Mondelez International (Nabisco) will lay off half its 1,200 employees in its bakery on Chicago’s Southwest Side after deciding to invest significantly in a Mexico plant rather than its long-standing facility here. Read more
The ‘Industrial Internet’ is poised to overhaul the way companies manufacture goods, in turn changing our everyday interactions with products. Read more
President Obama is at Nike headquarters near Beaverton to promote a Pacific Rim trade agreement on May 8, 2015. Bruce Ely/Oregonian/Oregonlive/Pool
Nike took advantage of the attention generated by President Obama’s visit last week to make a bold statement: It would open a footwear factory in the United States, employing 10,000, if an international trade agreement gets approved. Read more
When President Obama visited Oregon in 2011, Nike Chief Executive Mark Parker foreshadowed what was on the sneaker giant’s horizon. Read more
As it prepared to welcome President Obama to its headquarters campus Friday morning, Nike announced it would pour more money into advanced footwear manufacturing in the United States if and when the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement is approved. Read more
The White House posted the full text of President Barack Obama’s speech at Nike headquarters near Beaverton on Friday morning. The White House has also posted a video of the speech. Read more
Walmart, the nation’s largest importer of foreign goods by volume, is currently hosting an open call for American-made product pitches at its Arkansas headquarters. This “American manufacturing summit” is part of the company’s commitment – made very publicly, with lots of fanfare, in 2013 – to buy $250 billion worth of American-made products by 2023. Read more
Libbey Inc., the number one glassware tableware company in the Americas, introduced today the finest quality glassware manufactured in the U.S. The nearly 200-year old company invented a state-of-the-art process from furnace to forming to finishing that enables the most brilliant and strongest soda lime glassware to be produced in the U.S. The new stemware and tumbler collection, called Perfect Signature™, will be available to retail markets later this year. Read more
Posted: Nov 12, 2013 4:42 PM EST | Updated: Nov 22, 2013 4:42 PM EST
Libbey Inc. executive Dan Ibele announced today the company will invest $20 million in Libbey’s Shreveport manufacturing site, bringing new technology and a new research and development component to its operations. The capital investment in new glass making technology will create 70 new direct jobs, averaging more than $38,000 per year, plus benefits. The new investment will also generate an additional 75 new indirect jobs in the community for a total of more than 140 new jobs. Libbey also will retain 511 existing jobs in Shreveport. Read more
American Apparel will close underperforming stores and cut jobs as part of a $30 million cost-cutting strategy to turn its floundering business around. Read more
A generation of economists trained to believe that trade had little to do with the long decline in high-paying U.S. factory jobs is changing its mind. Read more
A huge but little-known trade agreement could transform America’s foreign relations. What it is and why it matters. Read more
Image credit: The AutoMotovated Cyclist | Flickr
In a world flooded with cheap imports and overseas production, many people are surprised to hear that some companies still proudly manufacture their products 100% in the United States. One such company is Liberty Tabletop, the only manufacturer of flatware in the United States, located in Sherrill, New York — right in the heart of American manufacturing.
While the “Made in the USA” label was once seen as a nice marketing slogan, today it represents something far more significant. For companies like Liberty Tabletop, manufacturing in America isn’t just about patriotism — it’s a business advantage, a commitment to quality, and a roadmap for a stronger future economy.
As Gen Z steps into the workforce, and as trade schools train the next generation of makers, the conversation around American manufacturing, insourcing, and reshoring has never been more relevant.
Let’s explore why American manufacturing matters more than ever — not just for businesses, but for our economy, environment, workforce, and communities. Read more
Garner-based Butterball LLC will take over a turkey plant formerly occupied by House of Raeford, bringing hundreds of poultry processing jobs back to Hoke County, officials said Thursday. Read more
While the reshoring tide is undeniably rising, the prospect of clothing and apparel manufacturing returning to the United States remains uncertain. Back in the 1960s, about 95% of clothing worn in the U.S.A. was also made here. Today the opposite is true. Can we flip the switch again? 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
There are roughly 5.1 million fewer American manufacturing jobs now than at the start of 2001. And China is to blame for more than one-third of American jobs lost, says a new report. Read more
Later this year along the banks of the James River outside Richmond, Virginia, a paper products maker based in northeastern China will begin construction on a new U.S. manufacturing plant. The factory will churn the region’s straw and corn stalks into household products including napkins, tissue and organic fertilizer—all marked “Made in the USA.” Made by China, in America.
Documentary: Made by China in America? directed by Miao Wang about Chinese firms bringing manufacturing to the U.S. It is part of Morgan Spurlock’s “We the Economy” series (www.wetheeconomy.com).
When I was a baby, my mom waited in line at 3am with her ration ticket to pick up the monthly allowance of meat. As fortunate dwellers of China’s capital city, we received a little more than two pounds. In remote provinces, it was half or a quarter of that amount.
WeatherTech
Nearly every piece of gear that military recruits get when they show up for training is made here in the United States — but not their running shoes.
That is about to change, under a policy shift that could have big repercussions in New England. Read more
What will the ramifications of all-American shoes manufacturing be here in Massachusetts?
Tony Post has a good idea what the answer would be. Read more
The Road Ahead
Repost from Conway Goods: a small company committed to American Manufacturing.
We just finished our first year of business. We filed several patents, achieved UL® approval, built a supply chain and launched production. We have almost 80 committed retail accounts and growing. Read more
JC Penney said Thursday it will close about 40 stores over the next year. Read more
