Category: Campaign

There was a time when there was pride in American manufacturing and more of the merchandize that you found on the store shelves all across the country were made in factories somewhere in America. With most of the jobs filled by locals who were hired by the companies that built the factories.

Unfortunately, there was a huge shift in the landscape of the business world and companies or their shareholders decided it was costing too much to operate the large factories and employ a large workforce. This meant that the companies had to find cheaper ways to get their products made. For many companies that meant no longer were they making their products, instead that turned to overseas manufacturers and they basically became importers of foreign goods.

The tide is beginning to change

While it took a little bit of time to get rolling, there was a grassroots movement several years ago that was looking to break the cycle of foreign products filling the store shelves. Now, we see more and more factories starting to pop up and more American Made is starting to break through once again.

One small difference is very apparent, the factories that are being opened are not your typical oversized structures, instead they are much smaller and more efficient. This makes it far more likely to be successful in producing American Made products.

Buy American Made

While some of the companies have started to comeback, it is high time that the American people begin demanding that more of the things that we buy in the stores are actually made here in America. If enough people begin speaking with their wallets and make their purchasing decisions more carefully and only look for those things with Made in America patches, then it just might be enough to encourage more companies to return to being manufacturers again.

So, remember the next time you are in the store and looking to buy something, you will want to look at the packaging to see where it was manufactured. This is because, even if the company that owns the brand is an American company, it does not mean that the product you are looking at was actually manufactured here in America.

It is up us to be sure that we all put more pressure on the companies to shift back to manufacturing in America first mentality. If the pressure is great enough by the consumer it just might be what it will take to push a company to make a decision to bring manufacturing back to American soil and employ American workers.

Please, help your country and American manufacturing by encouraging everyone you know to try to avoid buying anything not made in the United States.

Ever since the beginning of the economic downturn in 2008, the workforce has shed 1.2 million US manufacturing jobs. Some of the positions were lost when some manufacturing companies turned to automation and robotic equipment in order to take advantage of new technology. However, the majority of those losses were when businesses moved their manufacturing operation overseas to take advantage of cheaper labor or a better business climate.

With the loss of so many of these good-paying manufacturing and assembly jobs, there is a need for more open positions in lesser skilled jobs that do not require an advanced degree. Unfortunately, that also means that they are likely to be considerably less pay and other compensation. This was a double whammy to the local economies that often relied on the revenues generated by those higher paying jobs.

Alternative Jobs are available

Over the past decade since the official start of the economic downturn and the overall loss of the million-plus US manufacturing jobs, there has been an uptick in other sectors of the workforce. The service industry and healthcare have each seen increase jobs to help fill the gap that was left by the loss of so many manufacturing jobs.

Unfortunately, many of these jobs that were available were considered dead-end jobs that were not really career-defining like Walmart, janitor or flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant. These types of jobs were only taken in order to pay the bills in hopes to find something better or as a second or third job in order to make ends meet.

These non-manufacturing jobs that many of these people were forced to take when many of the US factories that closing and the jobs were being sent overseas where it was much cheaper to operate don’t offer anything in the way of moving up and getting ahead. You simply go to work every day and work hard and earn a paycheck and go home. Then you repeat the cycle over and over again for years and years.

While many of those manufacturing jobs will never come back, especially those that were lost to technology advancement and automation, but the ones that were lost when the business climate got too hard to continue to operate here in the United States and many companies shifted their manufacturing overseas. Those types of situations could be reversed and we could eventually see a resurgence in the US manufacturing jobs again.

Until then, we continue to see the only jobs that are available are the ones that people only stay doing for a short time while they wait for a much better opportunity to come along or the job happens to be a second or even third source of income.

Over the years, people have flocked to the United States of America in search of a new life and the chance to prosper. Some of those people arrived on these shores because of a desire to play a role in shaping the nation, while others came out of sheer desperation. Given that the potato famine was in full bloom in the mid 1800’s, it’s fair to suggest that the millions of people who arrived from Ireland between then and the 1920’s was more to do with desperation and starvation than anything else. That they ended up playing a major role in the rise in manufacturing is the US at that time is something that cannot be disputed.

As beloved as the Irish are in America today, the reality is that they were not made to feel particularly welcome when they first set foot on American soil. Most of the new arrivals were starving and impoverished and were essentially viewed as a lower class of people than the residents of the US. Many businesses hung signs clearly stating that they were not in the business of hiring the Irish, but things started to change when the Industrial Revolution made its way from Europe to this side of the pond.

Back in those days, manufacturing was something of a local affair, with goods made in households in every town, essentially serving the people who lived in the vicinity. Industrialization and the formation of corporations meant that expansion was possible, but the one thing holding back the process and Westward Expansion was a lack of healthy bodies willing to put in the work required. Given that the Irish were still very much down on their luck at this time, companies found that they could hire them for pennies on the dollar, working the Irish for long hours and for very little pay.

Transportation was the key to growth in the manufacturing industry, as well as many more besides. The building of canals and railroads began in earnest, and it was very often the Irish who provided the backbreaking labor for these huge endeavors. The arrival of the Industrial Revolution combined with the ability to quickly and efficiently transport cargo and people across the country meant that the manufacturing industry saw incredible growth in a relatively short period of time. None of it would have been possible without the immigrants, many of whom came from Ireland.

The Westward Expansion never really slowed down or hit a lull, simply because there were always fresh bodies and new laborers becoming available on a daily basis. The Irish, seeing the opportunity to work and thrive in their new home, continually used their money to bring over more family members so that they might all be given the same opportunity to have a better life. When you put on your green hat and down a pint of Guinness this St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps spare a moment to think about how prosperous this nation is now, and how the Irish played a major role in it getting there.

With the amount of domestically produced products continuing to fill the shelves of so many of local stores all across the country, you cannot help but hope that it is somehow helping families. One way it is definitely helping is that many factories located in small towns across the country employ several generations of families in the town.

For many of these families, there is a certain amount of pride knowing that the work that they do produce the products that their company sells are benefiting fellow American who are buying them for their own families to use. This pride in their work is exactly what keeps many people who work in the manufacturing industry going.

Keeping the money in America

The more and more that you see Made in America plastered on the labels of products in the stores that you shop in means that there more families across the country benefiting directly. This is because traditionally manufacturing jobs have been higher paying and means more money for the family budget for those working in the factories.

However, it does not stop there, when families have more money to spend they tend to use it by buying more things from the businesses in the area that they live. This is a definite boon for the local economy and the tax collections for the city and state.

The momentum continues to grow for Made in America

Despite the strong numbers of foreign-made products that still exist on shelves in many of the most popular retailers and discount stores, there is a glimmer of hope for Made in America. This is why we as American consumers should be putting more pressure on the American companies that sell these foreign made products to shift where they get their products from.

As we continue to speak louder with our wallets at the local store level the more the companies will see that they will definitely benefit their bottom line by staying closer to home when it comes to having their products made. This will also put pressure on them to consider moving manufacturing operations back to the United States from overseas.

Buying American Made Products must be more than just a saying

We here in America should all be interested in buying products that are made here in the United States as it helps to benefit everyone to some degree. When buying products that are made and sold in America we ensure that the people that are employed by the companies that make them are able to support their families and continue to support the community by spending money at the local businesses. As the local businesses flourish, they are able to expand and hire more locals and contribute more tax dollars to the local government and the addition to the workforce continues to infuse more money into the local economy.

So, we all should take the Buy American Made Products saying to heart and do our part. 

According to American manufacturing statistics, the United States is the largest manufacturing country in the world, with more than 18% of the global number of goods manufactured here. However, in 1985, it produced 28 percent of the world’s goods. With more than $2 trillion in industrial output (a record amount) the outlook is still not as bright as what the industry leaders are wanting to see. They are clamoring to find ways to boost manufacturing in a way that will help to improve our total output and the number of the overall manufacturing jobs that are available.

The leading cause of the decline in US manufacturing output and the number of manufacturing jobs is the increased demand for a more Global Economy. Our decline helped other developed economies like China to build themselves into a manufacturing powerhouse.

Vital Statistics to consider

To understand American manufacturing statistics, it is easier if they are broken down into two separate categories

Gross Domestic Product – The Gross Domestic Product of the United States is the number that represents the strength of the economy in the US. The portion of the GDP that is presented by the manufacturing is 11.5 percent of the total United States GDP. This number is considerably lower than the 12.4 percent that was seen just before the beginning of the Great Recession and well below the 24.3% in 1970. If the US hopes to reverse the negative effect of the economic downturn there has to be a recovery in the manufacturing industry. As the percentage goes up quarter by quarter, the total GDP will recover which will help the US economy to get stronger.

Employment Numbers – The second part of the US manufacturing picture is the number of jobs in the industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 12.55 million manufacturing jobs held at US companies. This number represents approximately 8.5% of the entire US workforce and by and large one of the reasons the Buy American Campaign is such a proponent of developing American manufacturing is that the manufacturing positions pay workers on average 12% more than positions in other industries. The 12.55 million jobs represent a decline of just over 1 million people since the 2008 (start of the Great Recession).

These American manufacturing statistics show the importance of encouraging/rewarding American manufacturing companies to invest in production in the country by buying products made in the USA. That and the fact that every dollar spent in manufacturing adds $1.48 in business growth in other supporting sectors such as retailing, transportation, and business services shows the importance of buying American made.

Unfortunately, far too many Americans have discovered that today’s job market is not exactly people friendly. While unemployment numbers say that more people are working and less are still out of work, too many of these jobs are low paying, minimum wage or even part-time jobs that pay very little and rarely have benefits. This makes it extremely difficult for today’s American family to survive each and every month on such a small income.

Even if you are lucky enough to have a decent paying job, it is un likely that you will be able to sustain a good living on what the average person makes. This makes it incredibly important for there to be a sufficient number of good paying US manufacturing jobs available to help balance out the number of low paying jobs which are prevalent in the economy today. We need these good paying US manufacturing jobs in order to protect the local economies in the communities scattered throughout the United States.

The Effect of Technology On US Manufacturing Jobs

We recognize that technology is partially responsible for the loss of many of the US manufacturing jobs that have disappeared over the past decade. Many manufacturing jobs that were once performed by humans are now being done by robots and other automated machines. The companies often justify this shift from production, that once was carried out by hard-working men and women, by claiming that it would be much safer to have robots and other machines doing the work.

The truth is there are actually many high paying, highly skilled manufacturing jobs in modernized factories and manufacturing facilities that look nothing like the cavernous buildings of yesteryear. These jobs feature machinery that is run using complex software and computer systems requiring some operators to be highly educated.

Leaner and Meaner US Manufacturing

While many years ago the manufacturing sector in the United States had a higher number of people in its workforce, the current number employed in American manufacturing does not add up. The “leaner and meaner” manufacturing processes being used in American manufacturing does not account for the many millions of Americans who lost their jobs in the industry. America does export goods in the amount of $1.4 trillion (2016) which obviously creates jobs here but the problem lies with what we import. The quantity of imported goods was a staggering $2.2 trillion in 2016 and even managed to increase to $2.4 trillion in 2017.

Everything that is imported is obviously not made in America and for that reason it creates U.S. unemployment. No one is saying that we need to reduce the imports to zero. That would be unfair. If countries are buying our exports then we should buy a similar quantity from them so trade is balanced. The way that the American people can reduce the amount of imports coming into this country is to make a concerted effort to buy products made in the USA. The more we show a willingness to buy American made products, the more companies will invest in American manufacturing and the more US manufacturing jobs will return.

Since the Industrial Revolution in the United States, US Manufacturing has always been at or around the top of the list when it comes to industries in America. One of the biggest reasons for this was that there was a sense of pride in the quality of the products that were being produced in the factories, large and small throughout the United States.

It used to be that there was a sense of pride among families that grew up in the small towns and cities surrounding many of these behemoth factories. It was the norm to hear stories of multiple generations of families working at the company that ran the local factory. It was not so much the type of products that they were making, rather the idea that they were making the things that everyone was going to be using to make their life that much more enjoyable.

Things Began to Shift in America

Unfortunately, there was a subtle shift that began to occur more than a decade ago and it threatened to destroy our US Manufacturing industry. Some time ago China set out to take over as the world’s leader in manufacturing. This was not really that much of a shock considering China has one of the largest workforces and the ability to build manufacturing facilities.

As China Manufacturing exploded it did start having an increasing impact on US Manufacturing and the jobs that many American families relied on for their livelihood. This is due in large part because China had the benefit of much lower costs of labor and other factors that made it cheaper for many US companies to purchase the goods that they were selling to their customers.

As more and more US companies cut back on self-manufacturing in their own factories and began propping up China’s manufacturing industry, US manufacturing started to wane. This started to put a serious strain on the availability of US manufacturing.

Saving US Manufacturing before it’s too late

There are a number of significant reasons why US manufacturing has seen a dramatic reduction in the overall amount of manufacturing output in the United States, which has made it easier for a country like China to gain a foothold in global manufacturing and threaten the position of US Manufacturing.

As Americans, we can help our manufacturing industry and the companies that are still calling the US home. By continuing to insist on shopping at stores that feature “Made in America ” products and encouraging everyone else that you know to buy American is a really great place to start. You see, the more people that spend their hard-earned money on products that were produced in America using American materials the stronger our economy will be.

As I am sure you know by now, the Buy American Campaign’s mission is to bring awareness to the American consumer and to encourage them to consider buying products made in America. Helping American manufacturing by buying products made in the USA is not only important to our generation, but it is just as important for future generations of Americans. If you need to find out more about why manufacturing is so important to this country, visit our website and investigate the many articles that have so far been written. We plan to keep writing and distributing these articles to help get our message out there.

This will probably not come as a shock to you to find out that all this takes money. We are restricted on how we can distribute our message by our budget constraints. We have some generous contributors for which we are very grateful, but unfortunately it is not enough. In order to increase our distribution, we need to increase our resources.

Every little bit helps and that is why we have started up the $10 per month challenge. All we ask is that you contribute $10 per month to help us get the message out to more Americans. Obviously, you are welcome to give more than that and there are options available, but if enough people make the commitment, $10 per month will make a big difference. If you believe in American manufacturing and the benefits it can bring to this and future generations, please click the link below and sign up today. We made it easy to sign up and there is no long term commitment.

https://www.patreon.com/BuyAmericanCampaign

Thank you

Buy American Campaign

While the overall picture may not appear to be good for the manufacturing sector of our economy, when you dig a little deeper you might be surprised at what you see. Over the past decade, our economy has shed more than 5 million American manufacturing jobs. That number has come in a number of different ways, work being transferred to Mexico or overseas, company closures and automation.

The ability for a company to find ways to get its products made cheaper will almost always be a factor when it comes to job losses or even job gains in the United States. This includes using robots and fully automated systems. However, there is a silver lining to all of this and it involves an under-reported fact, advanced manufacturing in the United States is thriving.

What is Advanced Manufacturing In The United States?

Today’s highly trained and skilled workforce is what is driving our economy and it will continue to flourish and grow as long as demand for the goods is plentiful. While the number of manufacturing jobs that have been lost is a huge number, many of the remaining jobs are much higher paying positions.

While many American manufacturing jobs were lost to automation when businesses realized that they could produce more product using robots than they could with human employees they made the switch. However, in today’s advanced manufacturing environment, there is still a need for non-automated workers. These people are needed to run highly specialized equipment that cannot be automated and requires a highly skilled person to run them.

Manufacturing facilities have changed

You may be surprised to find out that today’s factory or manufacturing facility is not what you thought it was from the outside. Gone are the days of big, cavernous structures with huge smokestacks dotting the countryside. They have been replaced with much smaller, more modern buildings that can be built in the least obvious places.

However, when you go inside, you see the secret to their success is a much different approach to manufacturing that has replaced the old, outdated methods of yesteryear. Today, the machine operators are highly skilled men and women and many have degrees in engineering and other related skills to be able to run the sophisticated equipment.

So, before you go and write an obituary for what you think is a dead industry, you really should get to know more about the subject and dig a little deeper than what is being reported in the media. Manufacturing in the United States is far from dead but it might look a little different. However, I am pretty sure if you were to ask the people who are working in these modern-era factories and manufacturing facilities they would tell you that they much prefer things the way they are now.

To ensure we continue to develop manufacturing in the United States, these two things need to occur. We need to help our young people leaving school with the education and training necessary to excel in this new manufacturing environment. And we, as consumers, have to consider buying products made in the USA to reward the manufacturing companies already here and to encourage new ones to start up so more Americans can start to live the American dream.

Are you wondering why you should buy American made products or are you thinking there’s no big deal in purchasing from any producer you like?

Then you should read this article.

At the Buy American Campaign, we realize that there are many factors like production and company preferences that may determine what you purchase and whom you purchase from but nevertheless, today, we are going to dedicate this article into telling you why you should patronize American made products and the benefits that are attached to this for you.

The Buy American Campaign

First of all, let us get you familiar with the ‘buying American-made campaign’. This campaign is fueled by the passion for the greatness of our country and the realization that by patronizing home made products; we do not only get easy access to but also improve the country’s economy rather than shipping our economic value and possible impacts to foreigners outside the American borders.

You should buy American made products because it is safer and more economically lucrative

You should buy American made products because it is safer and more economically lucrative for the country, with its value and quality also well-regulated and guaranteed by the country’s regulatory bodies. Below is a breakdown of these benefits:

#1_ It gives you the chance to fund and support American owned industries and businesses:

Buying home made products ensures that every cent you spend goes directly back into the lives of citizens like you, business owners and employees. It is a method of re-investing into our economy, supporting budding businesses and increasing the wealth of other fellow Americans. The good part is, you aren’t just donating this money into thin air, you are purchasing items that are also useful to you but in this case, rather than shipping the value of your purchase to a foreign country; you are helping a local business thrive! This will no doubt, also go a long way to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

#2_It gives you the opportunity to buy from a source whose quality is guaranteed by the state:

Unlike many manufacturers overseas, American manufactures are strictly regulated to ensure employees have safe and healthy working conditions and the products produced are safe for the consumer and fit for purpose.

#3_It will boost the American economy and add more value to products made within:

The current trade deficit is huge and getting bigger. The country’s debt is now over $20 trillion and growing. Buying products made in the USA is going to help both. Manufacturing jobs traditionally are better paying than comparable jobs. It’s hard to find a downside to increasing the manufacturing base in this country.

#4_It prevents interdependence and reliance on foreign made goods:

Reliance on foreign made goods for products that are necessary for day to day living like food, gadgets and machines will eventually make the American populace dependent on these products impeding the full economic independence of the Country. Such dependence can even restrict the government of the day from implementing certain policies (in order not to sever ties with such countries) and on top of it all, a large percentage of the nation’s revenue will end up developing another country entirely.

In conclusion, you may want to keep in mind the fact that it is not only the nation at large that stands to benefit from your patronage of American made products, you get to benefit personally too because made in American products are usually more cost effective, better value and their quality is more likely to be superior to the imported alternative.