TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A bill touted as a way to boost Florida’s manufacturing sector by extending a sales tax break passed its first test in a state House panel Wednesday, overcoming scattered objections that it amounts to a giveaway without guarantees it would stimulate job growth.
The measure seeks to exempt Florida manufacturers from paying the 6 percent sales tax on equipment purchases. The proposal reflects one of Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s top legislative priorities this year.Supporters said manufacturing has lagged in a state that relies on a vast services industry tied to its sunshine, beaches and theme parks to generate much of its economic activity.
As for manufacturing, “we are woefully behind compared to the rest of the nation in producing those jobs,” said Rep. MaryLynn Magar, R-Tequesta.
Her measure (HB 391) was approved by the House Economic Development and Tourism Subcommittee. It was opposed by three of the panel’s Democrats.
“I’m not against manufacturing, but I’m not for giving away everything to one industry,” said Rep. Hazelle Rogers, D-Lauderdale Lakes. “They need to pay something, and there needs to be some accountability.”
Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando, questioned whether such tax breaks actually attract jobs and investment. Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa, said the revenue lost from the tax break could go to help Florida’s neediest residents.
The tax break could cost the state more than $100 million in revenue by the second year, according to forecasts. A similar measure is being considered in the Senate.
But Magar and other supporters said the tax incentive would result in a net gain in revenues by encouraging manufacturers to hire more workers and boost investment in the Sunshine State. The result would be more workers paying taxes, they said.
Afterward, Magar sounded upbeat about the chances of eliminating the sales tax charged on equipment purchased by manufacturers.
But the proposed tax cut has drawn a lukewarm response from some Republican legislative leaders.
House Speaker Will Weatherford recently said the governor’s push for the tax cut was still alive but added that it’s not cheap.
Senate President Don Gaetz said Wednesday he supports the idea of the manufacturing tax break, but said he would like to see it tied to job creation.
The effort to assist manufacturers comes amid signs of an economic rebound in Florida.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment dipped to its lowest level in more than four years in February to 7.7 percent, and officials have pointed to the state’s rising tax revenue.
The tax break legislation seeks to capitalize on a sector that flexes plenty of economic muscle.
The state’s manufacturers employ more than 300,000 workers. Those workers earn $53,000 per year on average, well above many other private-sector jobs, Magar said.
Every manufacturing job created spins off more than two other jobs to handle such tasks as shipping and logistics, she said, and every $1 spent in manufacturing generates another $1.43 in economic activity.
But Florida has failed to capitalize on its manufacturing potential, ranking just 43rd nationally in manufacturing employment, she said.
Supporters said the tax break would enhance Florida’s bargaining position in competing with regional states for manufacturers.
“We cannot create wealth or improve our standard of living by cooking each other a hamburger or washing each other’s car or washing each other’s clothes or mowing each other’s lawn,” said Rep. Neil Combee, R-Polk City.
The sales tax exemption on equipment purchases already exists, Magar said, but many manufacturers have been unable to capitalize on it. The bill seeks to remedy that situation.
One company that hasn’t benefited is The Ronco Group, which designs and builds manufacturing equipment at its operations in Florida and Pennsylvania.
Ron Avery, the company’s chairman, said the tax break on equipment purchases would be an incentive to do more of the work in Florida.
His company generally purchases new equipment whenever it develops new product lines, he said. Those equipment purchases range from $250,000 to $1 million each year.
Has China's Economy Hit a ‘Dead End’?
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamAssistant Producer, CNBC Asia
When “exploding” credit growth is met by slower economic growth, this equates to a “dead end,” he added on Twitter.
Despite stabilization in the global economy, support from the government’s $157 billion infrastructure stimulus package unveiled in the second half of 2012 and strong credit issuance, China’s economy has failed to live up to expectations in the first three months of the year, said experts.
Robust credit issuance – which rose by almost 60 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier – is no longer able to generate the same level of growth as it did compared to a decade ago, said analysts.
Back in the mid-2000s, one yuan of credit generated around one yuan of nominal GDP. In 2012, three yuan of credit generated around 1 yuan of nominal GDP, according to financial analysis firm IHS.
“It’s shocking. The fact that growth slowed from the fourth quarter is concerning. One now has to question forecasts that assumed improvements in the global economy are going to translate into higher Chinese growth,” said Tim Condon, head of research for Asia, ING, who had expected 8.1 percent growth for the first quarter.
“We have lost confidence in a robust recovery,” added Alistair Thornton, senior China economist at IHS. “Another year of propped-up growth via state spending and a credit deluge would, we fear, push China dangerously close to proving Wen Jiabao correct – that the current economic model is ‘unsustainable’.”
In his final speech as Premier in March, Wen Jiabao said the country lacks a sustainable growth model, noting that in the domestic economy, “unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development remains a prominent problem.”
Slowdown in Industrial Output Worrying
Of the data released on Monday, economists say the most telling indicator of weakness in the economy is the deceleration in industrial production in March to 8.9 percent from an expected increase of over 10 percent. In August 2012 when hard landing fears were running high industrial production also grew at the same pace.
“While August 2012 proved the bottom for last year’s downturn, we doubt March will be the turning-point for 2013, given macro policy has shifted to a tighter stance with renewed controls on the housing market, local government financing vehicles and wealth management products,” Thornton said.
Confirming sluggish activity in the industrial sector, China’s electricity consumption rose by 4.3 percent in the first quarter – much slower than the 6.8 percent seen in the same period last year.
Growth Bad Enough for Stimulus?
Some experts including Vasu Menon, vice president of wealth management at OCBC, believe the lower-than-expected growth numbers could prompt the government to unveil fresh measures to support the economy.
“You might see modest action out of the authorities, they could come out with a mini stimulus package to kick start the economy. They want to see even distribution of growth, at the same time the government wants to make sure China doesn’t fall off the cliff you need to ramp up domestic demand,” Menon said.
ANZ’s chief China economist Liu Li-gang expects GDP growth to pick up to around 8 percent in the second and third quarters. “With external side risks diminishing and domestic credit picking up strongly we should have an upturn in the second quarter.”
Is The Successor To Manufacturing Jobs … Manufacturing?
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamObama’s acting commerce secretary, Rebecca Blank, announced a small-bore program Wednesday that hopes to plant the seeds of new, advanced manufacturing activity in cities across the country. (If the goal sounds familiar, it is – Obama has been preaching the virtues of advanced manufacturing since he first ran for president, like so many other American politicians.)
This year, the program will offer grants to 20 to 25 communities, of about $200,000 each, to write “strategic plans” for their advanced manufacturing futures. The plans are supposed to say what each region is good at, what sort of product it might become a manufacturing hub for, and what federal help the region needs to make that happen. Blank calls that investing in “industrial ecosystems.”
It’s a relatively small amount, and Blank didn’t exactly raise expectations that it will lead to millions of new factory jobs, especially because manufacturing today is far less labor-intensive than it used to be.
But she hopes the proposals will set off a happy chain of activity in cities that have been beset by job losses, with new factory work driving more business activity (and job creation) to support it, along with new research that could lead to new industries.
“There are a lot of reasons to want more advanced manufacturing located in the United States beyond just job creation,” she said. “And the most important one is, advanced manufacturing is often on the cutting edge of research and development.”
Problem is, America is staring at a huge factory employment void – and needs a lot of job creation to fill it. University of Chicago economists recently found that manufacturing employment declines explain half of the increase in joblessness among men without college degrees in the past 10 years.
The dominant industry that replaced those jobs, in the mid-2000s, was housing. And that was driven by a bubble, which popped.
New Study Finds China Manufacturing Costs Rising to US Level
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamCNBC Auto and Airline Industry Reporter
But change is in the air..
“It’s something that we anticipated when we went to China, we just didn’t know how quick it would happen,” said Mark Miller, CEO of Prince Industries.
China and US Costs Even by ’15
China is no longer a slam dunk for manufacturers looking for the lowest cost for operations.
In fact, a new study by the consulting firm AlixPartners estimates by 2015 the cost of outsourcing manufacturing to China will be equal to the cost of manufacturing in the U.S.
“The Chinese manufacturing cost advantage has eroded dramatically in the last few years,” said Steve Maurer, AlixPartners managing director. “If you go back to 2005, it was pretty common for landed cost from China to be 25 to 30 percent less than the cost of manufacturing in the United States. Based on our analysis, two-thirds of that gap has closed.”
Maurer said higher labor wages, the rising value of China’s currency, and the cost of shipping goods from China to points around the world have made manufacturing in China more expensive.
“If trends continue, the China cost is going to be on par with U.S. cost in the next four to five years,” said Maurer.
Higher Wages, Rising Currency
Since Prince Industries opened its plant in Shanghai a decade ago, wages have increased an average of 12 percent annually, while China’s currency, the RMB, has appreciated 25 percent vs. the U.S. dollar.
The rising value of the RMB was expected and has made it more costly to ship goods built in China around the world.
Meanwhile, hourly wages have been going up steadily due to China raising minimum wages, while competition for labor has forced manufacturers to pay more to attract skilled workers and keep them.
Pulling Out of China or Moving Further Inland?
As the cost of manufacturing in China has risen, so have reports of companies pulling their plants out of the country to find cheaper locations.
Some have re-shored facilities to the U.S., where cost differences are offset by higher productivity of American workers.
But few expect a mass exodus of manufacturers in China.
“I don’t think companies are going to pull out of China,” said Hal Sirkin with the Boston Consulting Group. “Because of Chinese domestic demand which is growing at 8 or 10 percent a year, even if they decide to pull out their export plants they will then convert those plants, basically re-tool them into Chinese consumption because there is a great market in China given all that growth.”
Sirkin said manufacturers squeezed by higher costs in more expensive cities on the coast of China like Shanghai will increasingly look to move plants to inner or western China where labor costs are lower.
“Some companies have found success in inner China and others have decided it is not worth it for them because they cannot get the productivity that they need,” said Sirkin.
Made in China and the US
Even with manufacturing costs rising in China, Prince Industries has benefited from expanding its operations outside Chicago to include a plant in China. Since making the move into China, the firm’s annual revenue has doubled to $40 million.
Much of that growth is spurred by the Prince Industries plant in Shanghai supplying customers who are manufacturing in China.
Given the changing market, would CEO Miller still expand to China?
“I think for us it made sense, it doesn’t make sense obviously for every U.S. manufacturer,” he said. “Once we announced that we were going to China, we had to convince our U.S. workforce that we weren’t going to move all of our manufacturing to China and just become a shell over here. Fortunately for us it worked out.”
$147 Million Tax Break Yields US Built Lexus
in Automotive, Jobs, Production/by MAM TeamThe incentive helped seal a deal with Toyota to move nearly all production of the Lexus ES luxury vehicle to Kentucky. Read more
Congressman Calls for American Made Clean Energy Equipment
in Uncategorized/by MAM Team“Our government is directly offshoring too many American jobs, and that must change,” he says.
The bill sets a three-year phase-in schedule for the policy, with American content requirements set at 50 percent in the first fiscal year after enactment and 60 percent in the second. H.R. 1524 would also set an 85 percent American content requirement for companies that use the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit.
“I think most American taxpayers would agree that it is a rather moderate expectation when we’re using their money – money that will create jobs somewhere,” Mr. Garamendi says. “When we make it in America, we provide pathways to the middle class and encourage our best and brightest to reinvent America’s economy for the better.”
Is “Buy American” a Domestic Growth Tool or Hindrance?
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamThe Buy American issue recently reheated due to Texas House Bill 558, which is now in committee in the state’s legislature. It would require the purchase of iron, steel, and manufactured goods made in the United States for certain state, state-aided, and governmental entity construction projects.
Lobbyist Perry Fowler, who represents construction companies working on water and wastewater plants, says it’s a bad idea. “Well-intentioned ‘Buy American’ measures have unintended costs, consequences, and liabilities,” he told the Dallas Business Journal. “This won’t level the playing field for U.S. companies who stand to benefit more from selling their goods across the U.S. and abroad.”
Fowler explained that construction companies’ costs would go up if they were required to source materials only from domestic manufacturers. The way engineering specifications are written makes these restrictions unfeasible, he claimed.
State Representative Yvonne Davis (D-Dallas), who filed the bill, argued, “Is it protectionism when Texans want to promote and support Texas businesses? Over the past few years, we have witnessed a number of Texas manufacturing companies close, and some companies have even moved overseas.” Spending Texas tax money on U.S.- and Texas-made products supports domestic business, she asserted.
In exploring the long history of Buy American laws, it’s important to keep in mind that there are two primary laws that apply: the Buy American Act of 1933 and the Buy American provision of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982. These laws limit some federal-funded purchases of certain materials to domestic sources or create a price preference for domestic products. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) also contains Buy American provisions.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) claims that domestic sourcing requirements, such as those in the ARRA, are “the most effective way to ensure taxpayer dollars are used to create and maintain jobs and manufacturing capacity to the maximum extent possible, thereby vastly improving the stimulative effect of government spending.” The group calls Buy American “a proven job creation tool that is broadly supported by Congress, the American people, and hundreds of local governments throughout the United States.”
The AAM cites a number of examples of U.S. companies that gained from Buy American provisions. Pennsylvania steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal benefited from public rail transportation projects funded in part by ARRA. AAM makes the point that “ArcelorMittal’s Steelton plant is one of three rail-producing plants in the U.S. that compete with imported products.” Because of the Buy American provisions of the 1982 legislation, United Streetcar of Clackamas, Ore., won a contract to build streetcars for new public transit projects in Oregon and Arizona.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says Buy American rules are counterproductive and expensive. In fact, the Chamber maintains that such rules “invite foreign retaliation and threaten U.S. access to export markets and the American jobs they support.” The organization says that Chinese officials frequently cite Buy American rules “as a justification for their own discriminatory policies.”
Fox Business commentator John Stossel bluntly said that “’Buy American’ is a dumb idea.” In a column on Reason.com, he quoted Hoover Institution economist David R. Henderson, who told him that “almost all economists say it’s nonsense, and the reason is: We should buy things where they’re cheapest. That frees up more of our resources to buy other things, and other Americans get jobs producing those things.”
Buy American advocate Todd Lipscomb, of MadeinUSAForever.com, presents some additional arguments for purchasing American-made products. He points out that many other countries do not have the worker-safety, minimum-wage, and environmental-protection laws in the U.S. that make manufacturing costlier. Lipscomb argues that “no Western nation can ultimately compete on price with a country willing to massively exploit and pollute its own people. When you buy only American-made products, you insist on a higher standard.”
Henderson counters this point, saying that while working conditions might be difficult for people in developing nations, they’re still better off taking those jobs: “The mistake Americans make is they think they would never work in a sweatshop and therefore say these people shouldn’t. They’re choosing their best of a bunch of bad options. And when you take away someone’s best of a bad option, they’re worse off.”
Reshoring: Beware the Hype
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamA review of products, profitability, and market demand will sometimes help management determine that some products are better made in the US, and some products are better made in Asia from a total cost standpoint.This is especially true when the company gets revenue from sales in Asia and, experience suggests, has expectations of 25% or more of its revenue coming from Asia.
Cold start reshoring is more difficult. The first step tends to be US assembly of components imported from Asia and seems to be most successful when the US market wants near-customized selection or a made-to-order product. Zero Motorcycles in Santa Cruz, CA, has been cited in media as a reshoring hero. In fact, Zero would be a good example of reshoring-to-assemble in the US to customer orders. For companies such as Zero, it is too wasteful to guess the market and have the wrong inventory in transit for six weeks. It is better to have basic building blocks in transit and to assemble those building blocks to order. The customer gets quick delivery on a built-to-spec product,and the company has adequate inventory with little waste.
While reshoring heroes are easy to find in the media, reshoring false-starts, failures, and disasters are something people do not broadcast. I was recently involved with a false start. The team was assembled, and the announcements were made with a speech I have heard many, many times: “We are tired of the hassles of an overseas supplier who is unable to meet our promise of quality and on-time delivery. We have capacity in the US, so let’s join our fellow Americans in reshoring our product. Let’s employ Americans, manufacture with a focus on quality, and deliver what we promise on time.”
Staff were pulled from their regular duties, drawings were updated, and new BOM item vendors were solicited, some in Asia and some in the US.
Then the numbers were put together and presented to management, and…management did not like the numbers. Instead of ordering one part number from a contract manufacturer in Asia, reshoring meant they needed to order more than 40 parts from a number of vendors. When added together, these costs were higher than the original SKU. In addition there was more overhead needed to support so many new vendors and logistics and new employees for assembly, etc. In the end, they chose to stay with the lower prices and higher hassles involved with offshore outsourcing.
The outcome was predictable. They put too much hope in the media hype that China manufacturing costs are rising and becoming nearly on par with US manufacturing costs. Local media has found that people buy newspapers to read about positive reshoring stories. Just like people buy newspapers to read about their favorite team winning a championship.
In order to justify reshoring on savings, one needs to have a highly automated process making something in high volumes where the competitive forces drive pricing near the cost of materials. At that point, energy costs and not labor costs are the greatest influence of success. The US has a competitive advantage at the moment regarding energy costs.
Managers considering reshoring need to be able to put a price on the market value of the quick response that local manufacturing allows. They need to be able to put a price on the market value of assembly that is close to the customer. They need to be able to put a price on service and repairs and determine if local assembly can provide some competitive advantage there.
Author Michael Porter suggests that companies can only makea profit with one of two strategies: cost advantage or differentiation. He suggests that every business decision can be boiled down to impacting one of these strategies. Reshoring is almost always a differentiation play. It is rarely a cost advantage play. But too many managers are buying into the media hype regarding cost trends. These supposed trends have not been fully realized, and it is still unclear if they ever will be.
Every company should consider reshoring, but they should view it from the perspective of competitive advantage related to differentiation. Reshoring has costs. Reshoring means more vendors and increased management overhead related to extended supply chains. The challenge is to make your company better and more competitive through reshoring, so increased profits can cover increased costs.
EverettePhillips is CEO and president of Global Manufacturing Network, a provider of contract manufacturing, sourcing, and logistics services for products and components with a focus on items with special engineering requirements.
The Made in America Movement is a proud Supporting Sponsor of this years Manufacturing Leadership Summit.
ABOUT THE SUMMIT:
The manufacturing industry is at a turning point. Delivering more ROI than any other conference, the 2013 Manufacturing Leadership Summit is built to address what you need most to succeed. Don’t miss this gathering.
New Successes Still Can Be Forged From Manufacturing, Tech and Innovation
in Uncategorized/by MAM Team“We’ve been hearing for the past three years that manufacturing is down. With the organizations I work with, we do see that manufacturing is very active. It shows that manufacturers are learning how to diversify,” said Jennifer Deamud, associate state director for the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center and managing partner for the Michigan Celebrates Small Business awards, which includes the 50 Companies to Watch.
“These are second-stage companies,” Deamud said, “and they’ve found the resources and capital here in Michigan not only to stay alive but to grow.”
Manufacturers are healthier, and state support from programs such as Pure Michigan Business Connect has helped, Deamud said.
To be considered for the program, businesses must be privately held, second-stage companies facing issues of growth — not survival. They must be based in Michigan, employ six to 99 full-time people and have between $750,000 and $50 million in annual revenue or working capital in place from investors or grants. There also must be a growth trend over the past three years.
Collectively, the 2013 class of Michigan 50 Companies to Watch generated $333 million in revenue and employed 1,284 Michigan workers in the past year, according to data collected by the program organizers. The 50 companies project 46 percent revenue growth and a 25 percent increase in employees for 2013.
An example of manufacturing’s comeback in Michigan can be seen in one of the highlighted company profiles that are linked from the list below.
Panther Global Technologies in Wixom makes engine parts for lawn equipment. In 2004, it began manufacturing parts in China to compete on cost with Asian competitors.
“We had to do that because we went from 200 people in Wixom to 15 or 20. That broke my heart,” said the founder of the company, Don Leith. “I vowed to myself we would someday rise again in the U.S.”
On May 2, small and second-stage businesses will be honored for their achievements at the ninth annual Michigan Celebrates Small Business event. The event is a collaborative effort of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Small Business Association of Michigan, MSBTDC, Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Cassopolis-based Edward Lowe Foundation. PNC Bank is the founding sponsor.
Michigan’s 50 Companies to Watch
Here is the list of 50 companies to watch. There are profiles of all 50 companies:
Also in Southeast Michigan:
Companies outside Southeast Michigan
Bill Seeks To Help Manufacturing In Florida
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamAs for manufacturing, “we are woefully behind compared to the rest of the nation in producing those jobs,” said Rep. MaryLynn Magar, R-Tequesta.
Her measure (HB 391) was approved by the House Economic Development and Tourism Subcommittee. It was opposed by three of the panel’s Democrats.
“I’m not against manufacturing, but I’m not for giving away everything to one industry,” said Rep. Hazelle Rogers, D-Lauderdale Lakes. “They need to pay something, and there needs to be some accountability.”
Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando, questioned whether such tax breaks actually attract jobs and investment. Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa, said the revenue lost from the tax break could go to help Florida’s neediest residents.
The tax break could cost the state more than $100 million in revenue by the second year, according to forecasts. A similar measure is being considered in the Senate.
But Magar and other supporters said the tax incentive would result in a net gain in revenues by encouraging manufacturers to hire more workers and boost investment in the Sunshine State. The result would be more workers paying taxes, they said.
Afterward, Magar sounded upbeat about the chances of eliminating the sales tax charged on equipment purchased by manufacturers.
But the proposed tax cut has drawn a lukewarm response from some Republican legislative leaders.
House Speaker Will Weatherford recently said the governor’s push for the tax cut was still alive but added that it’s not cheap.
Senate President Don Gaetz said Wednesday he supports the idea of the manufacturing tax break, but said he would like to see it tied to job creation.
The effort to assist manufacturers comes amid signs of an economic rebound in Florida.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment dipped to its lowest level in more than four years in February to 7.7 percent, and officials have pointed to the state’s rising tax revenue.
The tax break legislation seeks to capitalize on a sector that flexes plenty of economic muscle.
The state’s manufacturers employ more than 300,000 workers. Those workers earn $53,000 per year on average, well above many other private-sector jobs, Magar said.
Every manufacturing job created spins off more than two other jobs to handle such tasks as shipping and logistics, she said, and every $1 spent in manufacturing generates another $1.43 in economic activity.
But Florida has failed to capitalize on its manufacturing potential, ranking just 43rd nationally in manufacturing employment, she said.
Supporters said the tax break would enhance Florida’s bargaining position in competing with regional states for manufacturers.
“We cannot create wealth or improve our standard of living by cooking each other a hamburger or washing each other’s car or washing each other’s clothes or mowing each other’s lawn,” said Rep. Neil Combee, R-Polk City.
The sales tax exemption on equipment purchases already exists, Magar said, but many manufacturers have been unable to capitalize on it. The bill seeks to remedy that situation.
One company that hasn’t benefited is The Ronco Group, which designs and builds manufacturing equipment at its operations in Florida and Pennsylvania.
Ron Avery, the company’s chairman, said the tax break on equipment purchases would be an incentive to do more of the work in Florida.
His company generally purchases new equipment whenever it develops new product lines, he said. Those equipment purchases range from $250,000 to $1 million each year.
Associated Press Writers Gary Fineout and James L. Rosica in Tallahassee contributed to this report.
Small Companies Cashing In On Consumers Desire To Buy American Made Furniture.
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamFarabaugh, who promotes the made-in-America products on the company website and in a blog, has sold products across the country.
El Greco also uses domestic finishes and coatings. “These things we care about—it’s not possible unless we do them here, which is why we ended up being made-in-America in the first place,” explains vice president Alexis Singleton.
And in Albuquerque, N.M., Mike and Doreen Godwin own Ernest Thompson Furniture, one of four companies they now own that represent New Mexico’s 400-year history of woodworking. With 24 employees, the company produces cabinets and alder and pine furniture with hand-carved details.
The company sells to homeowners and hotels, and the Godwins have noticed that more customers have an interest in made-in-America products. “Even in a recovering economy where price is a factor, people are willing to pay more money for furniture that is made in America,” Mike says.
Plant manager Arthur Morfin says sales declined when products from China came on the market, but they are now picking back up. Orders from one of the company’s clients, Plow & Hearth, which had declined during the recession, are increasing again. The furniture is pricier than outdoor pieces sold at Lowe’s or Walmart, but “the longevity makes it a good return on investment,” Morfin says.
Annie O’Carroll of Annie O’Carroll Interior Design, Santa Fe, N.M., is working on a remodel with a client who wants to use made-in-America products. She’s sourcing furniture, iron and tin products from local artisans. Many of these artisans are more conscious of pricing and working harder to be competitive in today’s difficult economy.