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Happy Fourth of July! Today, America turns 250 years old — a quarter of a millennium since a small group of people decided they’d rather build something of their own than depend on anyone else. From all of us at the Buy American Campaign, we wish you and your family a safe, happy, and proud Independence Day.

The Fourth is for cookouts, parades, fireworks, and time with the people we love. It’s also a good day to remember what we’re actually celebrating: independence — the freedom and the ability to make our own way.

A Day to Celebrate American Makers

Behind every flag waving on a front porch, every tool in the garage, and every product stamped “Made in USA” is an American worker. A welder. A seamstress. A machinist. A small-business owner who bet everything on building something here at home instead of shipping the work overseas.

Those people are the heart of this country’s story. For 250 years, Americans have made things — and made them well. The independence we celebrate today was won by people who believed we could stand on our own. Every time we choose something made in America, we keep a little of that spirit alive.

Thank You for Standing With Us

None of what this movement does would matter without you — the people who read these stories, share them with friends, and choose American-made whenever you can. You are the reason companies bringing jobs back home get noticed and celebrated.

So today, enjoy the burgers and the fireworks. And if the flag you’re flying, the cooler you packed, or the grill you’re standing over happens to be made in America — even better. Those small choices, made by millions of us, add up to something big.

Here’s to the Next 250 Years

America’s best days as a nation of builders don’t have to be behind us. With every factory that reopens, every job that comes home, and every shopper who looks for that “Made in USA” label, we write the next chapter together.

Happy 250th birthday, America. Happy Fourth of July. And thank you for helping us keep American manufacturing alive and growing.

Whenever possible, choose Made in USA.

This Fourth of July, millions of American flags will fly from porches, parade floats, and front yards across the country. Here’s something worth knowing as you raise yours: there’s a good chance it was sewn by a company that has been making the Stars and Stripes in America since before the Civil War.

That company is Annin Flagmakers — the oldest and largest flag manufacturer in the United States. For nearly 180 years, Annin has done one thing better than anyone: make American flags, in America, by American hands. There may be no better brand to celebrate on Independence Day.

An American Flag, Made in America Since 1847

Annin’s story starts on the New York City waterfront around 1820, when Alexander Annin began stitching flags for the ships sailing out of the harbor. His sons, Edward and Benjamin, carried on the craft and formally founded Annin & Co. in 1847 — the year the company still counts as its beginning.

From that small shop, Annin grew into a national institution. Today the company is headquartered in New Jersey and produces more than three million full-size American flags every year. Through wars, recessions, and waves of offshoring that swept away so much of American manufacturing, Annin never stopped making the flag here at home.

Woven Into the Biggest Moments in Our History

It’s hard to overstate how often an Annin flag has been present at the defining moments of the American story. In 1849, an Annin flag flew at the inauguration of President Zachary Taylor, beginning an inaugural tradition that continued for generations of presidents.

It was an Annin-made flag that U.S. Marines raised atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima in 1945 — the image captured in one of the most famous photographs ever taken. And on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the American flag on the surface of the moon, that flag, too, was made by Annin.

Still Made by American Hands

Annin’s flags aren’t a heritage label slapped on imported goods. The company employs more than 500 American workers across three domestic factories, where the flags are cut and assembled using advanced stand-up sewing techniques developed over decades.

That matters. When you buy an Annin flag, your money supports American jobs and a supply chain that stays inside our borders — not a flag of another country’s making sold back to us as a symbol of ours. For a product this meaningful, where it’s made is the whole point.

Why This One Matters on the Fourth

There’s a quiet irony that too many “American flags” sold in the U.S. are actually imported. The flag is the one product, above all others, that ought to be made here. Annin proves it still can be — and has been, without interruption, for nearly two centuries.

So this Independence Day, as you celebrate 250 years of America, the flag you raise can be a small act of the very thing the day is about: American independence, American work, American pride.

Learn More About Annin on Buy American Campaign

We’ve put together a full profile of Annin Flagmakers — its history, its factories, its products, and where to buy American-made flags — as part of our growing directory of trusted American companies. If you’re shopping for a flag this week, start there.

👉 Read the full Annin Flagmakers profile here.

Happy Independence Day from all of us at the Buy American Campaign. Fly it proudly — and fly one that was made here.

Whenever possible, choose Made in USA.

Thomas Edison perfected the light bulb in America. For more than a century, we made them here. Then, one by one, the factories went dark — and by 2020, the last company making LED light bulbs in the United States had shut its doors. If you bought a bulb after that, it came from somewhere else.

That changed this Independence Day. On July 4th — as the country marked its 250th birthday — a factory in Fargo, North Dakota shipped its first American-made LED light bulbs. The company is called GoodBulb, and it is now believed to be the only place in America manufacturing the A19 bulb, the everyday screw-in bulb that sits in lamps and ceiling fixtures in nearly every home in the country.

A Product Invented Here, Then Made Everywhere Else

Tom Enright, GoodBulb’s founder and president, has been in the light-bulb business for 25 years. He had a front-row seat as the major manufacturers packed up and moved overseas, chasing cheaper labor. The last domestic LED bulb line closed in 2020.

That never sat right with him. The light bulb was invented in America and built here for over a hundred years. So Enright traveled the world to study how it was being done — and what he saw lit a fire.

“I was standing on the floors of these light bulb factories, and I was just in awe,” he said. “I would see 20, 30 people on a line making light bulbs. And my first thought was… wait, we can do this. I can do this better. Why can’t America do this? Why did we give up on this?”

Eight Years to Bring the Light Bulb Home

Wanting to make a bulb in America and actually doing it are two very different things. Plenty of companies tried to bring production back and couldn’t make the economics work against cheap imports. Enright knew that going in — and committed to it anyway.

GoodBulb spent eight years developing its manufacturing process before a single bulb rolled off the line. That first finished bulb came on June 12, 2026. Within weeks, the Fargo line was fully operational and capable of producing 10,000 light bulbs in a single day.

Why the A19 Bulb Matters So Much

If “A19” doesn’t mean anything to you, that’s exactly the point — it’s the bulb you never think about. It’s the standard pear-shaped, screw-in bulb that fits the lamps, fixtures, and overhead lights in almost every American household. It is the most common light bulb in the country.

That’s what makes this milestone bigger than one factory. This isn’t a niche specialty item or a luxury product. It’s something every family buys, over and over, for the life of their home. Having even one American company making it again means the supply chain for an everyday essential no longer runs entirely through overseas factories.

A July 4th Launch With Real Meaning

The timing was no accident. Enright lined up GoodBulb’s first sales with July 4th, 2026 — the nation’s 250th anniversary. There’s a certain poetry to it: the product that helped electrify American life, invented by an American, going back on sale as a Made-in-USA product on the country’s biggest birthday.

It’s the kind of story the Buy American movement exists to celebrate — not a slogan, but a real company, in a real town, putting real people to work making something we all use.

More Than a Light Bulb

GoodBulb’s story didn’t start with manufacturing — it started with a scare. Enright says he was inspired to build the company after his young son overcame a health crisis, and he turned that gratitude into a mission to give back.

The company commits a portion of every sale to providing solar lanterns to families without reliable electricity and to supporting disaster relief around the world. And Enright says he’s just getting started — another American-made bulb is already in development.

Why This One Matters

It would have been easy for Enright to keep importing bulbs like everyone else. Instead he bet eight years and a lot of stubbornness on the idea that America can still make the things it invented. On July 4th, that bet started paying off.

The next time you replace a burned-out bulb, you finally have an American-made option again — and a company worth rooting for behind it.

Whenever possible, choose Made in USA.

A new factory is announced. Five hundred jobs. Millions of dollars in investment. Construction crews get to work. Local restaurants get busier. The tax base grows. Families see new opportunities. There’s just one catch: the company isn’t American-owned.

So here’s the question we want to put to you honestly — is that a win? At Buy American Campaign, we spend a lot of time talking about American manufacturing, American workers, and products made in the USA. But this question is more complicated than it first appears, and it’s worth thinking through together.

The Case That It’s a Win

If a factory is built in America, employs American workers, pays American taxes, buys from American suppliers, and helps support an American community, many people would argue that’s exactly the kind of investment we need.

After all, the paycheck doesn’t care where the CEO lives. The mortgage payment doesn’t care where the corporate headquarters are located. The local diner doesn’t care whether the factory owner is in Detroit, Tokyo, Seoul, Munich, or Beijing. What matters, in this view, is that people are working.

The Case That Ownership Matters

Others see it differently. They argue that ownership matters because profits eventually flow somewhere. They worry that America could end up providing the labor while other countries capture the long-term financial benefits — that we become the workshop while the wealth is built elsewhere.

It’s a fair concern, and it deserves to be taken seriously. True manufacturing independence, they argue, requires both production and ownership — not just jobs on the floor, but control of the enterprise itself.

What If We Say No to Everything?

But here’s another question worth asking: what happens if we reject every factory investment that comes from overseas? Would those jobs exist at all? Would those communities be better off? Or would we simply be turning away opportunities while waiting for a perfect solution that may never arrive?

An empty factory creates no jobs. A closed factory helps no community. These are the trade-offs that towns and workers face in the real world, where the choice is often not between a foreign-owned plant and an American-owned one, but between a foreign-owned plant and no plant at all.

It Was Always About More Than Ownership

The reality is that American manufacturing has always been about more than ownership structures. It’s about workers. It’s about communities. It’s about whether a young person can build a future without leaving town. It’s about whether Main Street stays alive.

It’s about whether parents can buy a home, support a family, and send their kids to college. If a factory creates those opportunities, many Americans will call that a success. Others will insist that real independence means owning what we build. Both viewpoints deserve consideration.

So We’ll Leave You With the Question

What we know for certain is this: an empty factory creates no jobs, a closed factory helps no community, and a thriving factory — regardless of who owns it — can change lives. Beyond that, reasonable, patriotic Americans can disagree.

So we’ll leave you with the question. If a factory is built in America, employs American workers, and strengthens an American town, but the company is owned overseas — is it still an American manufacturing success story? Or is there more to the story? Tell us what you think.

Whenever possible, choose Made in USA.

It’s cookout season. The grill is hot, the cooler is full, and somewhere in America this weekend, a cast iron skillet is sizzling over the flames. There’s a good chance it says one word on the bottom: Lodge. For 130 years, in the same small Tennessee town, Lodge Cast Iron has been pouring American iron into American pans — and it’s still the heavyweight champ of the backyard BBQ.

This week we’re shining a spotlight on Lodge, because it’s the perfect example of what the Buy American Campaign is all about: a family-owned company that bet on American workers, never moved its foundry overseas, and built one of the most trusted names in the country one skillet at a time. And with the Fourth of July around the corner, there’s no better time to put a piece of it on your grill.

Why Cast Iron Rules the Cookout

Ask any pitmaster or backyard griller and they’ll tell you: cast iron belongs at the BBQ. Set a Lodge skillet right on the grill grates and you’ve got the perfect surface for crispy-edged smash burgers, a screaming-hot sear on a steak, or seared scallops and shrimp that would slip right through a regular grate.

Cast iron holds and radiates heat better than thin grill grates, so it won’t warp and it delivers that deep, even sear that makes cookout food taste like a steakhouse. Throw a cast iron griddle over the burners for breakfast at the campsite, or drop a Dutch oven into the coals for chili, baked beans, or a skillet cobbler for dessert. One pan, dozens of jobs around the fire.

130 Years in South Pittsburg, Tennessee

The Lodge story starts in 1896, when Joseph Lodge opened a foundry in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. He first called it the Blacklock Foundry, after his friend and minister. In May 1910, a fire burned the foundry to the ground — but just three months later, the company was reborn down the road as the Lodge Cast Iron we know today.

More than a century later, Lodge is still in South Pittsburg, still family owned, and still America’s largest and oldest manufacturer of cast iron cookware. In a town of roughly 3,100 people, the company employs around 400 workers. That’s not a side note — that’s the backbone of an entire community, sustained by people choosing American-made cookware.

Built to Last Generations

Part of what makes Lodge special is that its products are designed to outlive the people who buy them. A well-cared-for cast iron skillet doesn’t wear out — it gets better. The more you cook with it, the more naturally non-stick it becomes. It’s the rare modern purchase that you can genuinely pass down to your kids and grandkids, BBQ after BBQ, summer after summer.

That durability is the opposite of throwaway culture. When you buy a Lodge skillet, you’re not buying something destined for a landfill in two years. You’re buying one pan, made in Tennessee, that can serve your family for fifty years or more.

From Skillets to Dutch Ovens and Beyond

The classic Lodge skillet may be the icon, but the lineup goes far beyond it. Lodge makes seasoned cast iron griddles, grill pans, Dutch ovens, camp cookware, baking pans, and more — exactly the kind of versatile, heavy-duty gear you want for summer. It works on the stovetop, in the oven, on the grill, or over an open campfire.

Whether you’re searing burgers at a Fourth of July cookout, baking cornbread, or simmering a stew at a campsite, there’s a Lodge piece built for the job — and every piece of traditional cast iron carries the same promise: poured and finished in the USA.

Shop Lodge for Grilling Season

If reading this makes you want to add a piece of real American cast iron to your grill before the next cookout, we’ve made it easy. You can browse our selection of Lodge cast iron cookware right in the Buy American Store, where every product is vetted for its Made-in-USA credentials.

Browse Lodge Cast Iron in the Buy American Store →

Every skillet you buy does more than cook a great meal. It helps keep 400 people working in a small Tennessee town, supports a 130-year-old American manufacturer, and casts a vote for the kind of country where things are still built to last — right here at home.

So this summer, when you fire up the grill, make it American iron. With a brand like Lodge, choosing American has never tasted better.

Whenever possible, choose Made in USA.

For years, the old General Motors plant in Moraine, Ohio sat as a monument to everything Americans fear about manufacturing. When GM shut the Moraine Assembly plant down in 2008, thousands of workers lost the jobs that had built their homes, raised their kids, and anchored an entire community. The parking lots emptied. The lights went dark. And a town that had defined itself by what it made was left wondering if it would ever make anything again.

This month, that question got an answer. The factory is coming back to life — and this time, it’s making potato chips.

A $100 Million Bet on a Town That Lost Its Plant

Shearer’s Foods, an Ohio-based snack maker founded in 1974, has invested roughly $100 million to transform part of that former GM plant into a state-of-the-art factory at 4100 Springboro Pike. On June 22, the company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the moment — the same stretch of concrete that once rolled out SUVs is now being remodeled to turn out potato chips and baked snacks.

The new plant brings about 250 jobs to Moraine. For a community that watched its biggest employer walk away, those 250 paychecks are far more than a statistic. They’re proof that a town written off as part of the “Rust Belt” can write a new chapter.

From SUVs to Snacks — Same Building, New Life

There’s something deeply American about this story. The same walls that once echoed with the sound of an auto assembly line are being retooled for a fully automated packaging operation. The work has changed. The product has changed. But the meaning is the same: people are clocking in again where they once clocked out for the last time.

“We’re excited to celebrate this important milestone in Dayton,” Shearer’s CEO Bill Nictakis said in a statement, pointing to the company’s focus on growth and “creating new opportunities in the communities where we operate.” For Moraine, that opportunity is the difference between an empty shell and a working factory.

Who Is Shearer’s Foods?

If you’ve ever grabbed a bag of store-brand chips, there’s a good chance Shearer’s made them. The company is one of North America’s largest makers of salty snacks, employing more than 5,000 people across 17 facilities. Moraine marks its fourth location in Ohio — a deepening commitment to its home state at a time when plenty of companies are still chasing cheaper labor overseas.

Instead of building somewhere far away, Shearer’s chose to plant its flag in a community that knew exactly what it felt like to lose a factory. That choice matters. It’s the difference between a town that’s a footnote and a town that gets a second act.

More Than Chips — A Commitment to the Community

The company didn’t just cut a ribbon and call it a day. Shearer’s partnered with the Dayton Foodbank to co-host a food drive at the grand opening, asking attendees to bring non-perishable items for neighbors in need. It’s a small gesture, but it says something about how a company sees its place in a town: not as a tenant, but as a neighbor.

That’s the kind of story we love to tell here at the Buy American Campaign. We don’t just care about logos and headquarters. We care about whether American workers have somewhere to go in the morning, whether a community has a heartbeat, and whether the things we buy help keep that heartbeat going.

The Whistle Blows Again

Eighteen years ago, the last GM workers walked out of that Moraine plant carrying their toolboxes and their memories, unsure if anyone would ever build anything there again. Today, the lights are back on, the lines are being installed, and a new generation is about to clock in.

The next time you reach for a bag of chips, take a second to flip it over and see where it was made. Because somewhere in Ohio, a factory that everyone gave up on is humming again — and every American-made snack that rolls off that line is a reminder that comebacks are still possible in this country.

Whenever possible, choose Made in USA.

Here’s Your Chance to Support the Companies Still Building Things in America

Amazon Prime Day is one of the biggest shopping events of the year. For four days, millions of people will be searching for deals on everything from tools and cookware to clothing, toys, and home goods.

At Buy American Campaign, we’re looking at Prime Day a little differently. We’re asking a simple question: can we support the companies that are still building things in America?

The answer is yes.

Thousands of Companies Are Still Making It in America

Across the United States, thousands of companies are manufacturing products in American factories, employing American workers, and investing in local communities. Some are household names. Others are family-owned businesses quietly making exceptional products in places like Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Texas.

Many of these companies face intense competition from cheaper imports and global supply chains. Yet they continue to invest in American manufacturing because they believe quality, craftsmanship, and local jobs matter.

That’s why Buy American Campaign exists. We’re building a place where consumers can discover these companies, learn their stories, and find products genuinely made in the USA.

This Prime Day, Shop With Purpose

This Prime Day, whether you’re shopping for tools, cookware, outdoor gear, clothing, toys, or home products, consider taking a moment to see what’s being made right here at home.

Because every purchase tells a story. And when you support companies manufacturing in America, you’re supporting more than a product.

You’re supporting workers. You’re supporting communities. And you’re helping keep American manufacturing alive for the next generation.

🇺🇸 Explore more than 10,000 American-made products and discover the companies behind them at BuyAmericanCampaign.store.

Buy American Campaign
Celebrating the companies, workers, and communities building things in America.

Whenever possible, choose Made in USA.

On June 15, 2026, shovels hit the dirt on more than 600 acres outside Greensboro, North Carolina — and with them, a bet that America can do something it hasn’t done in generations: build an all-new commercial airplane, from scratch, on American soil. JetZero, the aerospace startup behind the radical blended-wing Z4 jet, broke ground on its first manufacturing and final assembly campus, an 8-million-square-foot factory that the company says will become the most advanced aircraft plant of its kind anywhere in the world.

This is exactly the kind of story the Buy American Campaign exists to celebrate. It isn’t about preserving the past. It’s about American workers inventing the future of an entire industry — and choosing to build it here.

14,500 Jobs and $4.7 Billion in Investment

The numbers attached to this project are hard to overstate. JetZero’s Greensboro campus is expected to create 14,500 jobs over the next decade, backed by $4.7 billion in investment that will transform the Triad region of North Carolina. State officials confirmed the deal was supported by the largest state-level incentive package ever offered to a startup in any industry.

Those aren’t warehouse jobs or temporary construction gigs that vanish when the ribbon is cut. These are skilled, long-term manufacturing and engineering positions — the kind of work that builds a middle class and roots it in a community for decades. For a region that has watched textile and furniture plants close over the years, a 14,500-job aerospace campus is a generational turnaround.

Construction begins immediately, with hiring expected to ramp in phases as the facility comes online over the next ten years.

What Makes the Z4 Different

The airplane being built in Greensboro doesn’t look like the tube-and-wing jets we’ve all flown in. The Z4 is a blended-wing body, a design where the fuselage and wings merge into one smooth, lifting shape. The result is an aircraft JetZero says will be up to 50 percent more fuel efficient than today’s comparable jets.

The Z4 is aimed at what the industry calls the “middle market” — routes that are underserved today. It’s designed to carry about 250 passengers on trips of up to 5,000 nautical miles. If it delivers on its promise, it could reshape how airlines think about everything from fuel costs to cabin layout.

For the first time in a long time, the most talked-about new shape in commercial aviation is being assembled by American hands, in an American factory.

A Factory Built in the Digital Age

The Greensboro plant isn’t just big — it’s smart. JetZero is working with Siemens and Deloitte to build the facility on advanced digital and AI-native platforms. Engineers built a complete digital twin of the entire factory before a single slab of concrete was poured, letting them test layouts, work flows, and production lines in a virtual model first.

That approach, the company says, will make the Greensboro facility the most efficient and adaptable aircraft plant of its kind in the world. It’s a reminder that “Made in America” in 2026 doesn’t mean old machines and faded glory — it means cutting-edge technology paired with skilled American labor.

Why This Matters for the Buy American Movement

We talk a lot about bringing manufacturing back to the United States. Usually that means reshoring production that left, or supporting heritage brands that never moved. JetZero is something different and just as important: a brand-new American industry being born here, instead of overseas.

It would have been easy — maybe even cheaper in the short term — to chase lower costs abroad. Instead, JetZero chose North Carolina, and North Carolina bet big right back. That’s the kind of partnership between industry, workers, and communities that built American manufacturing in the first place.

The stakes really are huge. If JetZero succeeds, it won’t just employ 14,500 people — it could prove that the next great leaps in aerospace can and should happen on American soil. And every one of those Z4 jets that rolls out of Greensboro will carry the same quiet message we put behind every product we champion: this was made in the USA.

America isn’t just preserving manufacturing. We’re inventing whole new industries — and building them right here at home.

Whenever possible, choose Made in USA.

The factory wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t exciting. Nobody got rich working there. But it paid for a house. It paid for Little League. It paid for braces. It paid for college. And for one American family — and millions like it — that was everything.

Every morning before sunrise, he climbed into the same pickup truck and drove to the same factory he’d worked at for nearly thirty years. The work was hard. The shifts were long. The machines were loud. By the end of the day his back hurt, his hands were sore, and his clothes smelled like oil and steel.

He Wasn’t There for the Work — He Was There for What It Made Possible

He wasn’t on that line because he loved the work. He was there because he loved what the work made possible. The factory paycheck covered the mortgage. It kept food on the table. It paid for family vacations that seemed small at the time but became cherished memories later.

When the kids needed new shoes, the factory paid for them. When braces were needed, the factory paid for them. When a daughter wanted piano lessons and a son wanted to play baseball, the factory paid for those too. And when the college acceptance letters finally arrived, that same factory paycheck helped make those dreams possible.

He Built Something More Valuable Than Wealth

Nobody called him wealthy. Nobody wrote articles about him. Nobody interviewed him on television. But year after year, he quietly built something more valuable than wealth: opportunity. His children would have chances he never had. They would walk across college stages carrying degrees he never had the opportunity to earn himself.

And when people congratulated those graduates, few would think about the sacrifices that made it possible — the overtime shifts, the missed lunches, the early mornings, the years spent standing on concrete floors. But their father knew. And deep down, so did they.

Factories Didn’t Just Make Products. They Made Middle-Class Lives.

For generations, stories like this played out in towns all across America. Factories didn’t just make appliances, cars, machinery, furniture, steel, or tools. They made middle-class lives. They made homeowners. They made taxpayers.

They made Little League coaches, church volunteers, PTA members, and proud parents sitting in folding chairs at graduation ceremonies. They created pathways for ordinary families to do extraordinary things.

The Real Story Was Never in a Spreadsheet

Today, when people talk about manufacturing, they often focus on economics, trade policy, or quarterly numbers. But the real story was never found in a spreadsheet. It was found in family photo albums. In first homes. In graduation pictures. In wedding photos. In the lives built by people whose names most of us will never know.

The factory didn’t send a man’s kids to college by itself. A hardworking father did that. A determined mother did that. A family did that. But the factory gave them the opportunity — and for millions of American families, that opportunity changed everything.

Built on Factory Floors, Not Wall Street

Millions of Americans didn’t build their wealth on Wall Street. They built it on factory floors. And entire generations rose with them. Every time we choose American-made, we help keep that ladder standing for the next family — the next father in a pickup truck, the next kid who gets to walk across a stage.

That’s what’s really at stake when we talk about bringing manufacturing home. Not just jobs or numbers, but opportunity — the kind that quietly changes the course of a family for generations.

Whenever possible, choose Made in USA.