When and where Sam Walton’s Walmart opened, a slow hollowing out of the town square surely followed. When the Fairfield store opened in 1986, our town square was home to a clothing store, a small department store, a furniture store, a pharmacy, a jeweler, two hardware stores, and many others. As the county seat, Fairfield’s retailers not only supported its population of 10,000 but also residents of tiny neighboring towns, such as Salina and Libertyville, where only a few hundred people lived. Today, only one of those stores remains—a symptom of what’s come to be known as the Walmart effect. Read more
Tag Archive for: Economy
“Made in America” isn’t just the name of a song anymore. Whether out of a sense of patriotism, a desire to help the American economy or the belief that U.S.-made products are of higher quality, consumers of everything from clothes to computers increasingly want to see a “Made in the USA” sticker on the items they buy. Read more
There’s a love affair happening with an unlikely type of real estate: America’s empty factories and warehouses. Read more
Sherrill Manufacturing is the only company left in the United States making flatware. Our company prides itself on producing high-quality products at different price points that fit all budgets and represent a great value to our customers. Read more
Manufacturing – Nine policies that could spark new growth in factory jobs and the economic benefits they bring.
Many manufacturers perform a cost-benefit analysis when deciding whether to move production abroad. Others, however, are determined to make their products in the United States, even when the costs are higher. Read more
It’s critically important to create successful policy solutions for manufacturing to help this job machine thrive. Read more
Throughout the 2016 election cycle, one of presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump’s most impassioned – and oft-repeated – promises should he move into the White House next year is the recovery of millions of jobs previously offshored to China, Mexico and elsewhere. Read more
International trade agreements: It is remarkable that the one thing leading presidential candidates of both parties agree is bad is the one thing mainstream economists agree is good. Read more
The concept of “Made in America” is slowly giving way to “Made by China … in America,” as Chinese investors are increasingly snatching up U.S.-based companies and assets and raising the eyebrows of some regulators and market spectators. Read more
The concept of “Made in America” is slowly giving way to “Made by China … in America,” as Chinese investors are increasingly snatching up U.S.-based companies and assets and raising the eyebrows of some regulators and market spectators. Read more
When you back up a commitment with $75 million, people tend to pay attention. I’m certainly paying attention to New Skills for Youth (NSFY), the $75 million grant initiative sponsored by JPMorgan Chase to change the way we approach career and technical education in the U.S. Read more
Travelers staying at any of Marriott’s nearly 3,000 U.S. hotels may notice a little something different in their guest rooms in the coming year. Read more
HIGHER EDUCATION The importance of manufacturing to our economic well-being is not a mystery to the manufacturing industry. But how can we get today’s youth to see the value of a manufacturing career? Read more
The stream of millions of U.S. jobs going overseas has stopped, according to a report from the Chicago-based Reshoring Initiative. Read more
Advanced manufacturing technologies are helping to push the United States back toward being the most competitive manufacturing nation in the world, according to a new survey of global CEOs and other senior executives. Read more
Were the experts wrong about the benefits of trade for the American economy? Read more
The U.S. manufacturing sector doesn’t get any respect. Read more
Despite significant headwinds brought on by the dramatically strengthening U.S. dollar and upheaval in the oil and gas industry, the U.S. manufacturing sector remains the most competitive worldwide, according to a new report by economics forecasting and modeling company Oxford Economics. Read more
INDIANAPOLIS — The fuzzy video, shot by a worker on the floor of a Carrier factory here in the American heartland last month, captured the raging national debate over trade and the future of the working class in 3 minutes 32 seconds. Read more
Jay Timmons was preaching to the “manufacturing” choir in GlaxoSmithKline’s sun-drenched lobby at its Navy Yard offices. Read more
President Barack Obama signed a customs bill that contains added protections for the domestic steel industry, whose advocates hailed it as a “good news day” and even a “great day.” The new law will crack down on steel dumping. Read more
By closing loopholes in the Buy American Act, the 21st Century Buy American Act will increase demand for U.S. manufactured goods and create at least 60,000 to 100,000 U.S. jobs. Read more
SPRING HILL, Tenn.—The hulking General Motors factory in this town south of Nashville undermines the complaints by politicians left and right that America doesn’t make things anymore. Read more
Some firms have slowly been moving operations back to the U.S. Will the new TPP trade deal undo the progress? Read more
“American manufacturing is back!” breathlessly exclaim the ebullient cheerleaders in locales such as Forbes and the Boston Consulting Group. But while U.S. manufacturing may have bounced back slightly from Great Recession-lows, the reality is that America’s manufacturing recovery remains tenuous. On this National Manufacturing Day, policymakers can and should be doing much more to stimulate the growth and competitiveness of America’s manufacturing economy. Read more
Are you up to date on all of the latest technology? We all try but most people are not, so if you answered “no”, you’re in good company. Read more
Sherrill, NY – Bob James wasn’t ready to give it up after nearly 30 years of making countless forks, spoons and knives at the same factory in this small Central New York community known as The Silver City. Read more
Ford’s heavy duty pickup trucks which used to be built in Mexico started rolling off an assembly line in Ohio this week.
It’s a standard part of the current public policy discourse that raising the minimum wage won’t have much, if indeed any, effect on the number of jobs available to Americans to do. Read more
