The Manufacturing Report

Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul reflects on three Made in America interviews from 2024 that reflect the movement's growing groundswell. Listen in for insights from "Making It in America" author Rachel Slade, "American Flannel" author Steven Kurutz, and "Relighting the Flame" documentarian Carl Kriss.

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As we prepare for 2025, Alliance for American Manufacturing staff takes a look at this year's top manufacturing news stories that are likely to shape the months ahead.

Photo by Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

The 2024 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide is out, featuring 112 amazing companies that make products in the United States. We chatted with the teams behind three brands included this year -- Wies Made, Hitchcock Paper, and Retro Racer -- to find it what it takes to make goods in the United States, and why it's so important to shop American-made during the busy holiday shopping season.

New York Times Magazine Contributing Writer Dan Kaufman discusses his recent examination of NAFTA's role in changing American politics through the lens of the Master Lock factory in Milwaukee, Wis.

Photo courtesy Dan Kaufman; Photo by Andrew T. Warman

When husband and wife Carolyn and Joseph Ferrara launched Ferrara Manufacturing in 1987, they set out to make the best womenswear in the business, all from their New York City's Garment District factory. They had no idea that NAFTA was about to rock the U.S. garment industry to its core, but they fought through the tumult and found success in working with brands like Ralph Lauren. Their daughter, Gabrielle Ferrara, Ferrara Manufacturing's chief operating officer, shares how the family-owned, women-owned, union-represented company's knack for innovation has helped it navigate the headwinds of offshoring and find new opportunities through the latest manufacturing technology. 

Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Ferrara

American Giant CEO Bayard Winthrop and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai discuss rebuilding a fully American-made apparel supply chain, from cotton fields to finished garments. They highlight the importance of worker-centered trade policy, economic security, and the potential to make affordable, high-quality products in America.

Note: This episode was recorded at AAM’s "Making it in America: Supply Chain Successes in Textiles and Apparel" panel on Oct. 17, 2024.

Watch the full event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuJM0a5yXxU

When one Portland dad couldn't find a high-quality truck camper for family adventures, he decided to build his own. Peter Williams, co-founder and president of Super Pacific, shares what his company's "built like an airplane" mantra means for their production process and discusses the challenges of building the business during the pandemic and how domestic manufacturing creates innovative, high-quality goods that stand up to global competition.

Photo courtesy Super Pacific

In 2020, U.S. diplomats Kris Forrest and Rebecca Beardsley hosted a cocktail party, but their shaker just wasn’t up to snuff. So they decided to make their own. Forty cold calls to American steel fabricators and many YouTube CAD tutorial videos later, they launched C&D Tools, a veteran- and minority-owned company. Within six months, they had landed a feature in The New York Times and sold out their entire stock. Here's why Made in America was foundational to their business plan from the start. 

Photo courtesy of C&D Tools

While studying at Yale Law School, Darnell Epps heard that U.S. manufacturers were grappling with a labor shortage, and he was baffled that tens of thousands of valuable community-supporting jobs weren't finding applicants. So, he enrolled at a trade school to become a certified machinist and find out what the heck was going wrong. What he learned was that the skilled trades are an invaluable pathway to the middle class, and that workers needed better tools to connect with potential employers, prompting him to build Thurgood Industries, a career-networking app tailored to skilled trade workers.

Photo courtesy Thurgood Industries

For decades, Image Pointe's unionized workers have screen-printed clothing in Iowa. So, when the company contemplated starting its own American-made apparel factory that held true to the same ethical labor practices, Image Pointe CEO Josh Ruyle knew it had to be union-represented. In 2024, Image Pointe opened Dignity Apparel in Tennessee with 100% of its workforce represented by Workers United, making it the only union-knit fabric manufacturer in the U.S. Dignity Apparel's Ruyle and Matt Davis discuss why unionizing their workforce has been a critical part of their company's American-made success.

Photo courtesy of Dignity Apparel