The Manufacturing Report

“If you are a manufacturer, we need your help and we need your help now,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced in April. Nearly 2,000 Ohio manufacturers answered his call. Along with several hospitals and government agencies, they formed the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19, a public-private partnership that has set a model for the rest of the nation.

Photo courtesy of the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19.

Ben Napier, star of HGTV’s hit show Home Town, shares how his family, his Made in America businesses, and Laurel, Miss., are faring as the coronavirus shuts down most of the nation, along with an update on his show's upcoming spinoff series Home Town Takeover.

Photo courtesy of Laurel Mercantile Co. and Vaughan-Bassett Media

Since its founding in 2012, American Giant has made valuing people over profits a core principle. This philosophy has guided the apparel company as it committed to making its clothing completely in the United States. Now, as America is besieged by the coronavirus crisis, American Giant is stepping up yet again. The company has dropped all of its apparel manufacturing to sew over one million masks every week in its North Carolina facility. But American Giant CEO Bayard Winthrop sees a larger crisis in the global supply chain.

Photo courtesy of American Giant

As the coronavirus crisis sweeps through the nation, manufacturers, small and large alike, are finding new ways to work. Based in Buffalo, New York, wool-felt pennant maker Oxford Pennant caught the world by storm with early partnerships with Phish and J. Crew when the company launched. In this episode, Oxford Pennant co-founder Dave Horesh shares how the company is finding an alternate path forward in America's new economic reality.

Photo courtesy of Oxford Pennant; photo by Steve Makowski

First things first, let's fight the spread of the novel coronavirus that has besieged countries all over the globe and communities all over America. But, as we work to stop the pandemic, we can't forget America's factory workers. As the country braces for impact, host Scott Paul shares his outlook on manufacturing in the United States now and after the public health crisis subsides, when the world must grapple with the virus's economic aftermath.

Photo courtesy of the CDC/Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAMS

With the flip of a coin, Philip Spector launched a career in apparel manufacturing that has spanned over forty years in Baltimore, Md. Over that time, Charm City's once-thriving apparel factories dwindled, but Fashions Unlimited remained, working with some of fashion's biggest names. Nonetheless, Spector always makes time for Baltimore's emerging designers.

There's been a bit of a baby boom at the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM). As our families continue to grow, so too do our lists of the best of the best Made in America baby products. AAM's newest parents gather round to share their favorite finds and some clever baby hacks.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Archives

Workers saw 3.7 million U.S. jobs lost to China since 2001, according to a study recently released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). But, the Trump administration is celebrating the signing of a "Phase 1" U.S.-China trade deal. Is it time for a victory lap?

In this episode, host Scott Paul and EPI's Dr. Robert Scott break down the data, what policy leaders need to do to stem the flood of jobs leaving America's shore, and what you can do right now.

Dedicated to a deep and honest exploration of America's printing and production techniques, Chicago-based Field Notes has been reinventing the notebook since 2006. Field Notes President Jim Coudal shares the genesis of the brand and an inside look at the design process behind one of its most beloved limited-edition notebooks.

Photo courtesy of Field Notes

Though Rev. Georgiette Morgan-Thomas was set to retire after 20 years of social work, she was far from ready to hang up her hat. In 2016, the pastor from Harlem used her life savings to purchase a historic hat factory in Philadelphia that was on the cusp of closure. Throwing herself into the manufacturing and design process, the reverend has established a new modern space for American Hats in the market while retaining the factory's heritage manufacturing techniques.

Photo courtesy of American Hats LLC.