Startups are returning to American factories, and it’s no longer (just) about patriotism or marketing. These brands want to create the best, most innovative clothes in the world. 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
Aaron Azzarito, Vice President of Marketing, illustrates the features and benefits of Telic Footwear and shares the purpose behind the brand. (Read on for your chance to win a pair of TELICs!) 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
On February 4, 2016, President Obama signed the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement on behalf of the United States. The TPP agreement has been in negotiation behind closed doors since 2010 between the United States and 11 other countries around the Pacific Rim: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The TPP is a “docking agreement” so other countries could be added without the approval of Congress. India, China, and Korea have expressed interest in joining the TPP.
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
Too many American companies base decisions about how to source manufacturing largely on narrow financial criteria, never taking into account the potential strategic value of domestic locations. Proposals for plants are treated like any other investment proposal and subjected to strict return hurdles. Tax, regulatory, intellectual property, and political considerations may also figure heavily in the conversation. But executives, viewing manufacturing mainly as a cost center, give short shrift to the impact that outsourcing or offshoring it may have on a company’s capacity to innovate. Indeed, most don’t consider manufacturing to be part of a company’s innovation system at all. Read more
