Dad Caps
Five Panel Hats
Mesh Back Hats
In Stock Blanks
Snapback Hats
Stretchfit Hats
Duffel Bags
Backpacks
Tote Bags
Computer Bags
Sling Messenger Bags
Cooler Bags
Cuff Hats
Beanies
Scarves
Zipper Folders
Stitched Folders
Accordion Folders
Ring Binders
Letter Folders
Clipboards
Union Made In USA
The term “sustainable” is unclear, which is troublesome for US manufacturers
Business of Fashion Magazine reports that Dôen, a California-based brand known for its prairie-dress silhouettes and vintage-floral prints, made an unusual admission on its website: “We do not consider ourselves to be slow fashion or a sustainable brand.” Instead, the owners said on Instagram that they “are not claiming to be a sustainable brand when we are, in fact, a seasonal fashion brand that is working towards environmental responsibility,”
Sustainability is fashion’s word of the moment, encompassing any effort by a brand to operate more responsibly. Its definition, therefore, is hazy. Often, brands don’t need to use the word “sustainable” at all to communicate a moral high ground to their customers. Marketing images set in nature, product descriptions that emphasise natural fibres and talk of timeless styles are among the signals that have come to imply they are environmentally responsible.
Now that sustainability marketing has become commonplace, there are signs that consumers are getting savvier. More brands are disclosing more information about where and how clothes are manufactured, raising the bar for rivals.
So, Dôen plans to release a comprehensive “resolutions report” that shares more details about its supply chain and employee conditions than ever before. The documents covers raw materials (31 percent of its cotton and cotton blends were organic in 2020), production traceability (in 2021, it aims to be able to trace 80 percent of its raw materials, up from 2 percent in 2020), factory auditors, the wages of factory workers at its primary factories, employee benefits, anti-racism efforts as well as its efforts to reduce plastic packaging, among other topics. Doen plans to hire a director of impact in 2021 to lead its efforts to collect more data.
As fashion consumers continue to push companies toward more sustainable and ethical business practices, we will likely see more of this in the future. We believe this trend will have a big impact on domestic manufacturing and companies’ decisions to bring manufacturing back to the USA.
Read more HERE
When fashion and politics meet, will this mean more made in USA?
This article in WWD highlights an interesting trend: fashion consumers are starting to blur the lines between politics and corporate responsibility, and brands are following their lead.
H&M, Adidas, Nike and Burberry are among the companies acutely aware of the dynamic, stuck between their desire to avoid forced labor and cotton produced in Xinjiang, China, and Beijing-backed boycotts and reprisals — setting up a direct conflict between promises to consumers and hopes of expanding in China.
But that is just the latest — and very on-point — example of a growing trend that has fashion testing out its political power and trying to find its place. Companies across the industry now see themselves on the front lines of climate change with their sustainability programs. They are also redoubling diversity efforts while supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, wading into issues surrounding voter rights, gun control, and more.
“The role of the CEO today is probably a lot different than it was five, 10 years ago,” Chip Bergh, CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., told WWD when asked about the political playing field. “We’ve got employees and suppliers and customers and they are important stakeholders. It does make the job more difficult, you’ve got to weigh and balance all these critical issues.”
As the fashion industry becomes more responsive to, and accountable for, their behavior, they will likely look to reshoring their manufacturing to the USA, even if it drives up prices. Because that is one of the best ways to show their commitment to sourcing products ethically and sustainably.
Read more HERE
Rocky Brands Extends Its Made In America Capabilities With Rock Island Facility
Rocky Brands Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of premium-quality footwear, is expanding its Made in USA footprint. They are expanding their offering of made in America products with the 45,000 square-foot Rock Island factory that produces Servus footwear it acquired as part of the purchase of Honeywell’s lifestyle and performance footwear business in March 2021. Their Rock Island facility, located in northwest Illinois, manufactures approximately 1.6 million pairs of Servus boots per year.
“A focused attention to quality and detail, while supporting our country’s workers, has always been at the heart of our brands,” said Paul Matonich, senior principal project engineer/advanced R&D, Rocky Brands, Inc.
“We are proud to say that the Rock Island facility has been manufacturing Servus footwear for decades, and we feel lucky to be joining the larger Rocky Brands family. The scope of protective product the factory manufactures is exceptional, especially in times like today when peace of mind and keeping everyone safe is more important than ever.”
Read more at the press release HERE.
Podcast (part 2): Three bits of advice from Mitch about starting a business
Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn has three pieces of advice for anyone looking to start their entrepreneurial journey.
First, he says, start jumping through the hoops. What does he mean by this? If you want to go after an opportunity that nobody else has, you have to jump through a bunch of hoops. Just go through those hoops and there is probably a big reward on the other side.
You can succeed in business by doing difficult things that other people don’t want to do and doing those things over and over again until they are no longer difficult. Once those difficult things become second nature, you can then hire other people to do those things for you and you can move on to the next thing.
Second, if you want to do your own thing, you won’t have a boss so it can be difficult to motivate you to get things done. So he suggests you build a system to make sure you get things done. Mitch swears by the book “Getting Things Done.” This means being as productive as possible and get the most important things done first.
Third, surround yourself with people who question and challenge you. You don’t want yes-men. You won’t be right most of the time, so you need the support of others (peer groups, employees etc.) to make sure you continue to get the feedback you need.
There’s a lot more to being an entrepreneur, but these pieces of advice could be very helpful to anyone looking to get started.
Listen to this segment at the 37:30 of THIS PODCAST
Podcast (part 1): How lean manufacturing unexpectedly served Unionwear during the pandemic
Some years ago, Unionwear embraced lean manufacturing principles. Lean manufacturing means Unionwear is governed by the principle of continuous improvement. There are always bottlenecks in every manufacturing process. Once those bottlenecks are freed, the next slowest operation becomes the next bottleneck by default. So, his job is to constantly find and resolve bottlenecks.
Not only has lean manufacturing made Unionwear run more efficiently and profitably, it also unexpectedly prepared them for the coronavirus pandemic. That’s because, when all the chaos hit in March 2020, they were already accustomed to changing regularly anyway. So, although Unionwear had to start making face shield and gowns pretty much overnight, they were already accustomed to constant changes and improvements, making the transition much easier. Incidentally, this mindset of process improvement even includes improving Zoom meetings, optimizing home offices, and more.
Furthermore, Unionwear can capitalize on chaos better than just about any other business. So if and when something unexpected happens, Unionwear can embrace the challenge where other businesses are more likely to falter. This gives them a competitive advantage, especially in manufacturing domestically.
Hear the podcast HERE (at the 24:50 for this topic)
Made in USA alone isn’t enough
This article in the University of Washington newsletter highlights a very important point: being made in America just isn’t enough.
Domestic manufacturers, and people looking to reshore their production from overseas, should do more that just create American jobs. They need to create living wages for the people who do the actual work.
Unionwear has had 100% union staff since its inception over 25 years ago and continues to this day. Although not easy, we have managed to survive, and even thrive, even though we pay our employees a living wage.
Reshoring doesn’t have to result in exploitation. You can make a profit and pay people well. We are proof.
Read the University of Washington newsletter HERE
#madeinusa #madeinamerica #reshoring #manufacturing #unionmade
What is the entrepreneur’s state of mind when the pandemic almost closes your business? Ask Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn
Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn appeared on the Entrepreneur State of Mind with Dr. Dale Caldwell.
After discussing the many twists and turns in running his business, Cahn was asked by Dr. Caldwell about how his mindset helped navigate the pandemic.
#business #leadership #pandemic
Will a new social contract for international fashion workers return manufacturing jobs to the USA?
Business of Fashion Magazine writes that the pandemic laid bare something we’ve known for a long time: much of the fashion industry is designed to exploit workers. “The business model, whether luxury or mass market, is set to exploit people,” said Ayesha Barenblat, founder and chief executive of Remake. She also noted that it is mostly women of colour “who make our clothes and bring our fashion to life.”
While the global fashion industry benefits from widespread deregulation, mounting consumer engagement is proving a powerful force for increased accountability. “Consumerism is changing, and I think for the first time we actually have the right period where we can change the discourse from the consumer’s point of view,” said Ritu Sethi, founder-trustee, Craft Revival Trust and editor, Global InCH.
This renewed focus on worker exploitation, driven by consumers who care about how people are treated, will almost certainly drive up wages in foreign countries, making it more attractive to make more clothing domestically.
Read more HERE
Ralph Lauren Debuts Team USA’s Closing Ceremony Parade Uniform and Apparel Collection, Featuring First-To-Market Innovations in Sustainability
Ralph Lauren invested heavily in sustainable manufacturing and it has paid off. They unveiled the Team USA Closing Ceremony Parade Uniforms and apparel collection for the 2020 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams which feature a wide variety of made in USA products, all of which were produced using revolutionary, sustainable manufacturing processes.
For these Games, Ralph Lauren worked to use more sustainable materials and manufacturing practices across the Team USA collection. The Company has developed and invested in ground-breaking innovations in sustainable materials and manufacturing technologies that will debut with this collection and will have global, industry-changing implications.
Ralph Lauren partnered with Dow to optimize the use of ECOFAST Pure Sustainable Textile Treatment, an advanced pre-treatment solution for more sustainable cotton dyeing that significantly reduces the amount of water, chemicals and energy used compared to traditional dye processes and will be utilized within cotton products in the Team USA apparel collection.
The MIRUM Olympic Patch was developed in partnership with Natural Fiber Welding, Inc, a leading sustainable material science company that Ralph Lauren recently invested in, that has revolutionized the use and reuse of plant fibers and materials into patented, high-performance materials. MIRUM is a revolutionary leather alternative material made from renewable resources that include plant-based materials and agricultural by-products and is a solution that is free of synthetic plastics.
Each item is made in America.
Read more about it HERE
Americans want the government to buy Made in USA goods, even if they cost more
A new Reuters-Ipsos poll found 63% of Americans want U.S. agencies to buy American-made products in general, even if they cost significantly more, and 62% think the government should strictly buy U.S.-made vaccines.
That enthusiasm dims a bit when it comes to other types of safety equipment, such as face masks: a majority, 53%, agree it is fine to buy personal protective equipment – or PPE – from foreign sources, while 41% disagreed.
The poll shows a longstanding contradiction: Americans like the idea of buying American goods, but not if it means paying more personally for it.
It also underscores a challenge facing the Biden administration, which has vowed to bolster manufacturers of crucial safety goods and pharmaceuticals as part of its larger push to revive the U.S. factory sector.
Read more at Reuters HERE
This St. Louis fashion company is revolutionizing fashion — and made in USA manufacturing
If you want to look at how to bring manufacturing back to the USA, look at this interesting project in St. Louis.It requires an integrated approach that goes well-beyond setting up a few factories.
Jon Lewis, co-founders of Evolution St. Louis, a revolutionary textile and knitwear manufacturing operation using cutting-edge 3D and seamless knitting technology, had this to say. “For us, and for trying to create an industry sector, that was key, because you need every part of a city – .com, .gov, .org, and .edu – to all work together to make that happen. I think we’re showing how manufacturing can start to reinvent itself in the U.S.”
Evolution St. Louis began full-scale operations out of 3830 Washington Blvd. in the middle of the Grand Center Arts District in February 2020 and are already looking at potential expansion sites in the area.
“As we considered re-imagining the supply chain, we saw [the role for] Evolution St. Louis to address the future industry needs in fashion, retail, manufacturing and beyond,” said Elmuccio. “At Evolution St. Louis, we’re at the forefront of high-tech, knit manufacturing, and our broader vision is to make ‘Made in the U.S.’ mean ‘Made in St. Louis.’”
Other cities would be wise to follow this model closely and see how it develops.
Read more details HERE
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Unveils $2.5 Trillion Made In USA Tax Plan
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen provided further details into the Biden administration’s ambitious corporate tax plans, which are expected to increase government revenue, and help pay for the administration’s proposed $2.25 infrastructure package.
Yellen provided additional insight into “The Made in America Tax Plan,” which is supposed to remove incentives for companies to move profits overseas, increase government tax revenue to help fund critical social problems, as well as increase fairness to all Americans. If the plan materializes, it would reportedly generate upwards of $2.5 trillion in revenue over a span of 15 years.
However, the tax plan also means that American companies would no longer be able to benefit from the numerous quirks embedded in the tax code, which allowed for reduced tax liabilities by shifting profits overseas. The tax plan would also address climate change, by substituting fossil fuel subsidies with clean energy production tax incentives.
Read more HERE
The pandemic is driving small-batch manufacturing which could benefit made in USA companies
The recent explosion in streetwear and casual dress, surprisingly due to the pandemic, is driving a boom in small batch customization of items like baseball hats, a trend that could benefit domestic manufacturers.
There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, the pandemic has done much more than disrupt supply chains; it is also altering the clothing we wear and how we buy it. Long before the Suez Canal was blocked by a giant boat and a gust of wind, an increased emphasis on domestic manufacturing and small-batch production was getting a lot of attention due to Covid.
Simultaneously, many young, non-white people have turned to golf during the pandemic because it is safer than indoor gatherings or other sports. However, these young people are not interested in the fashion senses of their conservative white forebearers. Indeed, these young people are finding — and creating — their own golf fashion trends. Some of these trends include custom-made hoodies and streetwear on the links.
Combining these two trends, one can see how domestic manufacturers who can profitably make custom streetwear for select clients could do very well.
It’s a bit of cliche to say that the pandemic has changed everything. Even so, keeping an eye on these fashion changes will definitely pay dividends for domestic manufacturers who do.
Read more about these trends at THIS LINK
Localized, just-in-time manufacturing may be poised for widespread adoption
Business of Fashion magazine highlights a very interesting story: localized, just-in-time manufacturing might be upon us.
Denim manufacturer Saitex, a B-Corp known for setting new sustainability standards for jeans production in Asia, has seen demand for its services soar as brands face increased pressure from investors, consumers and regulators to clean up their supply chains.
Saitex now says it can boost LA manufacturing in a way that benefits both brands and the local economy. Its new factory is highly automated, equipped with all the latest tech, from 3D cutting to auto-sewing to a “dancing box” that requires only 0.6L of recycled water to wash each garment.
Making jeans at the facility will allow brand partners to burnish their ethical credentials and signal their support for American jobs. But it could also make smart commercial sense. With small-batch production options and proximity to American consumers, Saitex’s Vernon plant enables brands to quickly replenish inventory, responding to consumer interest for particular products rather than placing big bets upfront. That means better aligning supply and demand, with the hopes of significantly reducing excess inventory.
Read more at the article HERE
How Made in USA during WWII has a lingering impact on a small town in Italy
Here is a fascinating story from Atlas Obscura on how Made in USA during WWII has a lingering impact on a small town in Italy.
When American convoys passed through the Italian town of Ercolano en route to northern Italy, in 1944, locals in Ercolano and elsewhere intercepted the troops and stole clothes to resell. Then, when the war ended, American troops left some clothes and supplies behind in warehouses outside of Naples because it was cheaper than carting them home. “Wars usually bring famine and destruction, but it also brought something we could build survival from,” says Ciro De Gaetano, one shop owner in Pugliano Market.
As part of the Marshall Plan, a U.S. effort to provide economic aid to devastated Europe, truckloads of bales of used clothing arrived in Ercolano, sent from American warehouses, tailors, and laundries. Locally known as the “river of gold,” the market on Pugliano provided jobs to around 4,000 people. “Some would get temporarily rich, because they would find valuables and money forgotten in the pockets” of clothes, says Rosario Losa, an Ercolano resident whose grandfather recounted the tale.
For decades, the market has attracted shoppers from Naples and neighboring cities. Years ago, young people took the regional train to get to this little town, one of the first places in Europe where jeans were sold. “You’d go early in the morning at dawn, [when] there were unopened bales of used clothes ready to rummage in,” says Francesco De Lorenzo. He found a pair of roller skates there in the 1970s, when the market was a place to find objects that weren’t yet widely available elsewhere in Italy.
Now, visitors arrive in different ways, flocking by scooter, car, or bus. But the most-wanted items remain original military uniforms, especially khaki or camouflage button-up jackets. The name of the soldier who owned the garment appears on embroidered tags sewn above the right pocket, creating a link with an unknown person on the other side of the world.
Read the whole story at Atlas Obscura HERE.
#madeinusa #americanmade #fashion
Sen. Sherrod Brown Wants Relief Funds To Go To American Companies
According to WOSU, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is urging the Biden administration to stick to American companies for contracts and projects funded under the new $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
During a press call Wednesday, Brown argued that money from the “American Rescue Plan” should directly benefit U.S. companies and workers. Existing law gives preference to American companies when it comes to government contracting, but foreign companies can potentially get around those provisions, and bid on an equal footing with domestic companies if their country has a trade agreement with the United States.
“We’re asking him to temporarily suspend trade waivers that could allow foreign companies that do not have American workers or do not pay American taxes to bid on projects funded by the rescue plan,” Brown explained. “We need to make sure those supplies are made in America and support jobs in Ohio and around the country.”
Read more HERE
#madeinusa #americanmade #business #economy #pandemic
U.S. port backup delays deliveries of imported good
CNBC reports on a trend we have seen during the pandemic: imports have ground to a halt at our nation’s ports, highlighting an advantage for made in America items.
For example, a ship with 197 containers of Peloton bikes and merchandise circled at anchor just outside the Port of Los Angeles right before Christmas, entering a holding pattern on Dec. 22 until it was allowed to dock Jan. 2, according to global shipping data company MarineTraffic.
“The ship, and Peloton’s expected supply time, lost 12 days due to this while their product was nearly within swimming distance of shore,” Import Genius trade data analyst William George said. “This is a crazy illustration of the problem Peloton and other U.S. importers are struggling with.”
In fact, thirty container vessels were at anchor outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as of Monday, according to MarineTraffic data. More than 30 container ships are expected to arrive in Los Angeles by the end of March, and at least 27 ships are slated to dock in Long Beach in that time.
This highlights the need to reshore manufacturing as soon as possible. These disruptions will only continue to get worse as more novel viruses and climate change disrupt import and export patterns.
Read more HERE.
#logistics #supplychain #manufacturing #reshore #madeinusa
Walmart’s investment in American products is a good business decision, not just a PR-driven one
According to a CNBC article, Walmart is intending to bolster the economy and support American products by spending $350 billion on “products made, assembled or grown in the U.S.” over the course of the next 10 years.
On the surface, this may appear as a decision influenced by political and popular sentiment, as opposed to a business one.
The two are not mutually exclusive.
While it is true that buying Made in USA is a trend driven by emotion, there are very good economic reasons as well, including:
– The pandemic caused shortages in certain goods, both raw and finished, because of the reliance on foreign sourcing. Without these goods, supply could not meet demand, thus driving the prices up until inventory ran out.
– Cheaper is not necessarily better. Several consumer surveys have shown that US consumers are willing to pay more for products of higher quality. US manufactured products are typically of higher quality.
– By creating more jobs in the US, you’re helping the local, state, and national economies. A healthy economy drives consumer spending. So although you may pay a little more directly, there are indirect economic benefits that make up for it.
– U.S. companies and manufacturers are held to higher federal and state environmental regulations. When you Buy American, you know that you’re helping to keep the world a little cleaner for future generations.
Time will tell if Walmart can stick to its goal of supporting American products and materials. Should Walmart find a way to source reliably the items they need to keep this promise, the US economy and the American people will be the beneficiaries.
#madeinusa #americanmade #walmart #manufacturing #reshoring
Chinese factories won’t build enough boxes to save US shippers
While offshoring manufacturing did increase profitability for companies by lowering prices, we are now learning the long-term high price of doing so.
According to American Shipper, there are not enough containers in the right places to carry the world’s cargoes. The hope was that Chinese container factories would shift into ultra-high gear — that the industry would build its way out of the equipment crisis.
It hasn’t happened.
In fact, Chinese factories are intentionally not going into their highest gear, according to Tim Page, interim president and CEO of container-equipment lessor CAI International. Instead, they are managing output to keep prices high.
“What’s happening now [with equipment shortages] is exactly the same scenario we saw in 2010 after the financial crisis,” explained Lars Jensen of SeaIntelligence Consulting during a webinar in late January.
“If you look at 2010, they went on a building spree,” recalled Jensen. “It took about three months from when the problem arose to when it was resolved. If we put that in the context we have now, this should be resolved by Chinese New Year.”
Once again, we sees the benefits of domestic manufacturing when crises hit, and those companies who at least partially manufacture domestically have a long-term advantage.
Have a look at the article HERE for more details.
#supplychain #shipping #logistics #manufacturing #madeinusa
Biden Administrated Releases Readout of Labor Leaders Meeting to Discuss the American Rescue Plan and Infrastructure
On February 17th, 2021, President Biden and senior White House officials hosted a meeting with a group of labor union leaders to discuss the importance of the American Rescue Plan and the President’s plans to create millions of jobs in R&D, manufacturing and clean energy. The meeting included unions representing workers from across the country — the backbone of our nation, the working class.
During the meeting, the labor leaders underscored a shared commitment to collaborating and coordinating with the federal government to ensure we build back better after this pandemic and that the future of America is made in America, by American workers.
Additionally, President Biden engaged the labor leaders during the meeting in a conversation about their priorities, recommendations, and the importance of ensuring union workers play a key role in building a resilient and sustainable infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather and a changing climate all while creating millions of good paying union jobs in the process.
#unions #labor #jobs #economy #manufacturing
The PPE Saga: From Pandemic to Policy Issue
Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn was recently quoted by Kate Nishimur in the Sourcing Journal about making PPE domestically during the pandemic. Below is an excerpt of that interview; click on the link above for the full article with additional context.
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It’s likely that the term “personal protective equipment,” along with its acronym, PPE, never crossed the lips of most Americans before 2020. But as the pandemic roiled the country’s healthcare sector, these items—masks, face shields and gowns—became more valuable than virtually any other cargo. And the U.S. was deeply and inarguably dependent on China, its trade war adversary, for the millions of products needed to keep front-line workers safe.
A dystopian drama followed, winding its way through metropolitan meccas like New York and Los Angeles and wreaking havoc on small cities and towns. And as doctors, nurses and the American government cried out with an unending—and often, unmet—need for more life-saving gear, a contingent of American producers rose to meet the call.
“It was really just pure survival,” Mitch Cahn, president of New Jersey-based Unionwear told Sourcing Journal of his company’s move into PPE production. The manufacturer, which deals in sports, military and election-related merch like baseball caps, trucker hats, beanies, scarves and backpacks felt the PPE pull in early March, Cahn said, as horror stories about overwhelmed hospitals dominated the media cycle and the company’s usual business dried up.
Unionwear saw orders canceled as spring sporting events were put on hold and even the presidential primary race became second-tier news. “The other business that we had was doing a lot of gear for the census takers,” he added—a lifeline that was cut when the U.S. Census Bureau delayed the nationwide survey for a period of months. The company had also been under contract for merchandise for the U.S. Olympic team, but the games were postponed until 2021. “We went from being way too busy to having nothing to do in like two weeks,” he said.
According to Cahn, his company’s union, Workers United, is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents the nation’s healthcare workers. Having heard about troubles in nearby New York City medical centers, Cahn went through both organizations to reach the Greater New York Hospital Association. “In short order we were making gowns and face shields,” he said. “They knew we could do it, and that we could get FDA waivers for those products—and we hit the ground running and made a lot of them.”
Coincidentally, Unionwear’s capabilities mirror the technical expertise, along with the material and machinery investment, needed to create uber-specific PPE staples like face shields.
“I’d never heard of a face shield and had no idea what it was,” Cahn said, until he was sent a photo by a hospital administrator. The company happens to make three-ring binders, and Cahn immediately recognized the clear plastic as something he already had in his arsenal. “It’s wrapped around every binder that we make,” he said. Meanwhile, the band used to secure the shield around the wearer’s head was similar to the construction of a baseball hat, and the company created a comfortable cushion with the foam used to make its backpack straps. “We had a supply chain already set up for it,” Cahn added, and the company went on to make about 500,000 face shields for doctors across the region, along with hundreds of thousands of gowns.
The company began making face shields with materials from its existing supply chain.
A Unionwear face shield made with materials from its existing supply chain.
The pandemic-driven pivot pulled companies like Unionwear back from the brink, but it also shone a spotlight on the versatility of American producers.
Read more at the link HERE
#PPE #pandemic #business #leadership #innovation
For unions and Amazon, much is riding on vote in Alabama
The Seattle Times highlights a potential turning point for Amazon: a vote to unionize in Alabama of all places.
The focus is on a warehouse in Bessemer, outside Birmingham, where workers contacted the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. By December 2020, more than 2,000 out of 5,800 employees at the site had signed cards saying they wanted union representation. That was enough for the National Labor Relations Board to schedule an election.
Not only that, but the board announced earlier this year that voting could be done by mail, which typically favors the union. Amazon wanted in-person voting.
With more than 1.2 million employees globally, Amazon is inevitably a target for unionization, as well as regulators. It’s a General Motors of the Digital Age.
At a time when only 6.3% of private-sector workers are union members, what happens in Bessemer, at what is the second-largest U.S. employer after Walmart, has big stakes for organized labor.
As The New York Times reported, “Union organizers are also building their campaign around the themes of the Black Lives Matter movement. Many of the employees at the Amazon warehouse are Black, a fact that the retail union has used to focus on issues of racial equality and empowerment. And leading the organizing effort are about two dozen unionized workers from nearby warehouses and poultry plants, most of whom are also Black.”
Read more at the Seattle Times article HERE.
#amazon #unions #labor #business
The tech company making fashion for the next 100 years
Financial Review profiles an interesting new trend: tech-powered fashion.
Hoodies to help you sleep? Solar-powered puffers to keep you warm? Jackets made with copper fibres to repel viruses? These are just some of the ideas of twin brothers Steve and Nick Tidball are exploring.
So far, the twins have created a carbon fibre T-shirt to protect the skin from cuts and scrapes, a sleep cocoon designed to be worn in space to regulate astronauts’ circadian rhythms, solar-powered jackets and a jacket made with copper fibres to repel bacteria and viruses. This year it will debut the Garbage Watch, made entirely of tech waste.
They invented a lot of other items as well, and we imagine there will eventually be innovations with hats as well. We are looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.
#tech #innovation #hats #caps #technology
Why we need unions: modern Americans work longer with less vacation than Medieval Peasants
We recently came across this very interesting — and sobering — article on the modern American worker.
Juliet Schor, a Professor of Sociology at Boston College, explained in her book The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure, that the average American in 1987 was working about 1,949 hours annually, while an adult male peasant in 13th-century England racked up approximately 1,620 hours yearly.
And, according to the latest available labor data, the medieval peasants continue to work fewer hours than Americans. In 2017, the average hours worked by Americans reached 1,780 a year. The United States is the only advanced country with no national vacation policy.
Unionwear has proudly embraced unions since our founding almost 30 years ago for many reasons, one of which is that happy and well-rested employees are better employees. By paying a living wage, they also tend to stay longer, and lower turnover means more profitability. More companies should do the same.
#unions #labor #business #leadership #madeinusa
What makes manufacturing sales different than other sales? by Mitch Cahn
What makes manufacturing sales different than other sales?
Every manufacturing salesperson has two clients: the customer and the factory. The salesperson’s role is to get them to meet in the middle. This involves negotiating due dates, manufacturing processes, materials, quantities, and more.
Successful manufacturing salespeople must:
1 – be intimately familiar with the companies process and materials that are both in stock and accessible (and what accessibility means vis a vis timing and quantities).
2 – drive clients toward what the company can do, but sometimes drive the factory toward what the client needs.
3 – negotiate delivery dates. Both client and factory will buffer their dates and the salesperson needs to employ strategies to bring them closer together, like splitting up quantities or sacrificing other client dates to make orders happen. Questioning a client’s assertion of a drop-dead date is a delicate but necessary skill.
4 – configure and deliver price quotes at different quantity levels, often with different quality levels to give clients a choice.
5 – convince clients to change their conception of how their product will look or be manufactured to meet a price point.
6 – relate bad news to the client in a way that keeps them satisfied and willing to reorder (missed due date, short shipment or backorder)
7 – sell your factory on making something a client wants that is currently not in your company’s core competency
8 – know the complete order processing and manufacturing time frame so you know where there may be pitfalls or places you can intervene and expedite.
9 – cross-sell clients into other products made by the company or upsell them to add on features or higher quality products.
10 – know the segment(s) of the market they are selling to — how clients like to buy, how they are reselling or using your product, the competition, and their pricing trends, traditional markups, trends that could cause a spike or slowdown in sales, seasonality, and cyclicality.
11 – know how the company prices its products, where margins are tight and where there is room to negotiate, what factors might cause pricing changes in the near future, what the true bottom line price is at both large and small quantities.
12 – know the different types of clients and how to identify and handle them differently–over communicators, questioners of your business model, like to go over your head, won’t let you ever make money.
13 – understand the fundamentals of written contracts and the key points of all your contracts that might be negotiated–price, delivery, credit, service, guarantees, etc.
14 – know your company’s library of marketing materials, how to change them, and how to create your own
15 – create your own email blasts.
16 – monetize the graveyard of leads (trade shows, web visitors, inbound emails, dead quotes) that your company is probably sitting on.
17 – know your CRM inside and out and use its artificial intelligence to its greatest advantage–scoring and prioritizing who to call and follow up with.
18 – master time management and delegation, whatever that means for you.
19 – know your company culture and be able to project that to the outside world.
20 – always make price the least important part of any negotiation by stressing the qualities of your company and product and coming off as an unbiased expert in your product category.
21 – Understand MRP, ERP, Capacity Scheduling, Supply Chain Management (in Manufacturing the focus in this discipline is in purchasing, not distribution so much), and Outsourcing.
Tech unions in Silicon Valley have been rare. Here’s why that’s changing
Some of the Bay Area’s knowledge workers — historically hard to organize — are embracing unions.
It was remarkable when several hundred workers from Google’s parent company, Alphabet, announced the formation of a union.
Cafeteria workers, security guards and bus drivers serving tech companies have unionized. But a tech company’s rank and file organizing itself was rare in the industry’s heartland.
To ward off unions, companies offered competitive pay and benefits, even to early workers assembling chips and devices on factory floors. “That was the trade-off,” O’Mara said. It was an approach that gave workers a shared stake in a company’s success.
Such practices have been largely effective in preventing large-scale unionization in the skilled tech workforce.
The new group at Alphabet, called the Alphabet Workers Union and affiliated with the Communication Workers of America, is a different sort of union. While most workers band together to demand better pay and working conditions, the Alphabet union instead seeks to organize workers around issues from fighting gender-based and racial discrimination to policing the ways they see the company as straying from its original “Don’t be evil” slogan.
Because the Alphabet Workers Union is a so-called “minority union” — only a few hundred Alphabet workers have signed on — it does not have the power to negotiate a contract. For now, workers hope to organize across the company to bring the culture of the company more in line with their values.
With increasing dissatisfaction among big tech’s workforce, the Alphabet union suggests the unrest may be entering a new phase. “With each unionization in tech, the power shifts,” said CWA communications director Beth Allen.
Benefits of reshoring manufacturing
There are many reasons to set up, or reshore, your manufacturing in the USA. While patriotism is a great reason to set up shop here, business leaders know you need to make the business case to make it work..
It turns out there are some good reasons to do so. Here are just a few.
Control Over Products and Quality
By reshoring, businesses have more control over product quality. Offshoring means little to no oversight over manufacturing By offshoring you are losing quality control opportunities and faster communication..
Skilled Workforce
The United States has millions of highly skilled workers. Certainly non-Americans are smart as well, but the United States has long been a hotbed of ingenuity. We built the biggest economy the world has ever seen for a reason.
Streamlined logistics
When you offshore manufacturing, your products are regularly in transit. If you discover a problem with a batch upon arrival, you are stuck with a multi-week supply of products that have left the source and not yet arrived at your facility.If there is an undiscovered issue that was not found in manufacturing, you now have a minimum of six weeks of problems – including storing and reworking defective products, lost revenue due to the disruption and managing an influx of customer complaints. By manufacturing domestically these problems disappear overnight.
Available and Affordable Resources
With the up and rising practice of reshoring, resources have become available and affordable. Another factor that has led to this is the fact that the U.S. is a leader in oil production; thus, many costs of the manufacturing process have significantly decreased.
Avoiding complicated taxes and tariffs
When offshoring became fashionable about 25 years ago, most businesses were willing to simply absorb the tariff costs. Now with ongoing trade wars, taxes and tariffs, we are seeing the financial advantages of offshoring manufacturing evaporate before our eyes.
Intellectual property protection
Intellectual property protections in the United States are far superior to those found in many other parts of the world. By keeping your manufacturing at home, you are keeping close control over your valuable IP and are significantly reducing your risk of having it stolen. And if it is stolen, the US has a robust mechanism to protect your intellectual property.
There are more listed HERE.
Covid-19 pandemic is refueling interest in unions
(Summarized from Kaiser Health News and NPR. Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of Kaiser Family Foundation that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)
The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked renewed interest in unions.
In September, after six months of exhausting work battling the pandemic, nurses at Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., voted to unionize. The vote passed with 70%, a high margin of victory in a historically anti-union state, according to academic experts who study labor movements.
The nurses had originally filed paperwork to hold this vote in March but were forced to delay it when the pandemic began heating up. And the issues that had driven them toward unionizing were only heightened by the crisis. It raised new, urgent problems too, including struggles to get enough PPE, and inconsistent testing and notification of exposures to COVID-positive patients.
Research shows that health facilities with unions have better patient outcomes and are more likely to have inspections that can find and correct workplace hazards. One study found New York nursing homes with unionized workers had lower COVID-19 mortality rates, as well as better access to PPE and stronger infection control measures than nonunion facilities.
Even as union membership in most industries has declined in recent years, health workers unions have remained relatively stable: Around 7% of healthcare and social services workers are in unions Experts say it’s partly because of the focus on patient care issues, like safe staffing ratios, which resonate widely and have only grown during the pandemic.
Organized labor is not a panacea, union officials admit. Their members have faced PPE shortages and high infection rates throughout the pandemic, too. But collective action can help workers push for and achieve change, they said.
National Nurses United and the National Union of Healthcare Workers said they’ve each seen an influx in calls from nonmembers, but whether that results in more union elections is yet to be seen.
However, healthcare employers are known to launch aggressive and well-funded anti-union campaigns, said Rebecca Givan, a labor studies expert at Rutgers University. Still, workers might be more motivated by what they witnessed during the pandemic, she said
Here is the full article.
Chris Chapman, owner and president of JAM Image-Inc, joins us in this video to discuss his experience as a customer of Unionwear.
The impact of “Made in USA” on prices
Buying American is a symbol of personal identity and has been a focus over the years for US policymakers, including both the Obama and Trump administrations. This emphasis will continue with the Biden administration.
The common belief is that domestically manufactured products carry a hefty price tag. But what is the bottom line?
According to a study by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the price premium ranges from 1.9% to 28%. The lower priced items tend to demand the highest premium as one would expect. This study was done prior to the implementation of tariffs on Chinese products, which range from 10% to 30%.
So in the current trade environment, assuming that the US continues to implement tariffs on Chinese products, it appears that the price tag premium is not as significant as one would imagine.
Are Americans willing to spend a little more to continue the revitalization of US manufacturing?
You can read the full study HERE
The top 10 supply chain innovations of 2020
Material Handling and Logistics, an organization dedicated to helping managers who oversee supply chain, logistics and material handling across America’s manufacturing, distribution and retail sectors, lists the top 10 supply chain innovations of 2020.
Innovations include: smart warehouses, a digitized food supply chain, new track and trace standards for container shipping, and much more.
Have a look at the link above for the full list and details.
#supplychain #manufacturing #madeinusa #americanmade #newyear
Unionwear awarded Top-Ten New Jersey Manufacturer
NJBiz Magazine rolled out its Manufacturing Power 50 and awarded Mitch Cahn and Unionwear among it’s top-ten manufacturers.
It’s always great to be recognized for our hard work and determination. What makes this even more notable is that Unionwear is the only small business that made it to the top-ten list. In fact, we share the top-ten honors with huge firms like Goya, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and more.
With 175 unionized employees who earn a living wage and contribute to the community, we don’t necessarily see ourselves as underdogs. Rather, we are major players in helping reignite excitement about making made in USA a reality for manufacturers.
We are thrilled to be part of the list and are always looking to help others looking to set up shop here or reshore their operations stateside, especially in New Jersey.
Data Shows Reshoring is Creating Jobs Despite Pandemic
A study by American Machinist shows that from 2010 through 2019, over 900,000 announced new manufacturing jobs are attributable to reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI.)
During the current year 2020, job creation due to reshoring activity is exceeding FDI, adding that the same trend will continue to influence manufacturing growth and U.S. economic recovery in 2021.
Due to the pandemic, reshoring is outpacing FDI for the first time since 2014. “COVID uncertainty is causing companies to emphasize operations in their home countries.”
Also continuing to reshoring activity is U.S. manufacturers’ determination to shorten or close supply-chain gaps for essential products – which is a notable factor in PPE, medical, technology, and defense manufacturing.
We suspect this trend will continue and hope domestic manufacturers look to capitalize on these opportunities.
How Automation Accelerates Reshoring
A counterintuitive article in Assembly Magazine makes the argument that automation can accelerate reshoring.
Those who are dedicated to bringing jobs back home sometimes shy away from automation. But that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, embracing automation can accelerate reshoring jobs, at least to some extent.
One of the main reasons companies moved overseas was because of the lower cost of labor for relatively mundane tasks. Now that automation is starting to replace the need for labor, companies are finding it more profitable to bring manufacturing back home while hiring more skilled workers. This mitigates risk, increases responsiveness to customer demand, and increases time to market. It also helps that these machines can’t get sick from Covid-19.
We at Unionwear have embraced automation and lean manufacturing for years and will continue to do so. We encourage other companies looking to reshore, or keep manufacturing close to home to do the same.
How reshoring saved a small business during the pandemic
In 2015, a sign making company called JennyGems launched in Millsboro, DE. JennyGems makes “little signs that say quirky things” and other home décor, employing seven people.
For about five years, all of their items were all made in China. When the pandemic hit they were still importing their items. But the pandemic ground all shipping to a halt. So they started manufacturing everything in the USA, using the machinery they just purchased. Almost overnight, 100% of their products are made in USA.
Marketing themselves as made in America has been very good for them. “People are coming in saying they want to support us because we’re making our products here,” Jenny said. “We’re having other gift shops saying their customers don’t want imports so they want to wholesale our products in their stores.”
In fact, sales are up 50% online and 40% in-store compared to last year. They even bought more equipment and hired more employees to keep up with the demand, going from seven employees to 24.
The pandemic has accelerated a trend already underway, and stories like this prove that made in USA is not only possible but also profitable.
Reshoring Continues to Trend as Chinese Policies Put a Chill on Business Relations
According to this report from the Reshoring Initiative, reshoring manufacturing to the United States is on the rise. In fact, reshoring has outpaced foreign-direct investment (FDI) for the first time since 2014.
There are a couple of reasons for this reshoring.
COVID-caused uncertainty is leading companies to prioritize operations in their home countries. According to the report, the national demand to shorten and close supply chain gaps for essential products to make the U.S. less vulnerable is most likely to benefit PPE, medical, tech, and defense manufacturers.
Another is ongoing trade tensions between the US and China. China has received widespread condemnation for unfair trade practices. Although their tactics will be different, President-elect Biden will also work toward leveling the trade imbalances between the US and China.
“We publish this data annually to show companies that their peers are successfully reshoring and that they should reevaluate their sourcing and siting decisions,” said Harry Moser, founder, and president of the Reshoring Initiative. “With 5 million manufacturing jobs still offshore, as measured by our $800 billion/year goods trade deficit, there is potential for much more growth.”
Alexandra Powley hired to head up Unionwear’s large contract division
Monday, December 2, 2020
Newark, NJ –
Unionwear is pleased to announce that Alexandra Powley, the newest member of Unionwear’s executive team, will be heading up government contracts and corporate partnerships.
“I am thrilled that Alexandra decided to join our team,” said Unionwear President Mitch Cahn. “She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience and I am confident that she will help us exceed our objectives.
“I am honored to join the team at Unionwear,” Powley said. “They are a solid operation with a top-notch team of experts, and I expect we will accomplish great things together.”
Previously, Powley built multi-million dollar partnerships with multiple branches of the US military, global airlines, and state procurement teams on behalf of Brooks Brothers.
About Unionwear
Unionwear manufactures hats, bags, portfolios, and binders for the “Made in USA” market, including every branch of the armed services, every Democratic candidate for president for the last 20 years, every international union, domestic manufacturers like GM and Budweiser, and brands such as Vineyard Vines and Supreme. When the pandemic hit, Unionwear used its relationship with the health care workers’ union to transition to face shields and isolation gowns fast enough to have made a significant impact in the NYC hospital system’s ability to cope with the pandemic at its peak.
Unionwear, one of Newark’s largest private employers of Newark residents, won the SEAMS Domestic Textile Association’s inaugural ‘Reshoring Award” for bringing textile jobs back to America in 2019 and was named to Fortune Magazine’s Inner City 100 list.
Contact
To learn more about this story, please contact:
Mitch Cahn
President, Unionwear
mitch@unionwear.com
A Reshoring Institute survey says Made in USA is popular. But does it drive sales?
A recent Reshoring Institute survey of nearly 500 Americans asked if they prefer “Made in USA” products. According to the survey, nearly 70% of respondents prefer American-made products. And, slightly more than 83% said they would pay up to 20% more for products made domestically.
However, in my experience, what people say and what they do are frequently at odds. As I said in a previous post, there has to be another reason to buy in America that goes beyond where it is made.
For instance, if people believe the items are higher quality and will last longer, customers might be more inclined to pay a premium. Frankly, made in America is a secondary consideration.
For the most part, people want quality products at a reasonable price. They would not buy a made in USA product if it was perceived to be inferior quality, no matter where it was manufactured.
One big competitive advantage domestic manufacturers have is in the supply chain. We never worry about delayed shipments due to the pandemic or other unforeseen supply chain disruptions. We also have the advantage of addressing manufacturing challenges immediately, compared to those who have to deal with overseas suppliers.
So while made in USA is sometimes a marketing advantage — especially with political campaigns and government contracts — quality and consistency will be most buyer’s primary motivation to pay a small premium for domestically produced goods.
Great gift ideas that are made in USA
As the holiday season approaches, consumers are increasingly deluged with gift ideas. You could spend an eternity on Amazon alone searching for the perfect gift for your loved one. Where to begin?
We at Unionwear believe that it is important to buy made in USA. Although finding gifts that are made in America can be difficult, we found a resource that might make it easier for you.
From Wilson footballs to Crayola crayons to Weber grills to Airstream trailers, this website lists a wide variety of gift ideas from companies that are made right here in the USA.
Unionwear manufactures hats & caps, bags and winter knits that you can customize for the holidays, making them a perfect gift.
So, if you believe in supporting domestic manufacturing, you now have a resource at your disposal.
Rapid Robotics announces $5.5M seed funding to spark reshoring revolution
Automation will probably play a big role in reshoring manufacturing and we need to embrace this reality rather than fight it.
Robotics automation company Rapid Robotics just received $5.5 million in funding to expedite manufacturing reshoring. Their machines are powered by a SaaS model and AI and are ready to perform manufacturing tasks out of the box for just $25,000 per year.
According to CEO Jordan Kretchmer, “The need to automate simple tasks is incredibly high, but the ability to do so has been out of reach for a vast majority of manufacturers. The Rapid Machine Operator is the first robotic solution to close that gap, making US manufacturers more competitive and supply chains more resilient.”
This highlights something I have been saying for a while: that companies will only reshore when it is profitable for them to do so. Perhaps machines like this will make it easier for companies to reshore manufacturing and use the cost savings to hire more skilled workers at higher wages. Automation like this will possibly cost jobs unless manufacturers use the productivity gains to retrain and redeploy their existing workforce.
Regardless, innovation and automation are here to stay and will only become more commonplace as time goes on. Domestic manufacturers need to recognize this reality and embrace the changes rather than resist them.
Unionwear enjoyed bipartisan support before made in USA was a thing
Every so often, we come across a story that causes us to reflect on how far ahead of the curve Unionwear has always been when it comes to creating American jobs.
Recently, we came across a story from 2015 in Slate Magazine on how our 100% made in USA manufacturing facility has changed America’s presidential campaigns, and how every candidate has to buy made in America products. Democrats and Republicans both agree that good-paying American manufacturing jobs have been disappearing for decades and that bringing jobs back to the US needs to be a priority. And, since the pandemic, both parties agree that reshoring PPE and pharmaceuticals are an urgent national security issue, not just a campaign slogan.
Unionwear has been a unionized manufacturer since 1992, and we have always supported creating good-paying American manufacturing jobs. Let’s hope the politicians in Washington get to work bringing jobs +back to the US and not just using made in America as a once-every-four-years campaign slogan.
#govote #elections2020 #madeinusa #americanmade #promogoods
Plastics Today takes a fresh look at reshoring
The trade journal Plastics Today wrote an article discussing the possibilities, and challenges, associated with reshoring manufacturing to the United States.
First, a little background. Offshoring manufacturing to China became very popular since China was awarded Most Favored Nation trading status in the late-1990s under President Bill Clinton. Drawn to cheap labor and huge new market opportunities, companies rushed to offshore manufacturing to China and other parts of the world.
Although the promise of money savings and opening new markets was appealing, there were drawbacks. Chief among these was a lack of intellectual property enforcement. Chinese companies basically stole and reproduced American products in a way that would be unthinkable in the US. And, once Chinese manufacturers such as Haier took American knowledge, began making their own products and started exporting to the US, they became global competitors to those companies that offshored their manufacturing to expand their market share in the first place.
Early in the 2010s, the idea of reshoring to the US became more popular. But the choice isn’t binary: some companies are moving manufacturing from China to other Asian countries, where some are considering “nearshoring” to Mexico.
And then, as I have said in other blog posts, Covid completely upended supply chains, even products made in nearby Mexico. Shipments stopped coming from China, and much activity from Mexico was stopped for at least a couple of months. Suddenly, all of the benefits of offshoring disappeared and America found itself unable to get PPE or life-saving pharmaceuticals.
So now more than ever, reshoring looks attractive. But how feasible is it? Consumers might pay more for made in USA products — one survey from the Reshoring Institute said that consumers would be willing to pay up to 20% more for made in America products. But companies that decide to reshore need more than just higher prices; they need to invest in innovation and technology to make domestic production truly competitive.
How can we prevent future supply chain disruptions in the US
Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn had the opportunity to speak at New Jersey Manufacturing Day and discuss the recent global supply chain disruptions due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
When asked how we can prevent supply chain disruptions, Cahn said the pandemic exposed weaknesses in our global supply chain that we didn’t even know existed. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that future disruptions of unknown origin will likely expose additional weaknesses that we cannot even think about.
On the plus side, those domestic manufacturers who managed to survive outsourcing and Amazon have proven to be very flexible. In fact, they learned so much during these tumultuous times that many manufacturers, including Unionwear, were making PPE in a matter of days even though they had zero knowledge of manufacturing such items before. For instance, Cahn said he had never heard of a face shield before the pandemic hit. But after getting specs, he was able to quickly assemble prototypes in less than two days. It was only a matter of repurposing items Unionwear already had — including foam from backpacks, plastic from binders, and headbands from hats — and turn them into useable face shields.
To prevent supply chain disruptions, companies need to invest in domestic manufacturers. It is imperative to do so, as our national security continues to be at risk. To justify its cost, The Reshoring Institute created a formula that calculates the true cost of importing. These costs include:
- Travel
- Prototyping
- Shipping
- Time
- Lines of credit
- Delays
- Pirating
- Transportation problems
- Reputation cost
When taking these into account, importing oftentimes looks more expensive than domestic manufacturing.
Ultimately, if the US government is serious about preventing future supply chain disruptions, American policymakers and regulators need to incentivize increased domestic manufacturing. Meanwhile, purchasers need to support these manufacturers by actually buying materials from them and not letting them go out of business. Although domestic manufacturers came to the rescue during COVID-19, we lost tens of thousands of lives because we didn’t have domestic-made PPE. This needs to be a major national priority.
Links:
NJMEP – Manufacturing Day 2020
US Senator files bill to strengthen Made in USA designation
US Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat from Wisconsin, reintroduced legislation that strengthens Buy American requirements for the federal government’s purchase of ships. It does this by expanding current law to cover all federal agencies, all classes of ships and more shipboard components.
The CEO of Fairbanks Morse, George Whittier, praised the bill. Fairbanks Morse is a US-based manufacturer of power systems for large contracts.
“The Senator’s proposed Made in America Shipbuilding Act will not only strengthen the defense industrial base by providing American-made components for U.S. taxpayer-funded ships,” Whittier said. It “will give American shipbuilding suppliers the confidence to invest capital and add high paying middle-class jobs.”
As of right now, the status of the bill is unknown. But it is good to see senior politicians are taking made in USA more seriously.
Made in USA is making a comeback, but the reasons go beyond marketing
A few years ago Adweek wrote an article explaining that made in America is no longer a pipe dream but is slowly becoming a reality. American factory jobs grew to 12.3 million by 2016. And, according to the nonprofit Reshoring Initiative, no fewer than 576,000 factory jobs have returned to America since 2010.
While carrying the made in USA label is a feel-good move for many consumers, businesses are wondering what it means for the bottom-line. Because it might feel good to say your products are made in America, that isn’t the main driver for the return of American manufacturing. It almost certainly doesn’t change buying habits.
Why are companies reshoring now? The reasons are varied and complex, ranging from growing labor costs in Asian countries to quality control. Rarely is the branding opportunity a factor. For better or worse, unless someone has a very strong incentive to buy made in USA products (such as political candidates or government contractors) where a product is manufactured rarely factors into a purchasing decision.
Bayard Winthrop, founder of American Giant, a brand that manufactures hoodies in North Carolina, says geographic proximity is what matters most. “There’s a huge benefit to being able to hop on a plane and talk to the people who are spinning my yarn and weaving my cloth,” says Winthrop, who’s based in San Francisco. Winthrop says Made in America marketing is an add-on, not a reason people buy. “I don’t believe consumers are willing to pay at the cash register for [American-made] things—I really don’t,” he says. “What consumers are willing to pay for is great brands and great quality.”
According to the Adweek article, the vast majority of people are not going to pay a much higher price for made in America. One of the main reasons they make everything domestically is quality control. Indeed, according to David Hamilton, fourth-generation owner of Hamilton Shirts, domestic manufacturing is essential for quality control. Hamilton’s shirts start at $265, and many of them are made to order. Production of a luxury product like that cannot be trusted to something being made halfway around the world. “If I’m on the phone with a customer [who has an issue],” he says, “I can walk into the factory and research the problem and resolve it.”
The same thing goes for large brands. 3M’s Post-it barely mentions that their sticky notes have been made in Kentucky for the last 33 years. Why? Distribution. An American plant is both closer to pulp suppliers and to retailers. “It’s a shorter supply chain,” explains global business manager Adrienne Hovland. Made in America is “not one of those key messages we use,” she says. “We have a lot of other things that are compelling to communicate.”
It’s worth noting that the Adweek article was written before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains. I imagine we will see major reshoring in the coming years because of the issues described in this article as well as government mandates. But companies will not reshore manufacturing to enhance their branding, even though that might be an added benefit.
At the end of the day, made in America isn’t a huge driver for reshoring manufacturing. Quality control, supply chain management and holding people accountable for customer service challenges are major reasons for bringing jobs back home.
Union Made Stock Blank Hats
Due to popular demand for rush orders and small orders of our union made in USA baseball caps, Unionwear is now offering a stock program to our advertising specialty resellers. Orders ship in 24 hours with minimum orders of one dozen blanks.
While we still offer thousands of made to order styles, we selected our best selling eight styles of union made in USA baseball hats for rush and under minimum orders, and we are committed to keeping several thousand in stock. These include solid-colored blank hats in navy, black, red, and putty (like a “stone”). All four colors come in both 100% cotton low style structured with a Velcro closure and 100% cotton unstructured with a tri-glide closure. All hats have a woven American flag label on the back strap.
Unionwear still embroiders in-house on thousands of different made to order styles, and we can embroider these stock hats too.
Did you know that “union made in USA” can be more affordable than just “made in USA”? How? Why? Check back here for a future blog post.
These blank hats can be ordered from Unionwear’s promotional product distributors, who can also handle the decoration if it is not done by Unionwear.
We don’t have this info up on our website yet but you can download a white-label, Client-Safe sell sheet HERE
Distributors please email PPESales@unionwear.com, call 973 497-0102, or fill out this FORM to resell.
Unionwear embroidering Biden Harris hats
Unionwear continues to make political merchandise for candidates covering the entire political spectrum. We’ve expanded production to ensure that “Made in USA” and the reshoring of the supply chain to the United States are available to the growing number of buyers who recognize how critical domestic manufacturing is to our economy.
The short video in this blog post shows our factory embroidering the front “panels” of the Biden Harris hats. One of the advantages of manufacturing here is we can embroider cut parts flat, which enable us to duplicate logos perfectly with embroidery.
Remember to vote!
US-based trucking company reshoring majority of its manufacturing
Writing for Industry Week magazine, Dan Burrows, CEO of Xtream Trucking, explains why he is reshoring a majority of its manufacturing back to the United States.
Like many others, one big reason for their decision to re-shore is profitability. The 2018 trade war between the US and China highlighted the fact that small disruptions outside their control could have a huge impact on running their business. Furthermore, many of their customers are in North America. International freight creates extra steps, including unpacking and inspecting for damage. If parts are damaged, they must powder coat for the shipping damage, repack, and ship again. With a domestic supply chain, they also can eliminate unexpected delays due to clearance at ports.
They are even saving money by bringing manufacturing back. They trimmed costs by about 20% and cut lead time from 8 weeks to 4 weeks on their aluminum mount system. And, they had a 10% reduction in costs and a reduction in lead time from 8 weeks to 5 weeks for their paneling system.
Then, of course, the pandemic hit, throwing supply chains into disarray. The benefits of having no supply chain disruptions have been huge.
Reshoring has become a popular trend in the past 5-8 years. However, companies like Xtream Trucking will only re-shore when the costs of offshoring outweigh the benefits. I think this trend will continue as further supply chain problems arise.
What will business look like when the COVID-19 crisis ends?
The entrepreneurial mindset means there is never returning back-to-normal. Our business will definitely change from pre-crisis to post-crisis. With any luck, we will be better than before. At the moment it seems we will go back to our original business while keeping PPE business, depending on demand and other factors.
Regardless, there will be vastly increased demand for Made in USA products.
One of the main advantages is that we are making reusable materials that are actually cheaper than the disposable items made overseas. This is good for everyone. It increases domestic jobs. It protects our environment since we aren’t filling up our landfills. And, our customers are saving money on purchases while getting high-quality, reusable merchandise. Literally everybody wins. Including us.
Mitch of Unionwear discusses this topic and more in this video interview.
How Unionwear stays competitive in a high labor cost environment
Will some iPhones be made in America? Possibly, maybe, someday
Back in 2016, PocketNow, an online website focused on all-things portable tech, reported that Foxconn was considering opening factories in the USA. Thus far, the result has not panned out as our leaders wanted.
A little background: Foxconn is an electronics contract manufacturer with headquarters in Taiwan. It is the world’s largest provider of electronics manufacturing services and the third-largest technology company by revenue. They are also one of the largest employers worldwide with over one million employees. Foxconn’s consideration to open factories in the USA was not motivated by patriotism or even marketing. Rather, like most businesses, their decision was motivated by politics and economics.
Unfortunately, as of late-October 2020, Foxconn’s promise to open American factories has not panned out. And the whole project has turned into a surreal battle for tax cuts and a blame game in Wisconsin. A great quote from this articleillustrates how weird the situation has gotten: “As the divisions bickered, bored employees would come down from the Milwaukee headquarters to race the carts around the empty building, until the batteries finally died.” For their part, Foxconn disputed the report’s claim that the company hired employees only to achieve tax incentives.
This story highlights the challenges associated with reshoring. There needs to be a strategic and business reason to do so, such as better quality control, saving money on shipping costs, and avoiding supply chain disruptions.
Companies like Apple have to factor in all the costs and benefits to see if it makes sense to manufacture domestically, otherwise the initiative will likely fail. Tax breaks cannot be the only reason to do so.
Union Made Logo Face Shields
On March 24, Unionwear made a rapid transition from accessories to manufacturing face shields and has made over half a million face shields for state governments in response to the pandemic.
Our face shields are sturdier than most, using the high quality elastic we use in stretchfit hats, sturdy foam we use in backpack straps, and a 17 mil PET-A for the clear shield. Using the hot stamping we normally use in our portfolio business we are able to apply a one color imprint anywhere you would like on the shield.
Face shields are the choice PPE for essential workers working in a loud, outdoor environments—such as construction, transportation, manufacturing, and education–because they provide virus protection without inhibiting communication. They are also preferred when working in close proximity to clients, such as salons, physical therapy, and dentistry.
These shields are Union Made in USA and are available with a very rapid turnaround time.
All our face shields are available from Unionwear’s promo products distributors.
Download a white label, Client-Safe sell sheet here.
Distributors please email PPESales@unionwear.com, call 973 497-0102, or fill out this form to resell.
Union Made Face Masks for Labor Day
Just in time for Labor Day and Election Day, Unionwear introduces a broad selection of face masks that are union made and union printed in USA with a removable union label.
Choose between larger imprint areas or more contoured shapes
Unionwear has three shapes to choose from—a rounded front with a perfect fit for breathability and comfort, a flat front for a full-bleed, full-color sublimation print, or a pleated flat front that combines the best of both.
Brushed 100% 7-ounce cotton twill.
All of our masks are made from high quality woven fabrics-not knits. Heavy but soft, this woven fabric provides up to 10 times the droplet blockage of porous t-shirt or handkerchief materials, while withstanding hundreds of home washings. Unionwear presently stocks this fabric in 24 colors.
Pick the right mask for your budget.
Unionwear offers quality levels from blank, flat singly ply masks with elastic earloops to full-color prints on a contoured face mask with adjustable pull-through ear loops and a second ply with filter pocket. All union made in USA.
All our face shields are available from Unionwear’s promo products distributors.
Download a white label, Client-Safe sell sheet HERE.
Distributors please email PPESales@unionwear.com, call 973 497-0102, or fill out this form to resell.
Why Unionwear embraces unions
The company was purchased in 1992 with a fully-unionized workforce. Early on, and for largely idealistic reasons, we decided to keep the workforce unionized, because we believed that people should benefit from their hard work. We quickly figured out that working with the union was to our benefit.
When we first bought the company, our number one customers were labor unions, so we changed our name to Unionwear. To expand our customer base we dipped our toes into manufacturing fashionable baseball caps and hemp hats back in the early 1990s, long before they were cool or popular.
But then, around the year 2000, presidential campaigns started buying our hats as well. That’s when things really took off for us. Because it doesn’t look good when politicians talk about creating American jobs while buying hats from overseas.
For this and many other reasons, having a unionized workforce has been a strategic advantage for us. As you will see in later posts, it literally saved our business during the Covid-19 pandemic.
How unions help our employees and our company
In a lot of ways, government mandates have minimized the need for unions. The minimum wage is increasing incrementally for starters. Even more, companies with over 50 employees are now required to offer health insurance benefits and PTO (paid time off.)
For us, it has been much easier to deal with unions rather than negotiate with 180 employees individually for benefits. And, it is much less expensive to offer health insurance through a union which can use its bargaining power to bring those costs down.
And there are other advantages to working with a union. Having a unionized workforce brings in significant political and government business, especially for portfolios and tote bags. Most government employees are union members, which gives us a leg-up in securing government contracts. In fact, that represents 30% – 40% of our business.
So, although there are some disadvantages to working with a union, we have turned it into an advantage. We planned on treating our employees well anyway, so we have a good, rather than adversarial, relationship with them. It brought down costs in some areas. And it led to a lot of new business
See the interview here:
ACG: Unionwear Draws on Manufacturers’ ‘Secret Power’
ACG New Jersey earlier this year named Unionwear a winner of its Corporate Growth Award. Mitch Cahn, CEO of Unionwear, recently spoke with ACG Global CEO Tom Bohn for a video on GrowthTV about how Unionwear won ACG New Jersey’s award, the ways the company has pivoted since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, and why presidential campaigns across the political spectrum order Unionwear products.
What led up to Unionwear winning ACG New Jersey’s Corporate Growth Award?
What has Unionwear done to pivot during this crisis?
How was Unionwear able to keep operations running while also protecting workers?
Unionwear makes all of its products here in the U.S., but one would imagine that the supply chain has to be global. How has that held up through all of this?
See the full article HERE
How does Unionwear compete with China? By changing the game
Many people ask, “Mitch, how does Unionwear — a unionized manufacturer in Newark, NJ compete with China? Your real estate and labor costs are among the highest in the world.”
The fact is, Unionwear cannot compete with China on cost. In fact, Unionwear is the most expensive manufacturer in the world for their product categories.
So they changed the game.
Instead, Unionwear competes on value.
There are a lot of misconceptions about competing on value. Here, Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn clarifies what it means to compete on value.
1. Manufacturers cannot create value with work in process, because parts have no value until clients are willing to pay for them.
2. Manufacturers cannot create value by cutting labor costs. If manufacturers cut labor costs with lean manufacturing but do not redeploy that labor to another task, there is no value created.
3. Manufacturers cannot create value by focusing on profits. Using productivity as a tool to increase profits is the other side of the labor cost equation, and a NJ-based manufacturer cannot compete on labor.
4. Manufacturers cannot create value by having people work faster. If they are working fast without adding value to the product, they are destroying value.
Manufacturers only create value when their finished product sells for more than it cost to manufacture. Otherwise, you are not creating value, but are just moving it around.
This is the game Unionwear plays: knowing what it means to add value and focusing on that instead of decreased costs.
Discussion from 2:58 – 4:56:
Face Shields Engineered for Daily Re-Use
Face masks hinder workplace communication and don’t protect the eyes or provide a liquid barrier. So why aren’t clear face shields ubiquitous? Because the traditional “foam + elastic + clear sheet” face shield was designed as disposable splash protection for surgery–not every-day use.
We’ve reimagined the Face Shield to be something comfortable and truly reusable.
Unionwear is the leading domestic manufacturer of baseball caps. Our products sit comfortably on heads all day, every day. And we’ve been making traditional face shields since NYC’s quarantine started, continuously upgrading our product based on client feedback. We are now launching the Replaceable Universal Face Shield (the “RUF Shield”). Features:
No Foam: Foam is why traditional face shields are disposable. You can sanitize the clear shield but how do you clean spongy foam that’s been pressed up against a sweaty forehead? You can’t. We use a black cotton baseball cap sweatband, removable for washing.
No Bulk: Traditional face shields are bulky. Bulky to ship—especially with FedEx and UPS new penalties for dimensional weight, bulky to store, even bulky to dispose of. The RUF Shield ships disassembled, flat.
No Latex: Latex sensitivity and allergy affect a sizable portion of the population, and due to skyrocketing demand for elastic for masks and shields nearly all available elastic right now contains latex.
No Sizes: Elastic face shields are not one size fits all, which means you need to order in sizes-but who knows his or her face shield size? Unknown size ranges require excess inventory.
No Scratches: All of our fronts are protected with film—made possible because the shield is not attached until it is ready to be worn. Without this protection PET is bound to scratch during shipping or handling.
The clear shields are sold by Unionwear’s promo products distributors with an MSRP of $1.45 (s) each. The plastic visor/cotton headband that holds the shields are $3.50 (s) each. Case size is 100 units.
Download a white label, Client-Safe sell sheet here.
Distributors please email PPESales@unionwear.com, call 973-497-0102, or fill out this form to resell.
You can also purchase retail online from RUFshield.com.
Unionwear was featured on CNBC’s “The Profit”
Marcus Lemonis is a business turnaround expert who hosts “The Profit” on CNBC. This show highlights businesses that are struggling, and Lemonis tries to help them on the path to profitability. He digs in to identify what is right, what is wrong and recommends improvements.
In this episode, he visits a New Orleans-based sewing manufacturer called Queork, which makes a wide variety of items made from cork. The business is truly unique but they are struggling with profitability.
Upon inspection of Queork’s facilities, Lemonis realizes the facility is horribly organized, as there is effectively no manufacturing process in place. The lack of process and procedure is costing them a lot in profitability and inhibits their ability to scale.
To find out what they could do better, Lemonis takes them to Unionwear in Newark, NJ to show them how it’s done. There, they meet Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn who walks them through how efficient processes can dramatically increase their profitability and item quality. Cahn explains that, by implementing manufacturing processes, Unionwear reduced excess labor costs from three hours to about 15 minutes, just looking for thread. By implementing similar changes across their organization, Unionwear has been able to dramatically increase output quality and profitability, even though they are a union shop located in Newark, NJ.
Upon re-evaluation of Queork, Lemonis learns that they moved their facility to a much better-organized space, allowing them to increase production and profitability. Thanks in large part to Unionwear’s example, everyone now knows US-based manufacturers such as Queork can succeed in a challenging domestic manufacturing environment.
Unionwear Maintains a Competitive Edge: American Textile Manufacturer Thrives in New Jersey
Unionwear, an American apparel manufacturer based in New Jersey, celebrates the company’s effort to implement lean manufacturing. Founded in 1992, today they employ 175 people. Mitch Cahn, president, and CEO uses his business as an example of why New Jersey is an ideal place to manufacture.
One reason Unionwear can remain incredibly competitive in New Jersey is its willingness to integrate best practices in order to create an efficient and productive manufacturing environment. Lean manufacturing is a strategy aimed at eliminating waste from production by applying process- es and procedures that have a dramatic impact on the efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability of the company. Lean manufacturing utilizes many “common sense” strategies that might at first sound easy to put into action. However, creating a truly lean manufacturing operation can present challenges, and these processes and procedures are often difficult to maintain over time. There is a clear distinction between understanding the concepts of lean and implementing it on the shop floor.
“We had been struggling to implement lean manufacturing constantly for the last 12 years and it’s a struggle because lean flies in the face of human nature,” said Cahn, the company’s president, and CEO. “The key principles to wrap your head around are reducing waste. Before we started lean manufacturing [employees] were spending 30 minutes working for every hat produced. They are now sending five minutes to produce a hat.”
Lean manufacturing is centered around the idea of creating more efficient processes, working smarter not harder, and eliminating waste in all its forms. Cahn identified that employees were spending too much time searching for fabrics. If Unionwear was able to reduce the time it took to find the correct materials for one employee by 5 seconds, and that employee repeats that process 10 times a day, that could equate to just about three and a half extra hours that one employee can spend on production per year. Scale that up to an entire facility employing 175 individuals and the ROI is undeniable.
Additionally, Unionwear began to focus on “Made in USA” branding. This proved to be a major selling point for American companies and Cahn was confident people were willing to pay a premium for ‘Made in USA’ products. He stated, “We do not have to be as inexpensive as goods made in China. We just need to be in the ballpark,” They are able to maintain a competitive price point due to their implementation of lean as well as through a comprehensive grasp of proper supply chain management and computer automation.
“We want stuff coming right off the truck and going into a product and then we want that product coming right off the production line and being shipped to a customer. That reduces our expenses of keeping inventory and storing inventory.” – Mitch Cahn
Cahn sits on the board of directors for NJMEP, a chairman of the Newark Workforce Development Board, and a director of the Newark Regional Business Partnership. He is a champion of New Jersey manufacturing and insists the state offers an incredible environment for manufacturing because of its workforce, access to ports, and its manufacturing infrastructure.
His impression of New Jersey manufacturing comes from years of experience in the sector and state. Cahn’s success is a testament to his leadership, the ability to implement lean, and brand his products as “Made in USA”.
Unionwear worked with NJMEP to develop a comprehensive lean manufacturing plan and to put it into practice. NJMEP’s lean manufacturing services are designed to make implementing this proven and effective business strategy manageable for a business of any size. For more information on lean manufacturing services, contact NJMEP and begin taking advantage of all the resources, support and experience available.
Market forces are driving the resurgence of Made in the USA
Although many factors have contributed to the manufacturing returning to the USA, the main driver is what drives most decisions: money. A mere 10 years ago, items made in the USA would have cost 200% more than items made in China. Now, it’s down to 25%.
There are two major reasons why this is happening:
Labor cost: not long ago, China faced an overpopulation crisis. In response, they set out on a One-Child Policy. Because of this, there are now fewer people entering the workforce. And, those people who are entering the workforce want to work for Apple, not work in factories. This shortage of labor has driven up wages.
Politics: the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China employs 1 million people, making tons of American goods. A series of investigations found horrific labor violations. As a consequence, employees received two, back-to-back 40% wage increases over two years. They also reduced the number of hours worked from 100 to 60, leading to 25% – 30% wage inflation year over year. At first, Foxconn and other factories responded by cutting corners, leading to many product failures, such as poisoned pet food, thus increasing expenses anyway. Companies tried moving out of China to “cheaper” places like Bangladesh, but those countries didn’t have the infrastructure, raising prices even more.
So, when you factor in shipping and other associated costs, the economic benefits to overseas manufacturing has all-but evaporated, leading to a resurgence of domestic manufacturing.
The Joe Biden campaign is using Unionwear branded hats
We are the primary brand chosen by political campaigns. Here are the details:
“JOE” on Navy, 100% cotton baseball cap with size-adjustable back strap.
Purchase is a donation to Biden Victory Fund.
Orders ship within 10 days.
Union Made and Made-In-USA.
To view and purchase, please click HERE
Manufacturing needs to embrace innovation, especially during a pandemic
In 2018, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made this very insightful remark at Davos: “The pace of change has never been this fast, and it will never be this slow again.”
While this holds true in normal times, it is especially true in the middle of a pandemic.
COVID-19 has upended a whole host of sectors, including the entire hospitality industry, live events, and most industries which require person-to-person contact, such as beauty parlors and hair dressers.
Meanwhile, other sectors have never been busier. Those firms which enable working from home such as Zoom, and home delivery services like Amazon, have seen their valuations skyrocket.
One overlooked sector, of course, is manufacturing. Because things still need to be manufactured, manufacturers must innovate to stay alive in an industry that is constantly changing. For instance, how do manufacturing employees work from home? Is that even a viable option when making physical products? Do these firms have the right technology in place to maintain productivity and profitability?
The answer is, sometimes yes, and sometimes no. Over five years ago, Unionwear embraced new technologies such as cloud mobile ERP and MRP, which made our work significantly more productive, so we were more prepared than others. We figured out how to have a number of manufacturing employees working from home while COVID was at its peak so we could avoid production disruptions. We innovated and developed a full line of PPE products in a matter of weeks. And we came up with innovative ways to avoid disruptions to our supply chain.
For me, there are two big lessons to learn from this. One, manufacturers who embrace innovation will stay in business in the short-run and become more profitable and efficient in the long-run. Two, there is a lot of opportunity for entrepreneurs to assist manufacturers in embracing innovation, both from a consulting side and deploying hardware and software solutions.
We are in the middle of unprecedented challenges and an equal number of opportunities. If manufacturers want to stay profitable in the long-run, they must embrace innovation.
Unions who embrace lean manufacturing improve job security
In 2013 APICS of Greater North Jersey hosted Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn to talk about his lean manufacturing journey. According to their website, APICS is “the industry leader in supply chain certification, training and networking. For more than 60 years, APICS has provided world-class supply chain training and certification to foster supply chain talent and improve end-to-end performance.”
Mitch has been living and breathing lean principles for years now. Indeed, in this video Cahn says, “I didn’t support the lean program, I was the lean program.”
Running a profitable manufacturing firm in New Jersey with unionized staff is a daily challenge. One of the keys to Unionwear’s survival and success has been to embrace lean manufacturing. In fact, without lean manufacturing, they would not be able to afford union labor. Even though well-paid employees are expensive, happy employees stay longer and embrace lean manufacturing because they want the company to succeed.
From Baseball Hats to Face Shields & Isolation Gowns
As one of the few remaining manufacturers in the US, Mitch Cahn & Unionwear is trying to fill the void left by all of the cost-cutting, outsourcing companies that have contributed to our crippled supply chain for lifesaving healthcare products, including personal protection equipment. They have turned a factory that was gearing up to make baseball hats for the Olympics, the US Census, and presidential campaigns into a facility making face shields & isolation gowns for frontline healthcare workers.
source: The Righteous Capitalists
NJBIZ: Manufacturers grateful for federal help, worried about the future
A group of business owners and executives told state legislators June 10 that federal loans provided crucial assistance in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown, but said they are worried about the state’s business climate and what will happen when the funds run out if the economy does not recover quickly.
“I pushed the button to upload my documents one second after the loans were available,” said Gary Fails, the president of Carlstadt-based City Theatrical Inc. “We were among the first companies to get funding.”
The loans enabled the company to retain all of its employees, but, he noted “as one of the first companies to get funding, we’re also one of the first companies to have the funds run out.” City Theatrical produces lighting products and accessories for live events, a business that is unlikely to return this year. “Broadway shut down and our business disappeared and our sales dropped by 90 percent, Fails said.
Fails’ comments, along with those of other owners and executives, came during an online hearing convened by the bipartisan state Legislative Manufacturing Caucus and the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension program.
While some executives described problems getting loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program they were eventually resolved and allowed them to keep employees on staff.
Newark-based UnionWear usually makes promotional hats and other apparel, but pivoted to producing personal protection equipment when the COVID-19 outbreak hit. “In early March, we were about to have our greatest year ever,” said company President Mitch Cahn. UnionWear had orders to make products for presidential election campaigns and for Olympic athletes.
The PPP loans, Cahn said, allowed him to offer hazard pay to workers. He was able to offer a “significant bonus to convince people to come back to work.”
When a worker at Newark-based ZaGo Manufacturing Co. contracted COVID-19, the company was able to allow him and everyone he had contact with to be away from work for a month, thanks to PPP funds. “Our employees knew that that if they were exposed, they wouldn’t be hurt economically,” explained Gail Friedberg Rottenstrich, ZaGo’s CEO. The company makes self-sealing screws, nuts and bolts.
Cahn also raised an issue that many of his peers echoed: the regulatory environment in New Jersey. He said UnionWear did not get any orders from New Jersey for its PPE because the state did not override the need for approval from the Food and Drug Administration, an action other jurisdictions have taken. “We work with Detroit and Los Angeles, but nothing locally,” Cahn said.
Several lawmakers on the call, including Manufacturing Caucus co-chair Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-14th District, vowed that the Legislature would examine the issue.
Social distancing rules could also pose problems in a state where expanding structures can often be expensive and time-consuming. Marotta Controls CEO Patrick Marotta, told the lawmakers that in preparing his most recent budget, he planned to squeeze more employees into the company’s existing space. “That’s completely out the window,” he said.
The Montville-based maker of electronic components for the military owns 25 acres of land, but cannot add another building because of Highlands Council rules. So Marotta is trying to find a second location and is “looking at New Jersey restrictions as opposed to restrictions in other states.”
While the participants in the call generally praised the government response to the pandemic, many are concerned about what the recovery might look like. As Dax Strohmeyer, president of Triangle Manufacturing Co. Inc., put it: “If the demand isn’t there, it doesn’t matter if you can stay open.” The Upper Saddle River-based company is a contract manufacturer of medical devices and its business was hurt by the prohibition on elective surgical procedures imposed in March. Gov. Phil Murphy ended the ban effective May 26, though some limitations remain in place.
Strohmeyer is concerned that when his PPP funds are exhausted, he may be “in the tough position of furloughing and laying off people to realign our costs and revenue.” He added that when demand does return, he won’t easily be able to bring qualified workers back.
All of the owners and executives heaped praise on the NJMEP and CEO John Kennedy for providing essential guidance on reopening and interpretation of government mandates.
Source: NJBIZ.com
Unionwear is the merchandise provider of choice for Trump, Biden and others
Unionwear in Newark, NJ made hats for the Warren, Bloomberg and Trump campaigns. Mitch Cahn, CEO of Unionwear, has been overflowing with orders of merch. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, the factory had been making election swag for both parties since 1992.
“I want to make sure that people have a way to speak freely and use our products to get their messages across,” said Cahn. “Some will appeal to young people, some will appeal to women, some will appeal to old white men.”
Before the Coronavirus hit, Unionwear was making between 2000-3000 hats in a single day. The factory orders usually come from agencies working with campaigns or candidate-supporting groups. That’s because political campaigns often want to hire US-based businesses for their merch.
The 2016 election was also a busy season.
Cahn continues: “The one time we saw a very surprising spike was with the original ‘Make America Great Again’ hat. The demand overwhelmed the supply. There are only a handful of factories [that could produce these] in the United States working on that hat for Trump.”
This sort of swag often doubles as campaign contributions, and it adds up. The Trump campaign sold more than $20m worth of merchandise between 2016 and 2018.
But not all campaigns make money on merch. Mike Bloomberg did not make money on his hats. He funded his run out of his own pocket.
Political swag is as old as the Presidency itself. Buttons bearing George Washington’s initials were sold at his first inauguration in 1789. But the business really took off in the mid-90s, when Mitch was just getting started.
“When the Internet came around and e-commerce became more viable, we got into the political market in a big way,” Cahn commented. But it wasn’t always easy. “All of our clients had moved overseas. And then we were left with a baseball hat factory and a lot of employees, and not a lot of places to get business from.”
Mitch had to transform the company, but he didn’t have to look far. He began selling to unions, who were looking to buy from Unionized businesses like his. He also began selling to military agencies, some of which are required to buy US-made goods.
Then came the political campaigns.
“The first order we got was a small order for the Bill Clinton campaign and was maybe 150 hats. Our first big break was with the Al Gore campaign [in 2000.] We sold probably more hats than we ever sold for any one particular client before. It was probably 200,000 hats overall.”
But having lots of swag may not translate into lots of votes, especially in 2020.
“The candidate that ordered the largest amount dropped out of the race early, Andrew Yang. That was definitely the most hats we’ve sold in this election cycle.”
Yang’s campaign sold more than 30,000 “Make Americans Think Harder” hats, which made up about $1.2 million of campaign revenue and are still for sale on his website.
And, what does Unionwear do with its merchandise once a candidate drops out?
“We have this down to a science. We are producing in small batches. Someone would have to drop out unexpectedly for us to get stuck with anything.”
Business Insider: Presidential candidates buy hats from Unionwear for three primary reasons
Before the Covid-19 crisis, Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn spent the past 28 years supplying hats to a wide variety of clients. Being one of the only unionized, domestic manufacturers of hats and other items, Mitch has found a significant advantage in providing swag to organizations that purchase products that are made in the USA. These groups include labor unions, some military organizations, and especially Presidential campaigns.
Presidential candidates buy hats from Unionwear for three primary reasons:
1- Candidates are eager to show off their commitment to American job creation
2- Some candidates, such as Donald Trump and Andrew Yang, earn a profit off of selling their hats, providing much-needed financing to their campaigns
3- Unionwear’s prices are not significantly higher than those made overseas, thanks to their commitment to lean manufacturing and just-in-time ordering. This also means there are almost never leftover hats, even if a candidate drops out of the race suddenly
How did Unionwear get started selling merchandise to candidates as diverse as Al Gore, Donald Trump, Mike Bloomberg, and Andrew Yang?
After making a whopping 150 hats to Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign, their big break came from Al Gore’s 2000 presidential run, where he sold an estimated 200,000 hats. He has made hats for nearly every presidential candidate since.
“The candidate that ordered the largest amount dropped out of the [2020] race early, Andrew Yang. That was definitely the most hats we’ve sold in this election cycle,” said Cahn.
Yang’s campaign sold more than 30,000 “Make Americans Think Harder” hats, which made up about $1.2 million of campaign revenue and are still for sale on his website.
“I want to make sure that people have a way to speak freely and use our products to get their messages across. Some will appeal to young people, some will appeal to women, some will appeal to old white men,” Cahn said.
Although currently manufacturing face shields and washable gowns for first responders, Unionwear is still taking orders for hats and other apparel. This crisis won’t last forever, but Unionwear plans on being around for a long time afterward.
Mitch Cahn, President of Unionwear, on Lean and Pivoting to Shields & Gowns
Mitch tells us how, a month ago, orders for political campaign hats and items evaporated as the Democratic presidential field consolidated. So, Unionwear needed to pivot and they started calling hospitals to find out how they might be able to help by making personal protective equipment (PPE) to help in the Covid-19 crisis.
Read more here
2020 vision: Candidates who want ‘Made in USA’ hats can call Unionwear — but there’s more to business than slogans
No matter whose team you’re on, there’s money to be made in presidential campaign-branded baseball caps — epitomized by those red “Make America Great Again” hats.
And Unionwear is one of the few companies in the running for that profit.
Mitch Cahn, president of the 180-person manufacturing team in Newark, says there are not a lot of textile products such as hats being made in the United States in general today — most of the work has gone to China or other emerging economies.
But, certain customers need to send the right message by choosing U.S. manufacturers for merchandise. That includes any would-be commander-in-chief.
Read more here
Rootstock: Unionwear Switches to Manufacturing PPE in the Fight against COVID-19
Under normal circumstances, Unionwear is the leading manufacturer of union, made-in-USA headwear, bags, accessories, work wear and safety gear. 2020 was shaping up to be a great year for the New Jersey-based company – between the presidential campaign, the Olympics, the US Census and other events, Unionwear’s employees would be busy all year.
But when the Democratic presidential campaign abruptly ended and the coronavirus pandemic arrived, circumstances became anything but normal.
“A lot of our jobs were canceled,” says Mitch Cahn, Unionwear President. “We do a lot of event merchandise, and a lot of events were canceled and some of our military projects were scaled back to make funds available for emergency relief.”
Like many companies coping with the challenge of operating with mandated social distancing amid sharply reduced economic activity, Unionwear quickly went from trying to keep up with orders while working at full capacity to not having much to do at all. The company cut their staff, sent workers home and tried to figure out how to succeed in a world changed by COVID-19.
Then they decided that they needed to come up with a new business model to carry them through the crisis.
The pandemic created a huge demand for personal protection equipment (PPE) to keep front-line health care workers, law enforcement and essential employees safe. Unionwear not only wanted to shift production to keep operating but also to make a difference.
Read more here
ACG Global: Mitch Cahn discusses winning ACG New Jersey’s Corporate Growth Award
In the latest installment of ACG Global’s At Home with the Middle Market, Unionwear’s President, Mitch Cahn, discusses why Unionwear won ACG New Jersey’s Corporate Growth Award (1:15) and their experience being a union shop (2:55).
Mitch explains how Unionwear was able to participate in the PPP due to some assistance from the Newark Mayor and Invest Newark (9:48), how they’re able to grow by purchasing the assets of bankrupt textile businesses (11:32), and more.
NJ.com: Unionwear, Workers United team up to produce PPE for coronavirus first responders
A healthy relationship between company and union has been the driving force in getting health care providers more and more personal protective equipment when it is needed most.
Unionwear, a Newark-based company that is known for its production of hats, backpacks and binders, has quickly shifted its focus to creating face shields and surgical gowns.
Workers United has been reaching out to companies who could provide needs for those on the front lines in combatting the coronavirus, ensuring their employees are still working.
In uncertain times, it was a perfect match.
Please read more here
njpac: The New Home Front: Newark Manufacturers Innovate to Fight Covid-19
Mitch Cahn of Unionwear was featured in a new series called NJPAC Business Partners @ Home. These interviews will offer virtual conversations with executives leading their businesses in creative, effective and useful ways in the fight against the pandemic.
The first video conversation features three Newark business leaders who’ve rapidly pivoted from producing their traditional wares to manufacturing the vital materials—masks, sanitizer, medical face shields, isolation gowns—needed by front-line medical workers.
To learn more, please visit here
The Athletic: How a Newark factory that was going to make U.S. Olympic hats is now making PPE
Mitch Cahn saw his entire summer’s worth of production laid out. His shop was going to produce hats for the U.S. Olympic team, manufacturing the line that organization would wear and sell. It was already manufacturing hats for all of the Democratic presidential nominees. Then his company would make more hats for the fall. Presidential merchandise was a lifeblood for Unionwear and the Newark, N.J., factory where they are produced.
As one of the few textile manufacturing factories in the United States, Cahn said, its “Made in USA” emblem was a premium companies want to be associated with. When a presidential candidate or the team representing the U.S. abroad wants a hat, they also want it, well, made in the U.S. — and that’s Cahn’s business.
But everything went awry quickly in early March. All but two of the Democratic candidates dropped out. Then the novel coronavirus pandemic started to hit the United States in full force, dramatically slowing down business along with the rest of the country. A few weeks later, Unionwear cut their staff, too, sending workers home and trying to figure out how they would operate in this new world.
Read more here
A new kind of union leadership is transforming Philadelphia
According to Philadelphia Magazine, a new kind of union leadership is changing Philadelphia, and getting results.
Jerry Jordan of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, Chris Woods of AFSCME 1199C, and Ryan Boyer of the Laborers District Council are making their mark. Jordan’s PFT spent north of $340,000 on political campaign contributions last year; Boyer’s Laborers spent more than $2 million. When the pandemic hit and hospital workers at Temple demanded hazard pay, Woods promptly called all of his political allies to let them know about his membership’s plight. Hazard pay arrived shortly thereafter.
What is notable here is that all of these union leaders are black. “We’re forced to be much more than a labor organization,” says Boyer. Indeed, the unions are getting squarely involved in social justice issues as much as bread-and-butter labor union ones.
To stay relevant, some labor unions are going beyond bread-and-butter economic issues for their members. The PFT also assembled in front of the Comcast Tower, demanding free internet so students whose families couldn’t afford access could still attend virtual school during the pandemic.
And it’s why AFSCME 1199C reemphasized its campaign for social justice during the George Floyd protests. “We want to be in conversations not just as relates to police, but to the whole criminal justice system,” says Woods. “Because these are issues that affect our members.”
Business Insider: The Same Factory Makes Hats for Trump, Biden, and Bernie
Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders aren’t exactly close on the political spectrum.
But at the Unionwear hat factory in Newark, New Jersey, they’re side by side.
Unionwear has been making campaign merchandise for US presidential candidates for nearly three decades.
The company caters to both Republican and Democratic candidates of all political stripes. This election cycle, the company has made campaign hats for Trump, Sanders, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, and Elizabeth Warren, among other candidates.
Garment worker Maria Gallardo expressed a common sentiment: “We have to make money for our families, whether we agree or disagree with their message,” she said.
This year’s crowded field of candidates has been good for business. Cahn said Unionwear makes between 2,000 and 3,000 hats in a single day, with most orders coming from campaign-affiliated agencies or groups of supporters.
The 2016 election cycle was a particularly busy time for the company — Cahn said the company was surprised by demand for Trump’s famous “Make America Great Again” hats.
“Demand overwhelmed the supply,” he said. “And there are only a handful of factories in the United States. Everyone was working on that hat for Trump.”
Political campaigns often prefer merchandise companies that are based in the US, making Unionwear a go-to option.
Yet the candidate it’s provided the most merch for isn’t Trump, or Sanders, or even Bloomberg and his seemingly endless campaign budget.
That honor would go to Andrew Yang, the Democratic entrepreneur who dropped out of the race in February. Unionwear made many of the 30,000 “MATH” hats — that’s “Make America Think Harder — that Yang sold during his longshot presidential bid.
Its first political hats were for Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign.
Political swag is at least as old as the presidency itself — buttons bearing George Washington’s initials were sold at his first inauguration in 1789.
But the merch business really took off in the mid-1990s, when Cahn was just getting started with Unionwear.
Cahn started the business in 1992. His initial attempts to sell to high-end clients like Neiman Marcus and Ralph Lauren were successful but short lived when the garment industry started to migrate to China en masse in 1994.
“We were left with a baseball hat factory and a lot of employees,” he said. “And not a lot of places to get business from.”
He didn’t have to look far for new clients, though. He began selling to American unions, which were looking for products made by unionized businesses like his. He also began selling to military agencies, some of which are required to buy US-made products.
Then came the political campaigns, starting with a small order of 150 hats for Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992. But Cahn said business didn’t really take off until Al Gore, then vice president, ran for president in 2000.
“We sold probably more hats than we had ever sold for any one particular client,” Cahn said. “It was probably 200,000 hats overall.”
All of Unionwear’s production takes place at its New Jersey plant. That makes the company an attractive option for political campaigns, who often want to hire US-based companies to make their merchandise.
Unionwear contributes to a multibillion-dollar political marketing industry. Campaign managers and political strategists are increasingly looking to merchandise like hats and other apparel as powerful branding tools, according to New York magazine. Trump’s campaign alone has made $45 million off his “MAGA” merchandise.
So what happens to Unionwear’s supply of hats once a candidate drops out, like Democrats Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg did recently?
“We have this down to a science. We are producing in small batches,” Cahn said. “Someone would have to drop out really unexpectedly for us to get stuck with anything.”
Fox: Merch Madness-Trump and Dems Use Same NJ Hat Factory
Fox News’ Alex Hogan reports from Unionwear where nearly every candidate for the 2020 presidential election has chosen to manufacture hats and bags. Candidates choose made in USA products for their campaigns to demonstrate their support for the American worker and domestic economy.
ABC: What do Trump, Bernie, Biden Share?
Despite all of the political differences between republicans and democrats, both parties have turned to Unionwear in Newark, New Jersey to manufacture their campaign hats during election season, since 1992.
“We’ve worked with virtually every campaign since we started the business. One of our first orders was for the Bill Clinton campaign in 1992,” said Mitch Cahn, President of Unionwear.
For the 2020 campaign season, Unionwear has manufactured hats for most of the democratic candidates as well as various support groups of President Trump.
According to Cahn, it is during presidential campaign years when many businesses turn to American manufacturers to produce their promotional goods to ensure their products are “Made in USA”.
“We have all sorts of businesses who order promotional products for their business thinking “This is made in China, maybe I should get this made in the USA, I don’t want us to look bad,” said Cahn.
For Cahn, whose company has manufactured products for entities like the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Census, manufacturing “Made in USA” items with the highest standards of production is an obligation that has set Unionwear apart from the rest.
“When consumers buy products “Made in USA” they know that the workers who produce those products are supported by the same labor laws and environmental laws that the consumer benefits from,” said Cahn.
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Righteous Capitalists Podcast Features Unionwear
Who says that the only way for a manufacturer to make money is to send production outside of the USA? Not Mitch Cahn. After graduating from Wharton and working on Wall Street, Mitch decided he wanted to create something. So, in the early 1990’s he bought the distressed assets of a hat manufacturer and very purposely brought back the unionized workers that had been employed there. Twenty-eight years later, Mitch’s company, Unionwear, is the only manufacturer of American made baseball hats produced by unionized employees. In fact, he is the go-to source for every presidential campaign and anyone who wants the world to know that they care about where their merchandise is made and who makes it.
Listen here:
https://www.therighteouscapitalists.com/podcastepisodes/ep012mitchcahnunionwear
Candidates who want Made in USA call Unionwear
No matter whose team you’re on, there’s money to be made in presidential campaign-branded baseball caps — epitomized by those red “Make America Great Again” hats.
Promotional products made by Unionwear include hats, backbacks and tote bags.
And Unionwear is one of the few companies in the running for that profit.
Mitch Cahn, president of the 180-person manufacturing team in Newark, says there are not a lot of textile products such as hats being made in the United States in general today — most of the work has gone to China or other emerging economies.
But, certain customers need to send the right message by choosing U.S. manufacturers for merchandise. That includes any would-be commander-in-chief.
Promotional items with the coveted “Made in USA” label tend to get a boost from the presidential race, but with the popularity of President Donald Trump’s iconic headwear from the last election cycle, Cahn said baseball caps are especially relevant now.
“That hat really drew attention to hats as a campaign accessory,” he said. “That helped our business out immensely. We actually did some of those hats at the beginning of the Trump campaign before he settled on another manufacturer. At the same time, we did hats for the Democratic candidates and, ultimately, Hillary Clinton.”
When it came time for the presidential campaign season to get underway once more, Cahn said his business was busier earlier in the election cycle than it has ever experienced.
Right now, the business is busily manufacturing large quantities of hats for several of the Democratic candidates. Cahn didn’t name the clients, but he did add that three of the four candidates using Unionwear were at the top of polls.
Unionwear also makes accessories such as laptop bags for other clients, including the military and labor unions. It boasts that it compensates its Newark garment workers with union wages and benefits. And that’s a selling point around campaign season.
“Because someone who wants a union-made baseball hat really just has one choice — so that’s going to come up during presidential elections,” Cahn said. “A lot of candidates want to appeal to unions however they can.”
But, when the showdown for the country’s top job ends, local manufacturers are left with the competitive pressures of keeping products American-made.
And that goes double for keeping them New Jersey-made, given the higher costs of real estate and the minimum wage set to rise to $15 by 2024, Cahn said.
“Most of our competition is in the Southeast, where a lot of the country’s garment industry is,” he said. “There, the minimum wage is still at the federal minimum of $7.25. So, unless that goes up, by 2024, it’ll cost us twice as much to pay an entry-level employee here as it would in Georgia.”
That’s why the manufacturer is expecting to do some reinvestment in the automation necessary to sew and produce garments, even if the orders are coming in left and right for hats with campaign logos and slogans.
Cahn said he has no intention of replacing his workforce, but instead wants to give each person the potential to do more tasks.
One of the only reasons it hasn’t happened already is that the development of automation tools has been slower in the textile sector compared with other manufacturers.
“Most automation works well with hard goods, because they’re easy to grab and have finite measurements,” he said. “Things that are soft, you run into issues of robots being unable to grab fabrics and feel wrinkles in the fabrics.”
But, even with more options available now for the hat-maker, it’s safe to say there’s going to be more robotics on the manufacturing line come next campaign cycle.
“Several years ago, it wasn’t something we’d even consider, because the labor was a lot less expensive and the automation was a lot more expensive,” Cahn said. “The price of automation has come down tremendously and the price of labor keeps going up. So, now, it just makes sense.”
republished from http://www.roi-nj.com/2019/10/14/industry/2020-vision-candidates-who-want-made-in-usa-hats-can-call-unionwear-but-theres-more-to-business-than-slogans/
Fox Business Visits Unionwear’s USA Made Booth
Fox News’ Opened the First-ever Made in America conference with live broadcase from Unionwear’s booth at the Indianapolis Convention Center. Carly Shimkus was suprised by the depth and quality of Unionwear’s product line and discussed how USA made products demonstrate their manufacturers’ commitment to the American economy.
The Baseball Cap: How To Make It In America
Clips from German television show Galileo, videotaped by Jynx Productions of a typical day in Unionwear’s baseball hat manufacturing facility in Newark, NJ.
Unionwear Wins Inaugural Reshoring Award
The Reshoring Initiative and SEAMS, the domestic textile manufacturing association, presented their inaugural Manufacturing Reshoring Award to Unionwear for bringing cut and sew jobs back to the USA. Unionwear’s 180 workers in Newark, NJ make baseball hats, backpacks, and other bags for the promotional products, fashion, and uniform industries.
Unionwear’s technological innovations have leveled the playing field with imports by highlighting small batch, quick turn manufacturing. Unionwear’s predictive configuration tool at http://www.trillionhats.com allows it to sell custom made products using a traditional webstore experience rather than a cumbersome online configurator, while its mobile ERP platform automates purchasing, production scheduling, manufacturing, and shipping. The result is “made to order” as seamless as ordering from Amazon.
The baseball cap industry’s mass relocation to China since the 1990’s, and Unionwear’s success in keeping manufacturing stateside throughout, was thoroughly explored earlier this month in the three part serial podcast documentary “American Icon” on iHeartRadio’s Red Pilled America podcast.
The Reshoring Award was presented at SEAMS’ annual conference in Savannah,GA on May 9, 2019. At the event, Contempora Fabrics won the Textile Reshoring Award and Mara Hoffman Designs won the Brand Reshoring Award. SEAMS members had reasons to celebrate, with domestic textile manufacturing showing strong, sustainable growth to $70 billion and over 100,000 jobs, numbers that will continue to climb due to the recent tariffs and the upcoming presidential election, when interest in “USA Made” traditionally peaks.
Podcast: The Fall and Rise of USA Cap Manufacturing
Red Pilled America took a deep dive into the history of the baseball cap, and used the story of offshoring ballcap production to tell the story of American apparel manufacturing.
Episode 24 focuses on Unionwear’s history. Founded as a fashion industry contractor, Unionwear was nearly shuttered when unintended consequences of trade deals resulted in most of the textile business moving to China in the mid 90’s.
Unionwear took a systematic approach to seek markets that would only buy American: starting with unions, moving to political campaigns, the US government and military, then other manufacturers and nonprofits, and now back as a fashion contractor.
Hosts Patrick Courrielche and Adryana Cortez intersperse Unionwear’s story with a fascinating analysis of the economic, regulatory, and systemic changes that resulted in American manufacturing losing its edge, and what it would take to regain it.
The podcast has started a kickstarter campaign to sell a Red-Pilled America cap, pictured above.
The podcast is broadcast by iHeartAmerica and is available on Apple Podcasts
Unionwear Hires José Bellon from Coach to Run Domestic Manufacturing Operations
Unionwear is pleased to announce the hiring of their new Domestic Operations VP, José Bellon, formerly of Coach Ready-To-Wear Apparel. With this move, Unionwear and CEO/President Mitch Cahn hopes not only to maintain but to improve the already award-winning company.
Mr. Bellon was carefully chosen for his skills and experience. He is a native of Cuba but grew up in Miami. Raised in a hard-working community, he became acquainted with a large variety of people. This experience taught him how to work well with others. He brings good business sense, honesty, and a drive for excellence to a company with an already outstanding reputation.
Mr. Bellon takes great pride in the industry in which he works and plans on staying there a long time. He is proud of the “Made in USA” label and encourages other entrepreneurs whenever he can. He would, in fact, like to help future entrepreneurs realize their full potential and assist them in keeping America vital by eliminating outsourcing to other countries.
Though he is proud of his heritage, as a Latin leader he wants to promote American, union-made products as the new Domestic Operations VP for Unionwear, helping the company to grow above and beyond its wildest dreams.
Unionwear, formerly the maker of little more than baseball caps, has expanded its line considerably over the years. In addition to producing political campaign and promotional gear, the company lists knit caps and scarves, winter wear, and bags of all shapes, designs, and sizes its website.
As of late, Unionwear and company President Mitch Cahn acquired the assets and personnel of DLX Industries. This means for online shoppers that, in addition to what Unionwear already carried, they will now also deal in business accessories such as portfolios and binders.
Besides displaying pride for America and offering American-made, customizable products at affordable prices, Unionwear is involved in the community. Just recently, they played a major role in assisting the winner of the “Dream It, Do It: What’s So Cool About Manufacturing” Award. This annual award was developed to stimulate students’ imaginations and introduce them to the possibility of manufacturing careers.
José Bellon is proud to be a new member of a company that not only enjoys the success the American public has given them but gives back to the community in return. Because of his devotion to excellence and both company and community growth, Mr. Bellon is a perfect fit for Unionwear and what it represents.
CEO/President Mitch Cahn and his 175 union-proud employees would like to extend a warm welcome to Mr. José Bellon in the hopes of a long, productive, and satisfying future
DLX Industries’ Management Team Bring Portfolio-Making Expertise and Equipment to Unionwear
Unionwear has acquired the remaining assets of DLX Industries, the promotional, union made in USA sewn leather portfolios and binder manufacturer from Brooklyn. Unionwear has hired DLX’s Sales and Marketing Director, Cindy Kronen, and Plant Manager Phil Stern. Ms. Kronen brings with her 20 years of sales and marketing experience. Phil Stern, DLX’s plant manager for 17 years, joins Cindy (along with other key employees) as they set up a new shop in Newark New, Jersey.
Unionwear, a union manufacturer of bags and hats, started out as the New Jersey Headwear Corporation with only 15 workers back in 1992. A contract with Ralph Lauren helped put the young enterprise and President Mitch Cahn on the map. Today, 25 years later, the company has 175 employees who manufacture and embroider headwear, bags, accessories, safety gear, and work gear. Recently, they have created promotional gear used nationwide in political campaigns. They are a principal textile supplier to homeland security, the postal service, federal and state governments, and the military.
DLX specializes in the manufacture of business accessories and promotional products. Their mission, now as part of Unionwear, will be to provide high-quality, domestically manufactured, union-made products at affordable prices. They offer innovative designs and products of various materials and colors. DLX’s most popular products have been sealed and sewn vinyl and leather items such as Binders, Portfolios, Checkbook Covers, Check Presenters, and Desk Accessories.
Following the merger of DLX and Unionwear, if you are seeking union-made stitched and/or sealed portfolios, binders, and vinyl folders, you need look no further. They will now be created in Newark, New Jersey by Unionwear, which will manufacture the same business presentation products, with the same attention to quality, that you have purchased from DLX over the last decade. The facility is fully operational, and their product line can be found at https://unionwear.com/portfolios-and-folders.
“Made in USA” has become not only a declaration but a theme. The difference in pricing between Made in China products and Made in USA products is diminishing. Companies like Unionwear aim to reduce the purchase of imports by promoting affordable products of outstanding quality made right here in the United States.
Workers United, Local 155 represents the employees at Unionwear. The company considers the union label a badge of workplace justice, quality, and a living wage. Their employees earn holidays, vacation days, pension, and health insurance. And they want the public to know that the “Made in USA products cost less than Union Made products” way of thinking is a myth, a fallacy. The cost differential between union domestic and non-union factories has been eliminated (or at least substantially narrowed), thanks to the Democratic Congress’ intervention. This intervention affected the rights and laws concerning affordable healthcare, equal pay, family leave, and the federal minimum wage earned by domestic workers.
Verizon Fios Showcases Unionwear Hat Factory
A recent Verizon Fios video explores and examines Newark, New Jersey’s Unionwear, a manufacturer of scarves, hats, backpacks, and much, much more. The video opens with an interview with Unionwear CEO and President, Mitch Cahn, regarding the company’s background.
Mr. Cahn explains, “Unionwear is the manufacturer of baseball caps, military hats, sewn hats, backpacks, duffel bags—any sort of sewn accessory that can be made from woven fabric. By saying that these products are union made, it’s a type of shorthand for the fact that our products are made by happy, content, productive workers.”
When asked how they price their products competitively, the CEO says that one way of making sure that their products are competitively priced “is through the use of Lean manufacturing. Just because wages are higher doesn’t mean that labor costs necessarily need to be higher.”
Next, Mr. Cahn and the interviewer take a look at the factory itself. The camera pans over a section of the manufacturing facility as the company president explains that they are looking at roughly 1000 baseball caps before they are actually constructed. He runs through aspects of the production, such as fabric, a hydraulic clicker press that cuts the fabric for the hats into triangles, and other sections containing various parts of the soon-to-be baseball caps.
As he holds a completed baseball cap in his hands, Mr. Cahn runs his fingers along the various parts, demonstrating how each piece fits into the finished product. He offers up a little tidbit of information: every baseball cap has no less than 23 parts.
Moving to a different section of the factory, the video now focuses on workers at their various stations. This is where the tail end of the cap manufacturing process takes place, the sewing being done by hand and sewing machine. All the pieces come together here. Next will be the embroidery.
Depending on the cap, some parts receive embroidery while others do not. To achieve the best quality, the embroidery is done on cut parts of the hat before it is completely assembled. Because the embroidery is done on a flat panel instead of a curved finished cap, the artwork’s registration is improved, the imprint area is larger, productivity is improved, and expenses are lower. Workers now must finish the crown, attach the visor, and complete the baseball cap.
As the company president and the interviewer move to the section of the facility where the “baseball cap is virtually born,” the camera pans widely across the facility. It shows numerous stations and workers as various stages of the assembly process are being completed.
Mr. Cahn describes this final stage: “We’ve made the crown of the baseball cap, the embroidery has been added, we’ve made the brim, and now the crown and the brim will be attached together, and the label and sweatband will be added. Everything, once sewn together, is steamed, bagged, and boxed.” And voilà, you have a baseball cap, ready for distribution.
This video gives an impressive view of a baseball cap’s creation—from its infancy to the completed, final product. Not to mention all of the people who participate in the process. Knowing that these products, each and every one, are all put together with the bare hands of union employees is one of the major factors that sets this company apart from all the rest. These products are made in the USA, by hand.
Unionwear—American-made, America proud.
Unionwear Wins NJBIZ “Excellence in Manufacturing” Award
Mitch Cahn, the President of Unionwear, and the Chairman of the Newark Workforce Development Board, has won the Raymond Hopp Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Manufacturing. The announcement was made official at National Manufacturing Day. The fifth annual event was held on Friday, October 7, 2016. This celebration aims to improve public perception of the manufacturing industry’s economic value and to expand knowledge of manufacturing careers.
The Excellence in Manufacturing Award was established in memory of the president of HK Metalcraft, Raymond Hopp. Mr. Hopp was extremely dedicated to the New Jersey manufacturing community’s workforce development and was considered a strong advocate for their cause.
This very special award has specific criteria that the ideal candidate must meet:
- Demonstrate clear respect for cultural awareness and diversity
- Show a willingness to explore and learn new technologies
- Display passion for continuing education
- Be active in associations that indirectly or directly support manufacturing
- Understand networking’s importance
- Be a forward-thinking, creative, innovative business person/entrepreneur
- Show, through their treatment of employees, peers, and business associates, that they are a highly moral businessperson
- Have been involved in the New Jersey manufacturing community for a minimum of 20 years.
Back in 1992, Mitch Cahn started the New Jersey Headwear Corporation, which would one day become Unionwear. He landed a contract with Ralph Lauren for ball caps and had 15 individuals doing all of the sewing. Now, with 175 employees, Mr. Cahn’s Unionwear is responsible for nationwide promotional gear used in political campaigns and much more. Additionally, he is a principal textile supplier to the federal and state governments, post office, homeland security, and the military.
As president of Unionwear, and in years before that, Mr. Cahn has been publicly recognized as a passionate individual who works relentlessly to do as much as possible within his platform and position. A recommendation specifically for this award credited Mitch with not only meeting but exceeding the challenging expectations and requirements to win the Raymond Hopp Award for Excellence.
Mr. Cahn’s commitment to fellow manufacturers and education is evident; he participates in numerous events and organizations, including but not limited to Grants and Incentive Programs for Urban Manufacturers; Cloud, Mobile, Manufacturing Technology on the Shop Floor; Designing for Manufacturing; Worker Rights Compliance in Procurement; Continuous Improvement and Lean Manufacturing, marketing “Made in USA”; and more.
Numerous fellow entrepreneurs and friends celebrated Mr. Cahn’s achievement. Cohn Reznick (of Cohn Reznick LLP) offered an official pat on the back via Twitter: “Congratulations Mitch Cahn of [Unionwear USA] on receiving the Raymond Hopp Award for Excellence.” Cohn Reznick LLC is one of the top advisory, tax, and accounting firms in the United States.
Thanks to devoted entrepreneurs such as Mitch Cahn and his devotion to manufacturing high-quality products, consumers have a viable and laudable alternative to cheap imports.
Unionwear Wins NJBIZ “Excellence in Manufacturing” Award
Mitch Cahn, the President of Unionwear, and the Chairman of the Newark Workforce Development Board, has won the Raymond Hopp Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Manufacturing. The announcement was made official at National Manufacturing Day. The fifth annual event was held on Friday, October 7, 2016. This celebration aims to improve public perception of the manufacturing industry’s economic value and to expand knowledge of manufacturing careers.
The Excellence in Manufacturing Award was established in memory of the president of HK Metalcraft, Raymond Hopp. Mr. Hopp was extremely dedicated to the New Jersey manufacturing community’s workforce development and was considered a strong advocate for their cause.
This very special award has specific criteria that the ideal candidate must meet:
- Demonstrate clear respect for cultural awareness and diversity
- Show a willingness to explore and learn new technologies
- Display passion for continuing education
- Be active in associations that indirectly or directly support manufacturing
- Understand networking’s importance
- Be a forward-thinking, creative, innovative business person/entrepreneur
- Show, through their treatment of employees, peers, and business associates, that they are a highly moral businessperson
- Have been involved in the New Jersey manufacturing community for a minimum of 20 years.
Back in 1992, Mitch Cahn started the New Jersey Headwear Corporation, which would one day become Unionwear. He landed a contract with Ralph Lauren for ball caps and had 15 individuals doing all of the sewing. Now, with 175 employees, Mr. Cahn’s Unionwear is responsible for nationwide promotional gear used in political campaigns and much more. Additionally, he is a principal textile supplier to the federal and state governments, post office, homeland security, and the military.
As president of Unionwear, and in years before that, Mr. Cahn has been publicly recognized as a passionate individual who works relentlessly to do as much as possible within his platform and position. A recommendation specifically for this award credited Mitch with not only meeting but exceeding the challenging expectations and requirements to win the Raymond Hopp Award for Excellence.
Mr. Cahn’s commitment to fellow manufacturers and education is evident; he participates in numerous events and organizations, including but not limited to Grants and Incentive Programs for Urban Manufacturers; Cloud, Mobile, Manufacturing Technology on the Shop Floor; Designing for Manufacturing; Worker Rights Compliance in Procurement; Continuous Improvement and Lean Manufacturing, marketing “Made in USA”; and more.
Numerous fellow entrepreneurs and friends celebrated Mr. Cahn’s achievement. Cohn Reznick (of Cohn Reznick LLP) offered an official pat on the back via Twitter: “Congratulations Mitch Cahn of [Unionwear USA] on receiving the Raymond Hopp Award for Excellence.” Cohn Reznick LLC is one of the top advisory, tax, and accounting firms in the United States.
Thanks to devoted entrepreneurs such as Mitch Cahn and his devotion to manufacturing high-quality products, consumers have a viable and laudable alternative to cheap imports.
Unionwear Completes Restructuring As Core Biz Thrives
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Unionwear, a New Jersey manufacturer of hats and bags, has had its repayment plan approved by Judge John Sherwood, and will emerge from a Federal court supervised restructuring it filed earlier this year to cut down on union pension related debt.
President Mitch Cahn will retain control of the business after a capital contribution by Reshoring Capital was approved. Operations will be spun off into a wholly owned subsidiary, USA Made Brands.
Said Cahn, “Everyone here is elated. We weren’t sure our company would emerge intact, and never thought our sales would end up exceeding our record year in 2016, when we were a primary supplier of USA Made baseball caps and tote bags to nearly every presidential candidate. In the past, sales would always dip the year after an election. But our sales have grown by 35% since the filing.”
Prior to the Chapter 11 Unionwear was unable to borrow from traditional sources to expand due to the withdrawal liability created by the failure of its union’s pension fund.
“The withdrawal liability was completely out of our control so I was not willing to invest personal funds or take insider funds until we could at least contain the problem. Once we were able to exit the National Retirement Fund we could at least stop the withdrawal liability from growing. Reshoring Capital was willing and able to provide us the DIP financing to carry us through the chapter 11 and provide exit financing, and I was able invest personal funds in several things necessary to scale.”
These investments include:
- Two entire new lines of business – we are now making leather portfolio folders and binders as well as knit hats and scarves.
- New equipment made available as other textile businesses close, which seems to have spiked again this year as the NYC and LA sew shops have been hurt by wage and rent costs.
- New management personnel-a plant manager from coach with 20 years of experience in lean manufacturing
Cahn says 2017 will be the best year in Unionwear’s 25 year history and that Unionwear is opening 2018 with a tremendous backlog of business.
“Our balance sheet is much stronger as is our team and the excitement here is translating into sales and productivity. The restructuring forced us to be smarter than we’ve ever had to be with our cash flow. It forced us to successfully implement just in time inventory management and an MRP system.
Additionally We’ve been able to finance this growth without adding new debt and We have been able to manage the growth despite the burdensome regulatory requirements a restructuring imposes on small businesses. It was a year long distraction that is now behind us and we are positioned well to capitalize on the growth in interest in USA Made.”
As part of the restructuring, Unionwear’s employees moved from a failed defined benefit plan from which they would be unable to collect to a defined contribution plan with a match.
Unionwear CEO Keynotes Manufacturing Summit at Legendary Brewery
On October 12, 2017, at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Newark, Mitch Cahn, Unionwear’s own CEO and President was the keynote speaker at the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ) Manufacturing Summit.
The CIANJ summit concentrated primarily on enhancing the manufacturing sector of New Jersey. From energy needs and transportation to tax implications and environmental regulations, its purpose was to bring together environmental professionals, manufacturers, lawmakers, and other stakeholders. Why bring all of these people together in one room? To decide what needed to be done to grow New Jersey manufacturing, a candid discussion had to take place.
The hope of those organizing this event and holding it at Newark’s historic Anheuser-Busch Brewery, was that those attending would leave with a deeper comprehension of how our economy and manufacturing are related in the world today. Manufacturing is key—it’s critical. And to grow the sector, some things need to change.
As a speaker at this type of event, Unionwear CEO/President Mitch Cahn is considerably qualified. This individual started what would one day be Unionwear with humble beginnings and a mere 15 workers. Today, not only has he increased his union workforce to 175, but with their help, he has grown the company into one of the only headwear producers still manufacturing in the United States of America.
The man who started out making baseball caps for Barneys New York, Ralph Lauren, Izod, and Gant is now the primary manufacturer of much of today’s political campaign and promotional gear. So successful has Mr. Cahn become that he and his “Made in America” company recently purchased the assets of business accessory manufacturer DLX industries, retaining many of its personnel, as well.
At the manufacturing summit, Mr. Cahn spoke about the fact that business has never been better. There is a slight problem, however, that he imagines many other manufacturing plants are also experiencing: Business is outgrowing the supply of machine operators. It’s hard to keep up. But with a problem like this, he wonders, why are domestic manufacturers being depicted as victims in the national dialogue?
One such recent source of “national dialogue” was an article in the New York Times. The writer portrayed a grim picture of domestic manufacturing, discussing the assumption that owners of manufacturing plants hoped their kids would grow up to find some easier way to make a living! To add insult to injury, the article also strongly suggested that despite all the pronouncements, praises and promises by politicians, they were actually doing little to help the industry.
In this article, the owner of a well-known engineering and plastics firm painted a very “woe is me” picture. While Mr. Cahn agrees that domestic manufacturing isn’t the easiest way to make a living in today’s world, he also notes that many of the problems in the industry are in the hands of company owners, CEOs, presidents, etc. There is a solution to every problem. It is not always easy, and sometimes you have to work at it, but you cannot let the growth of your business be impeded by systemic factors. Thinking outside the box is the kind of ingenuity that allows us to invent products, produce them on a mass level, automate that production, and finally, outsell our competitors.
The planners who put this manufacturing summit together could not have chosen a better candidate to speak. His invigorating words of encouragement and support will undoubtedly boost the morale of those needing it and inspire those fighting the good fight to keep going.
Note: The entire keynote given by Mitch Cahn can be found by clicking here.
Shop 250,000 USA Made Products on Unionwear’s New Website
Unionwear, Inc. is pleased and proud to announce the launch of their newly re-designed website. The modified site now offers easier navigation, online ordering, better search capability, more content, and other enhancements to improve customers’ online design and ordering experience.
With its updated look and feel, the refreshed site allows clients to find the products they need and get answers to their design issues in less time. With more than 200,000 hat and 50,000 bag SKUs, customers are bound to find just the right accessory for their corporate events, employee uniforms, special gifts for clients, and more. Unionwear.com has added thousands of SKUs of union made in USA knit hats and scarves and union made in USA sewn portfolios and binders—and is the last union manufacturer in America in each product category!
With thousands of colors, shapes, fabrics, and logos from which to choose, customers can design the perfect, one-of-a-kind products for themselves or others. And the best part? If clients don’t see what they’re looking for, all they have to do is give Unionwear a call. They can customize any order and provide every customer with precisely what they need.
On the new web site, Unionwear also offers their clients access to industry trend information, the latest news on trade justice and labeling, product comparisons and ratings, etc. This updated and user-friendly site will better serve the ever-changing needs of customers.
Located in Newark, New Jersey, Unionwear manufactures and embroiders accessories, bags, baseball caps, knit caps, safety gear, and work wear. With their “Made in USA” label, business is booming, the turnover is low, and morale is high. All 175 employees have a stake in the success of the company, and they can identify with customers who value the community and are concerned about how and where a product is made.
Founded in 1992, the New Jersey Headwear Corporation began with just a handful of employees and Mitch Cahn at the wheel. His first lucrative contract was with Ralph Lauren Clothing making baseball caps, but as the business grew, Unionwear was created and was hired to create products for local and national political campaigns. Over time, they became the principal supplier to the military, the post office, and federal and state government agencies—all clients for whom a “Made in the USA” label is vitally important.
Both Unionwear and their customers recognize that when you manufacture a product locally, you add value by creating jobs and supporting the community. While many manufacturers outsource their production lines, Unionwear takes pride in keeping their business where it belongs—in the US.
Their growth and sustainability have been built on the stable foundation of employee satisfaction and strong client relationships. Low turnover means excellent products are being made by experienced and resourceful stitchers, with high productivity on the shop floor, incredible pride in their workmanship, and fast deliveries. This keeps clients happy and influences repeat orders. Additionally, recent international shipping problems have made local American manufacturing more attractive than ever.
Unionwear would like to extend an invitation to all their past, present, and potential customers to view their new, updated website at https://unionwear.com. There, shoppers can see how they make quality products as well as explore the many choices now available from this union-proud company.
Unionwear Celebrates 25 Years of “Made Right Here”
At a time when pride in America and demand for “Made in USA” products are increasing, it’s surprising how many companies still insist on outsourcing their manufacturing internationally. Yet, despite the reduced costs that these companies will likely negotiate, their prices either stay the same or continue to rise. This does not bode well for the American public, any way you look at it.
But Unionwear refuses to give in to overseas outsourcing and price gouging. Perhaps that is why Unionwear, a company that features union-made products and whose slogan is “Made Right Here” is still in business after 25 years.
In 1992, Unionwear President Mitch Cahn started the New Jersey Headwear Corporation as a contractor for fashion designers in the a new product category: the fashion baseball cap. In those early days, the company had a mere six individuals doing all the sewing and assembly. Ball cap contracts with Ralph Lauren’s Polo, Barneys New York, Gant, and Izod helped put the company on the map and increased staff numbers to 35 machine operators. the company was churning out hundreds of thousands of hats per year by 1997.
The name Unionwear came about after the textile business shifted toward Asian production in 1998. Mr. Cahn realized that his company was one of only a few still manufacturing union-label baseball caps within the United States. While Craft Hats, King Louis, and West Penn were moving their production overseas and closing their United States manufacturing facilities’ doors, Unionwear would not only stay put but also expand.
Fast-forward to today, and one cannot help but notice how the company has stayed true to itsroots, keeping production within our borders and prices affordable. His headwear company has now branched into other product lines and employees 175 proud union workers.
Unionwear has manufactured presidential campaign wear and other political logo products. This Garden State factory has been the go-to manufacturer when it comes to Made in America gear for Sanders, Cruz, Clinton, Bush, McCain and countless other candidates. Unionwear has consistently produced customized orders to suit the needs of their clientele.
Presently, in addition to baseball caps of varying styles, Unionwear deals in knit scarves and caps, winter gear, and bags of all shapes, sizes, and designs. And just recently, Unionwear acquired the assets and personnel of DLX Industries, expanding their product catalog to include portfolios, binders, and other business accessories.
Unionwear continues to win awards for their meaningfully contributions to society; they care deeply for the public that put them where they are today. And although employee salaries have gone up, and costs are certainly not going down, Unionwear still manages to provide affordable, high-quality, American-made products to their customers.
Please join us in congratulating Unionwear for a job well done. They’re keeping jobs where they belong—right here in the United States of America. Happy 25th anniversary, Unionwear!
Unionwear Wins “Dream It, Do It: What’s So Cool About Manufacturing” Award
Unionwear and the Louise A. Spencer School in Newark deserve sincere congratulations for winning this year’s video competition, What’s So Cool About Manufacturing? This award, given annually, stimulates the imagination of students, inviting them to pursue careers in manufacturing. Its secondary aim is to boost the profiles of New Jersey’s factories. A range of awards are bestowed by judges in each regional contest, and online votes for the Viewers’ Choice Award are tabulated at WhatsSoCool.org.
In 2013, Allentown Pennsylvania’s Manufacturer’s Research Center (MRC) created the What’s So Cool About Manufacturing? contest, and now hundreds of schools in the region participate. Teams of teachers, coaches, and students receive professional guidance, software, and camera equipment as they learn to edit, record, and script their video stories. The objective? To change students’ perceptions of manufacturing careers.
The winning video, which runs two minutes and 30 seconds, begins with several schoolgirls admiring a shirt worn by one of them and discussing where it came from. Realizing that anything purchased from “the mall” originates from somewhere else, they ponder what goes into the manufacturing process. Enter Unionwear and Mitch Cahn, President. He discusses his manufacturing company and how it works.
The video also features Agi Tamrakar, a recent graduate of NJIT who elaborates on his education and internship with Unionwear. Upon completing his masters, he accepted a permanent, full-time position at Unionwear. Mr. Tamrakar also explores the many facets of the manufacturing industry. The video concludes with the original schoolchildren reiterating how cool manufacturing is. The video is informative and enjoyable, and the performance given by the schoolchildren is admirable.
Dream It, Do It promotes advanced careers in manufacturing for educators, adult family members, and students. Dream It, Do It is a companion of the What So Cool About Manufacturing? video contest and provides career resources. Additionally, Dream It, Do It selects and manages a dream team of dynamic manufacturing professionals. This team makes presentations at community locations and schools for students and teachers.
ABC News Tours Hillary, Bernie Campaigns’ Unionwear Shop
ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos
ABC News takes a deep dive into Newark, NJ-based Unionwear, a union shop producing all those Hillary, Bernie, and Anti-Trump logo products.
TRANSCRIPT
Josh: What’s up guys? I’m sure you’ve seen this before. We all have. This hat is actually currently made in downtown Los Angeles, but ground zero for campaign merchandise here in Newark, New Jersey at Unionwear. It’s not just Donald Trump’s campaign who has hired advertising companies. It’s Hillary, it’s Bernie Sanders, it’s Jeb Bush, it’s Mick Huckabee. Take a look at this table guys. There is New Jersey’s own Chris Christie. So these campaigns, they hire advertising firms that then use this company, Unionwear, to make all of these hats. Even some candidates who are no longer in the race. There’s Jeb Bush for 2016. So we’re seeing a little bit of it all. There’s also handbags here. I want to take you back there. Another funny thing, this place has been involved since Al Gore run. Ever since 1992, they have been making merchandise like hats and bags for the conventions. These employees are all engaged as well. I want to bring in the president, Mitch Cahn. Mitch, hop on in right now, live on ABC Digital. Talk about how your business has been impacted by the 2016 election?
Mitch Cahn: We’ve had to make more hats than ever. There have been so many candidates this year. We probably made baseball hats for nearly every candidate in the race. We’ll be doing work for the conventions. We’ll be doing work for parties in all 50 states.
Josh: What is it about your business, Unionwear here in Newark that it is so appealing, connected to these presidential campaigns on both sides?
Mitch Cahn: Well, for one thing, every single product we make is made in the USA. Every product is also union made as unions are a very big voting bloc in the election. We’ve made a name for ourselves by making presidential merchandise over the last 25 years.
Josh: Why don’t you show us some of those hats? Want to bring that Hillary hat?
Mitch Cahn: Sure. Here is a Hillary hat that we’re making. We are also presently making hats for Bernie Sanders and making hats – we’ve made hats for Jeb Bush and Scott Walker and Chris Christie during this election cycle.
Josh: Got it. Ben and Amna, while I have Mitch here and we’re standing here in Unionwear, you guys have any questions for us before we take you on a little tour and show you how these hats are made and introduce you to some of the employees as well?
Ben: Yeah. It’s actually funny because when like a team loses the Super Bowl, I always wonder where their hats go because they all of sudden bring out the winner hats. Oh, you won the Super Bowl. It says winner. What is the most obscure hat that he has? Like is there a hat from like 15 years ago that a candidate ran, and he just keeps the hat because it’s got to be very cool nostalgia.
Josh: Yeah Mitch as we know, not every candidate is successful. You’ve been in the business for a while. What is the most rare hat that you have? Have you kept any of them as collectors items?
Mitch Cahn: I keep some fun ones. I have a Kucinich hat. I have hats from John Edwards. I have hats from Joe Lieberman. I’ve got a lot of hats from senate candidates as well that are in our showroom.
Josh: While Mitch is talking and definitely chiming in with another question, got to love this Scott Walker army hunting hat.
Amna: Oh, look at that.
Ben: Wow, that’s duck hunting right there.
Josh: I will not put it on for you guys.
Amna: Josh, why don’t you take us on a little tour of the facility? Let’s see where these things are made.
Josh: Definitely. Mitch, let’s do a little tour. Why don’t we start with the Drumpf hats and what’s being made at this station right here?
Mitch Cahn: Sure. We start over here where we cut fabric into little triangles. In this area right here, we take the triangles, we call them panels and we sew them together to make the crown of the baseball hat. You can see the back of a baseball cap right there. This will end up being a Trump parody hat. It’s kind of a parody hat of the ‘Make America Great Again’ hat. Once the fronts and the backs of the hats are completed, we take them over to our embroidery area.
Ben: Josh, when you have a moment, can you ask him who orders these Trump parody hats.
Mitch Cahn: This is where we take the front of the hat and we do this before the hat is made. We’ll sew down a logo on the hat. So Melba, tell us exactly what you’re doing at this stage?
Melba: We’re running a sample of the Bernie Sanders logo.
Josh: Do you mind if I hold that real quick?
Melba: Yeah, sure.
Josh: So guys, the pattern goes on this USB, which goes inside this machine. Melba here at the embroidery station, she makes those. Mitch, we had a follow-up question on those Trump hats. Actually funny story guys. I’m not sure if you’re fans of John Oliver’s show, but John Oliver is kind of the reason why those hats are doing so well. Tell us about those Make Donald Drumpf. Hats?
Ben: Make Donald Drumpf again.
Mitch Cahn: Yeah. John Oliver is selling a hat on hbo.com that says ‘Make Donald Drumpf again’, which is a parody of the ‘Make America Great again’ hat.
Josh: Drumpf is of course—
Mitch Cahn: The family name of Trump. Apparently, it’s an extremely popular baseball cap.
Josh: Tell us what popular means. How many have you sold? Why are you continuing having to make these hats?
Mitch Cahn: We are – well, HBO is selling the hat. We’re making all sorts of parody baseball caps here, including that hat. Maybe around 30,000-40,000 parody Trump hats just this month. Almost as much as some of the other candidates’ hats.
Josh: As we continue to tour, another kind of funny interesting thing. Of course, Unionwear, this is a union company, and many people would think that the Republican Party not always particularly fond of unions. They do make the hats made here, because this is a company that can get them out fast, and they specialize in this type of campaign gear. But for Republican candidates, they will not put the Unionwear label on the hats. So it will not say the word ‘union’ anywhere on those hats. For Democrats of course, they do say union made.
Mitch Cahn: I’m sure there’s one around here somewhere. We just got them out.
Ben: Josh, is any candidate off-limits or is it all fair game for the parody hats? Will he do any candidate?
Josh: Mitch, are any candidate off-limits or you will do any particular candidate or company that comes to you with business.
Mitch Cahn: Yeah, we will do work for all candidates unless it’s someone that I as the president/owner of the business completely disagree with their positions. I don’t want to help somebody get elected who I absolutely do not want to see be President of the United States.
Ben: Who is he voting for then?
Josh: So far, that has not happened in this campaign.
Mitch Cahn: No.
Ben: Ask him who he is voting for?
Josh: Do you mind telling us who you’re voting for?
Mitch Cahn: No, I’m not going to say who I’m voting for. But I appreciate all the candidates giving us work here and supporting domestic manufacturing. It’s very important.
Josh: While we still have you guys, why don’t we show them some of the handbags that you guys make. I know Ben has been in the market for, in particular, this Hillary handbag. I think you’ll like it, Ben.
Ben: Absolutely. I need this, a man bag — wow, this bag is huge. It’s got all kinds of secret compartments.
Josh: It is huge. Made in America right here in Newark, New Jersey.
Ben: I’d be worried to wear Make America Drumpf hat–
Mitch Cahn: We make tote bags, backpacks, garment bags, all sorts of luggage, handbags. Here’s some samples. Some of the tote bags we’re making for the Hillary Clinton campaign right here.
Josh: So Mitch, just walk us through the process. An advertising company reaches out to you and says we want a handbag or a tote bag to sell, wear and how – talk us through how that works.
Mitch Cahn: They usually come out here first and vet us to make sure that we are completely made in America, and we’re not going to embarrass them. Then they’ll send us designs. We’ll prototype the designs, sent it to them for approval. Then just start making the merchandise, it will end up on the website of the candidate. Probably end up in the convention centers and at official campaign events.
Amna: So I guess a question for Mitch is the merchandise any indication of how a candidate is doing. I notice he does both Hillary and Bernie hats. Does one outsell the other?
Josh: Mitch, a question from our anchor, Amna in New York. What’s doing better, the Bernie merchandise or the Hillary merchandise?
Mitch Cahn: It’s really hard to say. They are actually selling about equally.
Josh: What is equally? Can you give us any sort of ballpark?
Mitch Cahn: We will do several thousand dozen hats per month or so for each of the candidates.
Josh: Off of your question Amna, when a candidate’s campaign kind of starts to tank, of course, they’re going to put in less orders. So sometimes, this might be the first place here in Unionwear where they know. We in the media, we’re reporting on it, but they kind of know – they didn’t put in that order. Mitch, tell us about maybe a story from the past when that’s happened.
Mitch Cahn: I usually find out about a candidate leaving the race from the news, but it has been exciting. A few times I’ve known about the vice-presidential candidate before the convention. We had to sign confidentiality agreements. In a way that sports champions are crowned with baseball hats, they have merchandise ready for those vice presidential candidates.
Josh: Which candidate was that?
Mitch Cahn: I think that was when it was Lieberman.
Josh: Lieberman running with Al Gore. So talk about how that process went. Did the campaign call you and say –this is the design we want but do they have security here.
Mitch Cahn: Yeah, the ad agency. They didn’t have security here. They called at the last possible minute and said we’re going to need these for the convention. We’re going to tell you who it is at the last second. You have to sign this that you won’t tell anybody. I probably knew for about 15 seconds before the news already hit the internet.
Josh: So guys, when it comes to our Veep sweepstakes kind of guessing who the vice-presidential candidate is, now I know that my assignment will be living in a tent outside Unionwear in Newark, New Jersey waiting to see what orders they get.
Amna: I think that might be smart. Hey, one last question for Mitch, Josh. Can anyone place orders because I’m thinking if we want to try to get some hats made for maybe a Ben Aaron run in 2020.
Ben: Oh, you’re in trouble.
Amna: We may try to get those orders in now.
Ben: You don’t want to know my family name.
Josh: Yeah, Mitch, can you walk us through the process of – I know we’re not candidates. We’re not with the campaign, but can anyone order merchandise from you. How do they go about doing that? How does the visual of the logo and that come. Do they give it to you? How does that happen?
Mitch Cahn: Sure–we have tens of thousands of products on unionwear.com. You can select your products there and upload designs. Someone
will call you back with a price quote. It’s a relatively painless, quick process. During election season, it usually takes about three-four weeks for orders to be delivered.
Josh: Got to tell you guys, a lot of the rallies that I’ve been to, there are people outside those rallies especially Donald Trump rallies with tables of merchandise. That merchandise is actually made in China a lot of the times or overseas. They are, I guess you could say, counterfeit merchandise not made here, because the candidates made in America, such a big issue and important to them, they don’t want their gear made anywhere else. So if you see a table outside, most likely that’s not made in America. How will our viewers be able to find made in America campaign gear, Mitch?
Mitch Cahn: Usually just be going to the candidate’s websites. They all have web stores. The political parties also have web stores. Official web stores like demstore.com or gopshop.com where you can find the official merchandise.
Josh: Well, that’s the scene here in Unionwear at Unionwear, Newark, New Jersey. Back to you guys.
Mitch: Thanks.
Ben: Josh, thank you so much. We appreciate it. We’ll be expecting a strange random hat to be delivered at some point to this desk. We really appreciate it, man. I’ll be in big trouble. Make Colonomos great again. My real name is Colonomos.
Amna: Is that it?
Ben: It will be a bad thing. It wouldn’t even fit on the hat.
Amna: That’s going to take the whole width of the hat.
Ben: Yeah, it will go all the way around the hat.
Guess Whose Caps Are Outselling Donald Trump
At a nondescript factory near Branch Brook Park in Newark, workers have an easy way of gauging the popularity of any given presidential candidate.
As the only unionized American manufacturer of baseball caps, Unionwear has made logo-embroidered hats for candidates of all stripes.
If a candidate is doing well, his or her campaign might put in a large order for hats, said Mitch Cahn, president of Unionwear. Not so well? The campaign might cut back to putting in small orders on a week-by-week basis.
And just which hat has been popular? That would be “Drumpf,” the ancestral name of Donald Trump’s family, derisively parodied by British comedian John Oliver on HBO, which placed a large order for the hats.
“They put it on their website as a joke and sold way more than they expected,” Cahn said.
This small sector of Unionwear’s business has cropped up every four years since Al Gore’s campaign debuted candidate-themed apparel, Cahn said.
“There was really no way before the internet for these campaigns to sell their merchandise,” he said. “It’s not like they could have traveling stores everywhere they campaigned.”
That kind of campaign merchandizing raises money and turns voters into walking billboards – as well as building a connection with voters.
While the candidates differ on many things, they at some point have all ordered Unionwear hats, from Hillary Clinton to Ted Cruz to Trump, briefly.
And their detractors have ordered parody hats as well. Other Trump-related parody hats include “Make Donald Debate Again” and “Make America Gay Again,” Cahn said.
Unionwear stumbled into this customer category almost by default. Cahn had made a name for the business selling hats to high-end retailers like Nordstrom and The Gap. However, by the late 90s, almost all garment manufacturing had fled the United States for Asia.
The company held on until, lo and behold, they started to get orders simply because they were one of the few American, unionized manufacturers left standing after the brutal purge, Cahn said. Seeing which way the wind was blowing, they changed their name from New Jersey Headwear Corp. to Unionwear.
Anyone can order hats, whether it’s the official campaign, a political action committee, a union supporting a particular candidate, or state political parties.
Hence the hats Unionwear has made for the non-existent campaigns of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vice President Joe Biden, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
Cahn said he’s noticed a difference between the orders for Democratic candidates versus Republican ones: The Democrats want to include the “union-made” label, while the Republicans prefer that be left off.
All, however, realize their campaign regalia must be made in America.
Early in the campaign cycle, Trump’s now-famous “Make America Great Again” baseball cap came under scrutiny when some said the item was made in China. It wasn’t; the cap in question was a knock-off sold online commercially, not by any official party or Trump-connected organization.
Trump used Unionwear for about a month last fall, then switched to a California factory, Cahn said. All told, they provided the campaign with more than 20,000 caps.
Although political attire isn’t a huge slice of Cahn’s business, the spotlight a presidential election puts on American manufacturing drives new business, he said.
“Every presidential campaign cycle there’s a news story that a candidate had an item that was made in Bangladesh,” Cahn said. “Then companies say to themselves, ‘Hey, We should probably look into getting something domestically.'”
Kathleen O’Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NJ News12 Explains Why Most Campaign Hats Are Made in NJ
TRANSCRIPT
Reporter: And with all the political buzz generated during this election season, one local company is helping those presidential candidates make a statement, one baseball cap at a time. Nadia Ramdass explains.
Nadia Ramdass: Clinton, Cruz, Sanders and Trump; while these political heavyweights may differ on their political views, there’s one thing they all have in common. When they want Made-in-America gear, they turn to this factory in the Garden State.
Mitch Cahn: Anyone whose looking for hats made in America is coming here.
Nadia Ramdass: Unionwear tells us they are the only unionized American manufacturer of baseball caps. The Newark-based manufacturers’ companies include the military, progressive companies and political candidates. Unionwear has made promotional campaign hats, bags and other items for many Democratic and Republican presidential candidates for the last 16 years.
Mitch Cahn: By getting a product made in America, candidates sending a message that domestic manufacturing is important enough to their campaign that they’re going to make it an issue on their campaign.
Nadia Ramdass: The folks here at Unionwear can also gauge the degree of success for political candidate based on the volume of purchase orders over time.
Mitch Cahn: If somebody’s selling tens of thousands of baseball hats and somebody is selling no baseball hats, that would be a sign of one candidate’s being supported more than the other candidate most likely.
Nadia Ramdass: Cahn and his workforce expect to produce over one million hats by the end of the presidential election season; an opportunity he’s proud to have.
Mitch Cahn: I think it’s great that we are considered a symbol of made in America. Newark in particular is one of the strongest manufacturing cities in the country.
Nadia Ramdass: Nadia Ramdass News12, New Jersey.
Presidential Elections Heat Up USA Made Gear Manufacturers
With the presidential election season heating up, demand for candidate promotional products is growing by leaps and bounds. One supplier that knows a thing or two about the election rush is Unionwear, a custom apparel and accessories facility based in Newark, NJ, that offers made-in-the-USA items by employees represented by New York City-based Workers United, Local 155. The company has been producing election merchandise since 1996, when it designed a few hats for the Clinton-Gore campaign.
Four years later, in 2000, the Gore campaign gave away baseball caps from Unionwear to online donors, and the volume skyrocketed to more than 100,000 pieces. In 2008, the company made every hat for the Obama and McCain campaigns, as well as both conventions. This year, Unionwear is producing merchandise for seven campaigns, including Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
During the fall – even before the real election time kicked into high gear – the company was completing about 2,500 units a week for the major candidates, a number that the organization expects will triple by this summer. “Campaigns look for distributors who can handle everything from product development through fulfillment, including running the Web stores,” says Unionwear President Mitch Cahn. “Those distributors with experience in the political merchandise market have an advantage because they can project volumes and work on a week-to-week basis with their suppliers.
All campaigns vet their suppliers to make sure the goods are really made the way they’re labelled so merchandise doesn’t become a source of embarrassment.” In addition to headwear, Unionwear produces a number of different merchandise items, including all-over dye sublimation backpacks, tote bags and computer bags. They’ve even produced basketball jerseys and yarmulkes for Obama, what they called Obamakahs. “
There is a strong wave of USA made consumerism right now, but it shouldn’t be confused with patriotism,” says Cahn. ”While ‘American Pride’ sounds good, what actually causes buyers to connect with ‘USA-made’ are deep convictions about issues that support of domestic manufacturing can cure, including Worker Rights, Localism and the Maker Culture, which emphasizes the craft behind the product. Companies and campaigns are sensitive to being judged on their commitment to everything from helping rebuild our economy to the working conditions at vendors’ factories.”
Source: Counselor Magazine, Hail to the Chief Source: http://www.brandedgear.com/news/hail-to-the-chief/
Leader Bag’s Domestic Manufacturing Challenges
How did Leader Bag Co come to be?
Leader Bag Co was born from a love of beautiful design, and the desire to create a family-centered product that is truly missing from the marketplace.
When Meghan Nesher was pregnant with her son, Julien, she went shopping for a diaper bag that would work for both she and her husband. Coming up empty-handed, she opted for a Brooklyn Industries messenger bag; great for function, not so much for fashion. After a few months of use, she switched to the Fjällräven backpack; stylish and more comfortable, but not super functional. It was around this time that Meghan and her sister-in-law Liz Elliott, also a new mom, had their lightbulb moment: Why isn’t there a diaper bag that is beautifully crafted, simply designed and practical for both mom and dad?
Meghan, Liz and third sister-in-law Jess Nesher formed and funded Leader Bag Co as a family business in 2013. Since inception, we’ve enlisted the help of technical designer and manufacturing guru Jay O’Neill to bring our idea to life, and the uber-talented Lotta Nieminen to create our brand aesthetic.
Your brand is still only a year old, but what’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
As a team of four, we all bring different strengths to the table, but at the same time, we all have strong opinions about pretty much every aspect of the business. We value playing to each other’s unique talents, but it’s not always easy with lots of cooks in the kitchen. We are constantly perfecting our team’s balance.
Manufacturing in the US – we were totally warned over and over that this was going to be difficult. All of us are perfectionists, and we’re all demanding, and I don’t think Unionwear knew we’d be so high-maintenance. Lucky for us, they have tons of pride in their work and are always striving to exceed expectations – which they did and continue to do.
Best thing you’ve learned?
Mistakes are opportunities, either to learn from or to create something new.
Your signature diaper backpack, the Julien, is a slick answer to a universal need; what kind of R&D did you pursue in the early stages?
Since we were all new moms, we did a lot of research for ourselves in the diaper bag market. We spent time looking at bags we didn’t like – even bought a few to compare. At the same time, we collected non-diaper bags we liked too, mostly based on modern aesthetics and strong craftsmanship.
We made lists of all the gear we stuffed into our baby bags and measured everything to make sure we designed the right size storage. We talked through where we would take the bag and what features we might need; for example, a hook to hang it in a bathroom stall while you change baby at a restaurant.
We collected tons of images on shared Pinterest boards – including inspiration for the brand, the bag and the lifestyle we wanted to promote.
Jay led us through multiple rounds of bag sketches – all different flavors and styles – until we settled on one we liked. He took the sketches to technical drawings, collected materials and had samples made. We went through at least three rounds of samples with Unionwear before we got our pack just right.
We put our samples on everyone’s backs, asked for feedback and took photos. We were careful to remove any design elements that seemed “girlie”, and made sure the shoulder straps were long enough to fit a really tall dad.
What features make the Julien awesome for carrying baby essentials?
The fact that it’s a backpack is key. We are all about leaving both hands free for tending to baby and being fully involved in family activities. Style-wise, the backpack is better for dad too – he’ll feel much more comfortable than if he were asked to carry a one-shoulder bag.
Ultimately, the Julien is awesome because of its storage and organization. We loved the idea of doing a drop-in “pouch” that can house some basics like a change mat, a few diapers, diaper cream and wipes. This way, you can just reach in and grab it for a quick change while you’re out.
We also made sure there were tons of compartments for all the essential gear. Outside, there are four decent-sized pockets for easy access, plus a clasp for hanging your keys. We also added stroller straps and hooks so you can easily hang it on your stroller when you don’t want to carry. Inside, there are four baby bottle (or water bottle) pockets, a sleeve for the change kit (or even a computer or iPad), a zipper pocket, and a few other larger pocket compartments. It’s wipe-clean and very utilitarian, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the outside.
When you’re running on no sleep and wearing the parental uniform of tracksuit pants and an old t-shirt, why is a luxe bag like the Julien important?
Being a parent isn’t always an elegant, effortless job. Especially when you’re a new parent running on empty and feeling overwhelmed.
The Julien immediately elevates your look: leather and canvas with rose gold details, all mixed with fine Made in the USA craftsmanship. And it’s effortless – it looks great with everything, is comfortable and keeps you organized so you can focus on what’s important: being present for your kid. There is absolutely nothing more chic.
Who else is making rad baby-related carry? Who inspires you to be better?
No one, in our opinion, is making a great diaper bag we’d want to carry! We do like Fawn and Cub’s change mat, and Ida Ising’s change mat/bag design.
Accessory and clothing companies outside of the diaper bag industry inspire us to be better, and companies that are producing their goods in the USA: Clare Vivier, Emerson Fry, Mansur Gavriel, Marine Layer, imogene + willie, etc.
What’s next for Leader?
There is a ton of room for us in the baby market right now. We see a lack of simple but beautiful and useful design, especially in kid accessories – which creates a whole lot of space for Leader to play.
What do you personally carry daily? And why?
Our Leader bags, of course!
Slate: What Do Bush and Clinton Have in Common? Unionwear
TRANSCRIPT: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, John McCain, Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Jeb Bush all have something in common: the White House, yes, but also, this baseball cap factory in Newark, NJ, and more specifically, this guy:
“What they do is incredibly dexterous, I can’t do once what they do all day, which is take that thread and just throw it through a little hole.”
In 1992 at the age of 25 Mitch Cahn quit his job on Wall Street and bought a bankrupt hat factory in Jersey City at an auction sale. The idea was to make baseball hats for the fashion market including brands like the Gap. It was a trend at the time, but there was a hiccup. By 1994, American manufacturing was fleeing to cheaper manufacturing overseas and undercutting Mitch’s prices.
Mitch needed a new plan, so he turned to groups with vested interests in manufacturing goods in the US, and at the top of that list was political campaigns which is where this story gets interesting.
Cue James Carville: “Bush is buying up to $10 million in printing in Brazil. The president don’t buy American for his campaign.”
Making campaign gear offshore created the potential for a political scandal.
Cahn: “We are making hats for almost all the candidates, we are doing work for Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Jeb Bush, If someone is having a hat made here, then they are making a decision to use American Labor.”
Campaigns aren’t the only clients who rely on Mitch’s US based factory.
There are socially complaint companies and non-profits who want to avoid any possible connotation that their products could be made in a sweat shop. The US Military. Promotional gear for labor unions and other companies looking to cobrand with the USA Made label. And the fashion industry.
But political campaigns are where Mitch has really dominated the market. Now located in Newark, his factory has been pumping out millions of hats from behind these doors, manufacturing for every Democratic primary candidate since 2000, as well as John McCain, George W. Bush, and Jeb Bush.
The bad optics of a made in China label aren’t the only thing driving political business to Mitch.
“The market is moving to small batch customization”, said Cahn. “Consumers are expecting to get products that they order in 2 or 3 weeks and you can’t wait 60 or 90 days for goods to come in on a ship. Your generally have to order a much larger quantity of goods when you bring things in from China, than you can domestically, and there is no way you can get things turned around a week or two.”
Which is key in the ever changing landscape of politics. Campaigns rarely have the luxury of folks ordering a set amount of products months in advance. They rely on quick turnarounds and flexible order sizes while replenishing their online stores. A bonus for the campaigns, especially those seeking much needed endorsement from a big union: Mitch also uses organized labor.
Once mostly the norm amongst textile manufacturers, Mitch’s pro union stance is a rarity these days, which is something he is proud of.
“Any difference in wages is made up of any increased productivity by our workers who are generally more content in their job. This was a union shop since the day we opened.
I believe over half of our people have been here for at least over 15 years.”
As manufacturing costs remain relatively flat in the US while rising dramatically in places like China, Mitch’s pro labor stance could become more prevalent. It is possible other manufacturers will follow Mitch’s lead and we’ll see more textile work come back to the USA. For now Mitch’s made in Newark factory is still producing the vast majority of the hats you see in the presidential campaign trail. But the most popular hat he has ever produced, you might have a guess if you have been tuned into the 2016 campaign season.
“Probably the hat we make the most here is the hat that says Make American Great Again which was made popular by Donald Trump and we are making that for the company selling the Made in USA version of that hat.”
Trump unsurprisingly uses a non union factory in California to produce the authentic version, but with all the polarization these days. It’s nice to know so many other politicians on both sides of the aisle can agree on thing. Newark is a great place to make hats.