The Manufacturing Report

When a sleeping bag factory in Haleyville, Ala., was on the brink of shutting down, Exxel Outdoors bought it, upgraded it — and managed to create even more jobs. Today, the factory produces more than 2 million sleeping bags every year, which are sold at retailers like Walmart. "What they saw as a lost business, we just saw it as an opportunity," Exxel's CEO Harry Kazazian recalls.

But it hasn't been without challenges. "I spend more money to give coffee to my employees than some countries spend on their labor," Kazazian says.

In this episode, Kazazian tells host Scott Paul how Exxel found Made in America success.

Marble King makes more than 1 million, 100 percent lead-free glass marbles at its factory in West Virginia every day. But as CEO Beri Fox explains, while Marble King makes the best product on the market, the company is up against some unfair competition.

Third-generation farmer-turned-candy maker Joe Dutra launched Kimmie Candy in 2000 and almost immediately started winning awards for his tasty treats. In 2005, Dutra took a huge risk when he moved Kimmie Candy's manufacturing operations from South Korea to Reno, Nev. — and quickly reaped the benefits of making it in America. In this episode, Dutra explains how he did it — and where his candy-making empire is headed next.

mHUB's state-of-the-art facility in Chicago is a place where entrepreneurs and innovators can invent new things, from cutting-edge electronics to groundbreaking medical devices to even a better mousetrap. But is it possible for those new inventions to be manufactured in the United States, too? Yes — and mHUB co-founder and managing director Bill Fienup explains how.

Documentary filmmaker Vincent Vittorio was ahead of his time. When he released the American Made Movie in 2013, he helped shine a much-needed spotlight on the devastation caused by factory job loss. Four years later, the future of manufacturing is at the center of our national politics. In this episode, Vittorio shares thoughts on how we got here — and where we need to go next.

In 2015, former investment analyst Gerard Masci and architect Brian Vallario launched Lowercase to make high-quality American-made eyewear. But after decades of offshoring, many of the secrets behind American eyewear manufacturing had been lost, and the pair had to start from scratch. In this episode, Masci and Vallario tell The Manufacturing Report how they did it -- earning accolades from The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere -- and where they hope to take the company next.

Since President Trump took office, there's been an ongoing debate over the future of American manufacturing, particularly when it comes to industries like steel and aluminum. In a special edition of The Manufacturing Report, reporter Joseph Pete of The Times of Northwest Indiana chats with guest host Matt McMullan about why steel remains vital to the Hoosier State -- and what Trump must do now if he wants to maintain the support he received in the 2016 presidential election.

President Trump repeatedly has said he would stand up for factory workers. But Trump is more than two months late on a key pledge to America's steelworkers — and that delay is creating a new batch of problems. In this episode, steelworkers Onika Rivera, Dan Simmons and Mike Howard share what they need Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to do now.

William "Billy" McCall and Cliff Tobey are among the dozens of steelworkers headed to D.C. this week to urge the president and lawmakers to finally do something about surging steel and aluminum imports. In this episode, McCall and Tobey tell host Scott Paul why action is so desperately needed — and why many steelworkers are keeping a close eye on President Trump.

In Part Two of a special Labor Day edition of the podcast, host Scott Paul and guest Jeff Bonior share more inspiring stories of America's working class — and talk about why manufacturing jobs, including in America's steel industry, still matter.