as $15 a day and benefit from legal and financial support from the Chinese government. China is by far the world’s leading steel maker.
Sweeney said his legislation was prompted by a Star-Ledger article on the controversy in September.
The contractor for the Bayonne project, a partnership of Oklahoma-based Kiewit and the Swedish construction giant Skanska, eventually decided to use Italian steel instead of Chinese, along with some American steel.
The U.S. government already requires domestic steel to be used on public projects
that receive federal funds, and Sweeney said his bill would unburden those who pay bridge tolls by ensuring that Port Authority projects were eligible for those funds.
As in the rest of the country, steel manufacturing has been in decline in New Jersey for decades, and only a handful of operations remain, including MRP LLC in South Plainfield, which has supplied steel beams for the World Trade Center site, and a plant in Sayreville run by Gerdau Ameristeel.
The Port Authority declined to comment specifically on Sweeney’s bill. However, agency officials noted that the $1.5 billion Goethals Bridge replacement project is subject to a federal requirement that 99.9 percent of materials be produced domestically, while the agency’s own request for proposals on a $3.6 billion replacement of the Central Terminal Building at LaGuardia Airport calls for at least 51 percent domestic materials.
Daniel J. Ikenson, a trade policy specialist at the Cato Institute, said Sweeney’s measure was a misguided appeal to patriotism that would inflate the cost of public projects.
“It’s just common sense,” Ikenson said. ” Only a rudimentary understanding of supply and demand is needed to see that limiting competition for state procurement ensures that taxpayers get a smaller bang for their tax bucks.”
Last fall the agency said that it allowed the use of Chinese steel to expedite the Bayonne project, which is intended to allow larger container ships to reach terminals in Newark and Elizabeth once an expansion of the Panama Canal is completed next year.
But Sweeney rejected the notion that domestic steelmakers lacked the capacity or speed needed in such situations.
“This isn’t that hard to figure out,” Sweeney said. “If you know you’re going to build a bridge, you contact steel manufacturers in the United States and you say, I’m going to need this may tons of steel.’ They can do it.”
Under the contract with Polo Ralph Lauren, Hickey Freeman will manufacture the company’s “Blue Label” line of tailored suits and sport jackets. The work — which could lead to more Polo contracts for Hickey, Granovsky said — is expected to begin next month.
The deal will increase Hickey’s revenue by at least 10 percent, Schumer said.
Granovsky said the deal was worth about $1 million. He said there will be at least two other such contracts with major clothing labels in the coming weeks.
“There is stability now at Hickey Freeman,” Granovsky said.
Schumer said, “To be able to bring together two dynamic, trailblazing American clothing brands is a huge step forward for Hickey Freeman.”
Officials declined to provide details about the pending contracts, but said the additional work will help Hickey achieve its goal of full factory employment by 2015. The workforce now numbers 415.
Schumer said Hickey’s fortunes improved when Grano bought it in part because Grano also owns the Canadian high-end men’s clothier, Samuelsohn, and understands the importance of quality tailoring over quick returns on investments.
The new deal, and the stability Schumer and Granovsky cited, is in contrast to Hickey’s tumultuous business life over the past several years.
After longtime owner Hartmarx Corp. filed for bankruptcy in 2009, the British private equity firm Emerisque Brands and SKNL, an Indian clothing manufacturer, bought Hartmarx’s assets. Then the holding company they formed, HMX Acquisition Corp., itself filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
Months later, Authentic Brands Group LLC bought Hickey Freeman and turned running Hickey Freeman and sister clothier Hart Schaffner Marx over to W Diamond Group Corp., a private company created by HMX CEO Doug Williams and his wife.
W Diamond Group then sold the Hickey to Grano.
Granovsky said his company is committed to Rochester. “Hickey Freeman isn’t going anywhere,” he said.
The move to Hickey is part of Polo Ralph Lauren’s “Made in America” initiative whereby some of its production will be brought back to the United States, Schumer and Grano company officials said Monday.
The Blue Label brand has been manufactured in Italy. The deal and others to come could boost production and add up to 50 jobs in the next three years.
No one from Ralph Lauren attended Monday’s news conference at the factory on North Clinton Avenue in Rochester.
Granovsky said Lauren is bringing the jobs back from Italy because of the preference American shoppers have shown for products made in this country.
“When Ralph Lauren made the uniforms for the U.S. Olympic team, he became aware of the importance of American-made,” Granovsky said.
Lauren designed and made the uniforms and other clothing for the U.S. Winter Olympics team that competed this year in Sochi, Russia.
At a time when flag-waving couldn’t be more in fashion, David MacNeil knows a thing or two about standing up for American products. Or at least resting your muddy boots on them. While creating jobs in the process.
american made products
For the public attending the Expo, they will be able to go from booth to booth of all American made goods. Consumers want to support American made products because of the benefits to keeping dollars on our own shores and strengthening our production jobs base.
National speakers and well known advocates of The Made in America Movement, including our very own, Ms. Margarita Mendoza, CEO & Founder, will discuss the importance and advantages to buying American made products. If you are in the area, stop and say hi! Enter the raffle for a major American made prize, such as a Ford automobile. Yo, will be given away to attract regional consumers.
Well known Dallas/Fort Worth meteorologist and TV personality Rebecca Miller will serve as the emcee of the Made in America Expo.
Expo Management, Inc.’s mission is to showcase a wide variety of domestic companies that produce American made products in an expansive, equitable expo venue that will attract large numbers of willing consumers.
Become an exhibitor today.
MAM Members, contact your member services rep for your discounted rates. Click here to view a complete prospectus.
See you in Fort Worth!
That enormous trade deficit with China presents the single biggest impediment to a true manufacturing recovery for the U.S. While the December jobs report showed some promise for manufacturing after nearly a year of weak hiring, January could offer an early clue to what the year ahead will look like. This Friday’s jobs report will tread a fine line: A soft report would suggest that we aren’t yet close to a true economic recovery; another boost, on the other hand, could build the case that manufacturing is gaining some forward momentum.
But even a strong report for manufacturing should be taken with a grain of salt. A hindsight assessment shows that the sector has only recovered a fraction of the jobs it lost during the Great Recession. And looking ahead, the economy hasn’t generated enough steam — nor has Washington generated the right mix of policy — to keep pace with President Obama’s campaign promise to create one million new manufacturing jobs during his second term.
Still, the trade deficit probably won’t make it into the president’s State of the Union speech. It’s a sum that’s easy for policymakers to dismiss as a simple fact of life, one whose impact tends to be indirect. But connect the dots and its effect is clear: As manufacturing shifts from the U.S. to China, that means factories shut down in many American communities. Those laid-off workers, if they were lucky enough to get another job, take significant pay and benefits cuts when they shift to lower-income retail and service employment. That loss of income also means less revenue flowing into the U.S. Treasury, as well as an increased demand for public services, when you factor in those who remain unemployed.
That’s only the direct effect. The indirect one is less spending in and around those former factory towns — at the hardware store, the flower shop, local restaurants — impacting the bottom lines of other businesses. Manufacturing’s multiplier effect of wealth production can work in a very unfortunate, opposite direction, too.
There’s no serious economist out there who thinks a trade deficit this large is a good thing. So the real issue is what should be done about it. There’s a lot we could do, all well within our rights as a trading partner and without fear of provoking that modern economic unicorn, the mythical “trade war.”
First, we could get our own house in order.
The White House and Congress have focused some attention on manufacturing. The president has an advanced manufacturing initiative in place, albeit with modest funding thanks to a stingy Congress. And a significant number of Senate Democrats have launched a manufacturing initiative, echoing their House colleagues who first proposed a “Made in America” plan in 2010. If either plan became law, it would do a lot to increase employment in the sector. And it would put us on par with just about every other industrialized nation; our government is fairly unique in lacking a national manufacturing strategy.
Then, instead of simply pointing to the growth of U.S. exports, and the purportedly dire need to negotiate more trade agreements, the White House should address the trade deficit directly. That starts with a real focus on the surge of imports that keeps boosting our trade deficit, particularly with China.
The administration could back sensible legislation to deter deficit-inflating currency manipulation, which passed the House in 2010, and the Senate a year later in a different Congress. If brought to the floor in either chamber today, it would pass overwhelmingly and would give America’s manufacturers new tools to help confront the undervalued imports that are effectively stealing U.S. jobs.
The administration could block China’s unfair trade practices through a series of actions, using both international and domestic trade laws. President Obama made a big splash in Ohio during his 2012 re-election campaign by announcing a case against China’s unfair trade practices in the auto parts sector. The follow-through in that case is largely missing, however, and little else has been done since then to restore a level playing field for other American companies facing such skewed competition.
The White House could also set objective criteria for reducing the trade deficit with China. For example: Cut it in half over the next three years, through a combination of more value-added exports and fewer subsidized imports. Unfortunately, without such a clear goal, it’s hard to measure any progress besides the monthly ups and downs of the jobs report.
It’s past time to put displaced American workers back on the job. We have an unemployment rate hovering around 7 percent, and our long-term unemployment rate, combined with the number of jobless who have simply stopped looking, shows that the true rate of joblessness is much higher.
America’s workers deserve a government that will fight for them in the trade arena. And the Obama administration should act boldly, instead of offering more of the same. That won’t happen, though, unless the White House pursues an aggressive trade agenda that places the focus squarely on lowering the trade deficit. Otherwise, we’ll know the administration is more serious about its factory photo ops than actually going to bat for American manufacturing.
Before writing his State of the Union speech, I hope the president absorbs the trade data, and starts to envision what a $315 billion annual goods deficit with China means to his constituents on Main Street USA. He might just change his tune, and begin to chart a better course for Made in America in 2014.
Originally published on the Huffington Post, by
Scott Paul on January 7, 2014.
Follow Scott Paul on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ScottPaulAAM
Stephenie Anderson inspects some of the yarn her new processing plant is turning out. | JOHN STENNES Forum News Service
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FOSSTON — Stephenie Anderson’s timing for starting a wool-processing plant in Fosston is spot-on. So says Bill Batchelder, president of Bemidji Woolen Mills, and Jim Stordahl, an extension agent in Polk County.
“There’s a renaissance nationwide of returning to products made in America,” Batchelder said. “There’s a large niche of consumers who are demanding natural fibers and American-made products, not ones made overseas.” Stordahl agrees: “She’s part of a changing landscape, a movement where some of this (clothing) will be made back here.” Anderson, 45, who grew up in Fertile, started her Northern Woolen Mills plant two months ago. With eight employees, the business won’t have a big economic impact on this Polk County town of 1,500. However, it’s enough of a jolt that the city gave the fledgling business three acres of land in its industrial park on its western edge and a low-interest $100,000 loan. |
Anderson’s career track, which included management, tourism marketing, and clothing design, took a dramatic turn after her employer had her lobby Bemidji Woolen Mills to resume the manufacturing of wool yarn. The company wasn’t interested, so Anderson filled the niche.
“I saw a need, an opening in the market, and decided to fill it myself,” she said. “Opportunity knocked and I went for it.”
Ironically, her first customer was Bemidji Woolen Mills.
The wool is all USA-grown, including from sheep ranchers in Fosston, Goodridge and McIntosh, and a bison producer in New Rockford, N.D. The equipment also can handle llama and alpaca wool.
When the equipment is all in place within two weeks, Anderson said, Northern Woolen Mills will produce 100 pounds of yarn per day, making it the second-largest processor in the country.
“I used to work in high heels and with (polished) fingernails,” she said. “Now I have grease on my hands and no fingernails. But it’s a lot more fun.”
Making an impact
Stordahl said the endeavor can have an impact on several levels.
“It’s certainly not a new 3M in the neighborhood and, for the average rancher, wool is a minor part of the production,” he said. “But it does fill a niche. And wool has become a high-end fabric. If it’s high-quality wool, it is not scratchy to wear.”
Fosston has become “a hub of unusual agricultural niche products,” Stordahl said, citing the vegetable dehydrating plant in its industrial park as another example.
Chuck Lucken, Fosston’s city administrator, expressed excitement at a new business that didn’t seem likely even a few years ago.
“Any small industry we can get, whether it’s eight jobs or 50 jobs, is a good deal for us,” he said. “Who would have thought wool processing would come back?”
Maker’s Row has also launched a page (makersrow.com/cottoninc) which features over twenty domestic cotton mills and suppliers of cotton-based materials that all comply with Cotton Incorporated’s stringent quality and responsibly-produced cotton requirements. The added platform will generate a larger community for businesses to discover and communicate with cotton-based suppliers and manufacturers across the United States.
Maker’s Row (makersrow.com) is an online marketplace that connects American manufacturers with product-based businesses. Their mission is to make U.S. manufacturers universally accessible, and the production process simple to understand. Maker’s Row has created a community of makers, entrepreneurs, designers and businesses that are collectively coming together to bring back American manufacturing.
Cotton Incorporated (cottoninc.com), funded by U.S. growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, is the research and marketing company representing upland cotton. The program is designed and operated to improve the demand for and profitability of cotton.
For more information on the Maker’s Row and Cotton Incorporated partnership, or more information on Maker’s Row, please contact Matthew Burnett, CEO, Maker’s Row.
Media Contact: Matthew Burnett, Maker’s Row, 347-860-9333, matthew@makersrow.com
“It takes a lot of entrepreneurship; it takes a lot of innovation; it takes a lot of conviction to make that decision to take that step to invest capitol here,” said Simon.
Elan-Polo Inc. will start production of injection-molded footwear in March at a factory in Hazelhurst, Georgia. The company previously made the shoes overseas.
At the press conference Elan-Polo CEO Joe Russell cited “support and encouragement” from Wal-Mart, which it has been supplying with goods for 35 years.
EveryWare Global Inc. will produce canning jars for Wal-Mart at its Monaca, Pennsylvania, facility, establishing a new made in the U.S. product line.
And Louis Hornick and Co., a Wal-Mart supplier for four decades, will establish a new facility in Allendale County, South Carolina, to make window coverings and home textiles.
“Our next goal is to encourage other businesses just like these to step up to the plate,” Pritzker said.
Thursday’s announcement was part of Wal-Mart’s pledge, announced in January to buy an additional $50 billion in U.S.-made products over the next decade.
In August, the company held a “manufacturing summit” attended by more than 500 suppliers from 34 states clamoring to get a slice of the action.
Reuters reported in September that in advance of Wal-Mart’s patriotic pledge, many of the company’s long-time suppliers had already decided to produce in the United States as rising wages in China and elsewhere eroded the allure of offshore production.
Good news: Americans are making things again, from cars to watches to socks. What’s behind the manufacturing upswing—and what it means for American labor.
Succeeding as a small business involves identifying your company’s unique value proposition and articulating it, he notes. Shama Kabani, chief executive of Marketing Zen Group, a Dallas marketing business, agrees. “You have to be careful in [the] marketing of anything [of] becoming a one-trick pony. There’s got to be more about your products that make them sell. For instance, if your customer service and shipping [are] not worked out, being made in the U.S.A. won’t help at all,” she says.
What you can do is reinforce customers’ interest in and loyalty to your clothing line by emphasizing that you are employing American workers to produce durable, well-made goods that meet the high standards of U.S. consumers.
“Tell your employees’ stories and have them tell the story of your brand,” Barnes suggests, making sure your message is honest and authentic, not “fabricated by some PR contractor.” You might come up with a video featuring your employees thanking customers for supporting them, their families, and their communities, for instance. “People are more likely to pay $10 extra for something if they see the impact their support makes,” Barnes says.
Something that showcases local craftsmanship could also tap into the artisanal buying trend that has consumers favoring small local businesses.
Transparency and integrity will be extremely important in such a marketing campaign, Kabani says: “You don’t want to say, ‘Buy from us because we’re made in the U.S.’ and then have someone find out you’re using illegal workers in a sweat shop. You have to have a true sense of why it matters to you, or eventually it looks like a gimmick.”
Once your message is perfected, send it out over social media and video-sharing sites and to bloggers who write about your industry and its products. “Make sure you’re telling the story, giving them a link, and making it easy for them to share it,” Kabani says.
That means putting “like” or “share” buttons on all your Web pages, including your shopping cart if you’re selling online. Making it easy for your customers to let their Facebook (FB) friends and Twitter contacts know they have just purchased clothing from you is a simple way to boost your visibility, but it’s a step often overlooked by smaller companies, she says.
Norton’s U.S.A. celebrates 6 years of made in the U.S.A. with fun events and deals (Posted By Melissa Schwartz, Community Contributor / June 3, 2013)
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From June 11-15, 2013, Norton’s U.S.A. will be sharing its special anniversary deals and events. Each day of the week will feature a discount in a different department of the store. There will also be daily raffles ($50 retail value). On Thursday June 13, Norton’s U.S.A. will be holding a lively Bingo Night. From 6PM-8PM, participants will have the chance to win gift certificates worth up to $25!
On Saturday June 15, the store will be part of the Barrington Summer Wine Walk from 2PM-6PM. The celebration fun continues with a family movie night on Saturday June 15 beginning at 9PM. The movie night will feature a showing of “Fly Away Home” right on the store! To add to the family fun, complimentary popcorn and lemonade will be served. So, be sure to grab your chair and blanket and head over to the store for the free event! If you would like to shop before the movie, plan to arrive at the store at 8PM.
For more details on the magnificent deals at Norton’s U.S.A., please check the website at www.nortonsusa.com.
Norton’s U.S.A. is excited to celebrate with you!
Norton’s U.S.A. is located at 400 Lageschulte St,, Barrington, IL 60010. Normal store hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday: 10:00AM-5:00PM. The store is open Thursday 11AM-7PM. There are special hours during events. The online store is always open at www.nortonsusa.com.
“There’s a business case to be had for manufacturing here in the U.S.,” Lenovo’s North American President Jay Parker told ABC News’ “World News” in an interview at the new facility. “Some customers desire to have products that are assembled in the U.S. and so we believe it’s a competitive advantage for us.”
New Jobs, New Business Model
Lenovo, which is the second-largest PC manufacturer in the world, began production of its ThinkCentre M92p desktop and its ThinkPad Helix convertible ultrabook at the plant in January but will ramp up full production by the end of this month by adding the ThinkPad Tablet 2.
The Nances are just two of the 115 new employees to work on the manufacturing lines in the 240,000-square-foot facility. And as Lenovo expands production into tablets and then servers by the end of the year, Parker says the job numbers will go up.
“This is our first step. If we continue to grow, we’ll continue to scale up that facility,” he said.
Lenovo hopes to assemble several hundred thousand units in the first full year of production with two eight-hour shifts five days a week. The products will be made primarily for the U.S. market and will be shipped throughout the country.The computers will be assembled in North Carolina, but much of the parts and components, including the processor and RAM, will be made overseas and imported.
Lenovo, which was started in China and is headquartered in Beijing, will still make the majority of its products in its native country. It, along with many of the other major computer makers, moved production offshore when overseas labor became cheaper.
But that trend is reversing, even if it is on a smaller scale.
“Over time, and this isn’t just true of China, but the labor rates around the world have been compressing to some degree with the U.S.,” Parker said. “The labor rate difference isn’t quite what it was at one point. And when you’re talking about having to ship products from China or anywhere overseas, then there’s a logistics cost there that you can save partially by doing it here in the U.S.”
Motorola’s Moto X Phone Will Also Be Made in America
Parker said that doesn’t mean it is less expensive or even comparable in expenses to make products in the U.S., but the company does see other advantages, including speed of delivery, customization, and then the “Made in America” marketing message.
Google, Motorola and More
And Lenovo isn’t the only consumer electronics maker that sees it that way. Motorola announced last week that its plans to build its forthcoming Moto X Android smartphone in Fort Worth, Texas will result in 2,000 new jobs. Google has also started to assemble its Google Glass in California. Apple has also announced its plans to make a version of a Mac computer in the U.S. later this summer.
HP, Lenovo’s closest competitor in the PC market and the No. 1 maker of PCs, has made a select few of its enterprise desktop and workstations in a facility in Indianapolis, although hasn’t made any consumer-aimed computers there. Dell also says it has had a U.S.-based manufacturing presence, and that its server systems are made at its campus in Austin, Texas.
Whether those other companies will grow computer manufacturing in America remains to be seen, but Lenovo has made it very clear: This is just the start for the company. “For manufacturing, it’s a start,” Parker said. “And as long as we’re continuing to grow at the rate we’ve grown at, we look to add to that over time. We believe that it’s possible and probable [to grow].”
That promise of more growth makes Stephanie Nance excited as she puts on more stickers on the Made in America hardware. “It’s not some job that can just be sent anywhere,” she says. “We can do the same thing that they can here just as good as quality as overseas.”
Google has tried making hardware in the United States before. Last year, it planned to assemble the Nexus Q, a home media player, in California. But the company postponed the device after it received poor reviews and then quietly killed it.
Mr. Woodside said Motorola and Google were taking over an old Nokia manufacturing plant that had employed 16,000 workers when it was last in use 15 years ago. He said around 2,000 employees would be hired to work at the 500,000-square-foot building. The plant will be up and running by August, he said.
The new workers will be employed by Flextronics, a manufacturing company Motorola hires for its work worldwide. They will be hired by August in jobs ranging from entry level roles to engineering, said Danielle McNally, a Motorola spokeswoman. The new jobs are “different and separate” from the more than 4,000 positions that Motorola eliminated last year, she said.
Mr. Woodside acknowledged that while the Moto X will be built in the United States, not all of its parts would necessarily come from American manufacturers.
“The components will come all over the world,” he said. Display parts will be built in South Korea, for example, and processors will be made in Taiwan, he said.
Google executives have given clues about what a Motorola phone would do. It would have batteries that last longer than a day, they have said, would not break when dropped and would include features like a better camera, artificial intelligence and sensors that recognize people’s voices in a room, for example.
“Think about your device — battery life is a problem, if a kid spills a drink on your tablet screen it shouldn’t die, if you drop your phone it shouldn’t shatter,” Larry Page, the chief executive of Google, told analysts last month. “There’s real potential to invent new and better experiences, ones that are much faster and more intuitive. So having just seen Motorola’s upcoming products myself, I’m really excited about the potential there.”
Mr. Woodside said Wednesday, though, that phones with unbreakable screens would not be included in this year’s Motorola phones.
Mr. Woodside said the Moto X phone was in his pocket — but coyly shook his head when asked to show it off.
Claire Cain Miller contributed reporting.
Eva DeFilippis of Elmwood Park has wanted to find space to open a boutique for some time.
The graduate of Trinity High School in River Forest has a background in clothing.
“My dad was a tailor and owned a clothing store,” DeFilippis said. “We kept some of the fixtures from that store, and now those racks are in this store.
“It’s like he’s here with us,” she said with a smile.
DeFilippis’ Deva Salon, now in its third incarnation, is a couple of doors down from Boutique3, in the same plaza.
“I never seemed to have the space for the boutique,” she said. “I first opened (Deva Salon) 14 years ago near Irving Park Road and Cumberland.
“I moved into a larger space (in Regency Plaza) and again to an even larger space,” she said. “But I still didn’t have the room.
“So when this place was available, I thought this would be perfect.”
Joining Esposito and DeFilippis in this venture is DeFilippis’ sister-in-law, Geralyn.
Esposito, a surgical assistant by trade and friends with the DeFilippis women, said she always wanted to be her own boss.
“Owning my own business has been a vision for me, a goal,” Esposito said. “But it’s so hard to start a business.”
She finds the boutique to be a godsend.
“Monday through Friday, I’m a surgical assistant,” she said. “Saturday and Sunday, I’m here.
“I love this so much. It’s so wonderful.”
Among the reasons the women find the shop so rewarding, they said, is they can bring to the area quality fashions at reasonable prices compared to other, similar stores in the surrounding communities. And a lot of the products in competing shops, they said, are made abroad, with China dominating the labels.
Eva DeFilippis said her inspiration to open Boutique3 was the lack of choices for one-of-a-kind clothing in the area.
“No woman wants to look like everyone else,” she said. “In the 1980s, we used to shop boutiques.
“Then something happened, and the little specialty stops disappeared,” she noted. “We want to bring back that unique shopping experience.”
Esposito agreed.
“Even though we haven’t been open that long, we have quite a few customers who say this shop is so convenient,” she noted. “And more and more people are looking at the label to see if it was made here.”
Boutique3
5050 N. Cumberland Ave. in Regency Plaza, Norridge
(708) 456-1230
www.SalonDevaBoutique3.com
Specializes in affordable fashions made in the United States
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Hours to expand during the summer season; adding mother-of-the-bride dresses in the fall
Closed Monday
But what if you couldn’t find investors to help you grow your American-made business unless you took your product overseas. A local business is facing that dilemma and 10News spoke with the owner who says that the company is now turning to the general public for help.
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“I had an issue with my underarms sweating when I got nervous,” said Billy Thompson, owner of Thompson Tee.
Thompson turned his unusual problem into a thriving business — making garments that uses patent-pending technology to prevent embarrassing pit stains. The company is growing, profitable and made in America. But that seems to be a problem.
“You’re definitely fighting against the grain trying to produce garments here in America,” Thompson said.
Thompson and his partners are proud to be American-made. They want to keep Thompson Tee in the U.S. and they’re willing to pay twice as much in labor to do so.
But they can’t seem to find an investor who feels the same way. They had a big offer to take the product overseas, like a lot of other major clothing lines, where production costs would be cut dramatically. But Thompson and his partners turned down the lucrative offer.
“You know when you sit back and you think about it and you do a gut check and you think ‘OK, when we started this thing what were the core values to us?’ ” said Thompson. “And one of them was being made in the U.S.A.”
Now, the company is turning to crowdfunding. It started a grassroots, online campaign to raise the $25,000 needed to cover materials and labor. That would keep Thompson Tee in America and create American jobs.
“So we’ll see if the American public really does have an appetite for American made goods,” he said.
The crowdfunding campaign began June 1. Thompson said failure is not an option and that the company plans to stay in the U.S. no matter what.
Learn more about the company by watching the video below:
As a result, great strides on these issues were made in the U.S. in the 20th century. These efforts culminated in the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in December 1970, consolidating 15 components from five agencies for the purpose of grouping all environmental regulatory activities in a single agency.
Since then, the U.S. has developed a comprehensive body of law to protect the environment and prevent pollution. The EPA enforces more than 15 statutes or laws, including the Clean Air Act; the Clean Water Act; the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act; the Endangered Species Act; the Pollution Prevention Act; and the Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticides Act. In turn, each of the 50 states has its own body of law to comply with federal laws and regulations.
Cleaning up the nation’s air, water, and land hasn’t come cheap. Since passing these laws, the U.S. government has spent trillions of dollars to clean up and prevent pollution. Individuals, small businesses, and corporations paid the taxes that funded these programs. But businesses were hit with a double whammy. They not only had to pay taxes for the government to carry out its end of these programs, they had to pay cleanup costs for their own sites and buy the equipment to prevent future pollution. In addition, they had to hire and train personnel to implement and maintain mandated pollution prevention systems and procedures.
According to a Census Bureau report “Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures,” as a result of a survey of 20,000 plants last conducted in 2005, U.S. manufacturers spent $5.9 billion on pollution equipment, and another $20.7 billion on pollution prevention.
The EPA has achieved some major successes:
• New cars are 98 percent cleaner than in 1970 in terms of smog-forming pollutants.
• Dangerous air pollutants that cause smog, acid rain, lead poisoning have been reduced by 60 percent.
• Levels of lead in children’s blood have declined 75 percent.
• 60 percent of the nation’s waterways are safe for fishing and swimming.
• 92 percent of Americans receive water that meets health standards.
• 67 percent of contaminated Superfund sites nationwide have been cleaned up.
As a result, we now have cleaner air in our cities and cleaner and safer water in our streams, rivers, lakes, bays, and harbors than at any time since the Industrial Revolution began. These vast environmental improvements made in the last 40 years have benefitted every single American.
In contrast, India and China have been getting more polluted in the last 30 years as they have industrialized. Since 2006, Blacksmith Institute’s yearly reports have been instrumental in increasing public understanding of the health impacts posed by toxic pollution, and in some cases, have compelled cleanup work at pollution hotspots. Blacksmith Institute reports have been issued jointly with Green Cross Switzerland since 2007.
Six cities in China and four cities in India were listed in the Blacksmith Institute’s “Dirty 30” of the 2007 report, “The World’s Worst Polluted Places.” This list was based on scoring criteria devised by an international panel including researchers from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Mt. Sinai Hospital, along with specialists from Green Cross Switzerland who participated in assessing more than 400 polluted sites.
It’s hard to describe the horrors of pollution in Chinese cities. Imagine living in Xiditou (pronounced shee-dee-tow), about 60 miles east of Beijing, where the Feng Chan River that runs through the town is now black as ink and clotted with debris. The local economy has doubled in just four years, but at a terrible cost. More than 100 factories occupy what were once fields of rice and cotton. These include dozens of local chemical plants, makers of toxins including sulfuric acid, and these factories disgorge wastewater directly into the river. Industrial poisons have leached into groundwater, contaminating drinking supplies. The air has a distinctively sour odor. The rate of cancer is now more than 18 times the national average.
According to the USA Today article, “Pollution Poisons China’s Progress,” of July 4, 2005, “People regard their drinking water as little better than liquid poison, but unable to afford bottled water for all their daily needs, most adults continue to drink it. They buy mineral water only for their children.”
Another horrible location is Tianying, in Anhui province, which is one of the largest lead production centers in China, with an output of half of the country’s total. Low-level technologies, illegal operations, and a lack of air-pollution control measures have caused severe lead poisoning. Lead concentrations in the air and soil are 8.5 to 10 times national standards. Local crops and wheat at farmers’ homes are also contaminated by lead dust, at 24 times the national standard.
The ironic note to these statistics is that China actually has more stringent restrictions on lead than the U.S. The difference is that neither the local nor the national government is enforcing the laws. Residents, particularly children, suffer from lead poisoning, which causes encephalopathy, lower IQs, short attention spans, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, hearing and vision problems, stomachaches, kidney malfunction, anemia, and premature births.
Perhaps you would like to live in Wanshan, China, termed the mercury capital of China because more than 60 percent of the country’s mercury deposits were discovered there. Mercury contamination extends throughout the city’s air, surface water, and soils. Concentrations in the soil range from 24 to 348 mg/kg, 16 to 232 times the national standard. To p
ut this into perspective, the mercury from one fluorescent bulb can pollute 6,000 gallons of water beyond safe levels for drinking, and it only takes one teaspoon of mercury to contaminate a 20-acre lake – forever. Health hazards include kidney and gastrointestinal damage, neurological damage, and birth defects. Chronic exposure is fatal.
China is now the largest source of CO2 and SO2 emissions in the world (SO2 causes acid rain). Japan, South Korea, and the northwest region of the U.S. suffer from acid rain produced by China’s coal-fired power plants and higher CO2 readings from easterly trade winds.
The horrific effects of pollution in China and its staggering cost in human life, are a graphic example of why Chinese companies can outcompete American companies – not only because of their disparity in wages, but also because their government does not enforce the same environmental and social standards. As Americans, who place a high value on human life and protecting our environment, we wouldn’t have it any other way. But American manufacturing industries do pay a penalty competing against China.
During China’s rapid industrialization of the last 30 years, the U.S. has spent billions on technologies and equipment to clean up and prevent pollution. China had a golden opportunity to benefit from all the hard lessons learned by developed countries during their own industrialization. If China had purchased the pollution abatement equipment developed in the U.S., their industrialization would not have caused such horrendous pollution. Millions of lives would have been saved!
In the U.S., our landfills wouldn’t be filling up with discarded products from China that are so cheap that it is easier to throw them away than repair them. Wouldn’t it be worth paying more for “Made in USA” products that are higher quality and last longer?
Thus, if you are concerned about global pollution and want to save lives in both China and the U. S., you should choose to buy “Made in USA” products that have been produced in the most non-polluting manner that is technically feasible at present. My next article will take a look at India’s environment.
Parade Magazine