The Manufacturing Report

Granite City, Ill., suffered a devastating blow when its steel mill was idled in 2015, but now this working-class town has reason for celebration. Host Scott Paul speaks with the city's mayor, economic development director and the president of USW Local 1899 to learn what got Granite City back to work -- and what lies next. * Photo by Elizabeth Brotherton-Bunch

Constantly on the road for work, Tom Sega developed an appreciation for Duluth Pack bags. In fact, he liked them so much he bought the company. Hear how Sega has taken Duluth Pack, founded in 1882, into a new era of manufacturing while staying true to the company's commitment to Made in America quality. * Photo courtesy of Duluth Pack; photo by Grace Adams

As the mill in Coatesville, Pa., begins its recovery thanks to Section 232 trade action, so too is the city beginning a new era of revitalization. A year after tariffs on imported steel have been in place, Scott Paul discusses how recent trade action has impacted Coatesville's community with steelworkers Fred Grumbine and Vonie Long at the National Iron & Steel Museum. * Special thanks to the Nati...

America’s only flatware manufacturer, Liberty Tabletop, celebrated its best year yet in 2018. However, as the company continues to grow, an ever-evolving trade environment could hold promise or peril for the company and other manufacturers. Find out what Liberty Tabletop's Co-founder and CEO, Greg Owens, forecasts for the future of manufacturing following a week spent talking trade on Capitol Hill...

Rather than join yet another tech startup, Tuckerman & Co. co-founders and Yale business school graduates Jonas Clark and Amanda Rinderle set out to actualize an even greater venture -- curing the fast fashion epidemic. With the help of a historic dress shirt factory in Fall River, Mass., Clark and Rinderle are well on their way to revolutionizing the way clothing is manufactured, producing a clas...

Teen CEO Zandra Cunningham of Zandra Beauty began her business at only 9 years old but has steadily found her footing as a maker and business mogul ever since. Find out how Cunningham grew her company and her advice for other young makers. * Photo courtesy of Zandra Beauty; photo by William Charls

Over the course of just three years, Owl Manufacturing, a manufacturing company staffed and run by Seymour High School (SHS) students in Seymour, Ind., has grown from 9 to 42 staff members -- with even more expansion planned for the fall. In a conversation with students, teachers, administrators and industry partners, we take a comprehensive look at how SHS's Owl Manufacturing is inspiring the nex...

Andy Liebner couldn't find ski poles that could keep up with his performance as a professional athlete, but he knew that it was possible to make the poles right and make them in America. So, he made his own and founded the United States Ski Pole Company. Here's how Liebner went from backcountry to manufacturing and why ski poles just might be the most important ski equipment you can buy. * Photo c...

Ben and Erin Napier, the stars of HGTV’s hit show Home Town, are passionate about revitalizing America’s manufacturing and small towns. Thus, when it came time to produce their furniture lines, Laurel Mercantile Co. Home and Scotsman Co. American Heritage, they turned to the legendary Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co. of Galax, Va. Listen in for why the Napiers sought Vaughan-Bassett out and what Amer...

Since we featured THIS NIGHT in early 2018, the Reading, Pa., knitting mill that manufactured the company's socks closed, leaving THIS NIGHT owner and designer Kate Williamson devastated but as determined as ever to keep her products made in America. In this re-airing of Scott Paul's interview with Williamson, we share an update on THIS NIGHT since the recording. * Photo courtesy of THIS NIGHT.

When Chris McMaster had the opportunity to make his hiking habit a profitable business by purchasing ULA, a small Utah business that made hiking backpacks, he jumped at the opportunity though he knew nothing of the production process other than that ULA backpacks were truly excellent. Several years later, McMaster has expanded the business and sells ULA’s products internationally -- all while keep...

The latest gadget or tech toy may get splashy headlines in the news, particularly around the holidays, but it's the goods that are lovingly handcrafted that remain in our memories and are passed down from generation to generation. In this episode, host Scott Paul speaks with the owners of two companies featured in the Alliance for American Manufacturing's 2018 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide, h...

With nearly 100 great options on the Alliance for American Manufacturing's 2018 Holiday Gift Guide, there's a present for everyone on your list! Nonetheless, we thought we'd make this hectic shopping season even easier by highlighting top gift picks from Team AAM and some very special guests to the podcast.

America has lost 3.4 million jobs in the U.S. since 2001, contributing to ever-widening income inequality, according to a recent Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report. Robert E. Scott, EPI's Senior Economist and Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Research, returns to The Manufacturing Report to discuss the study and what the government can do to help. * Photo courtesy of U.S. Department o...

Alice Globus began her career in astrophysics, then went on to work on Wall Street, and now leads Winky&Dutch, a jewelry and accessories manufacturing company in upstate New York. In this episode, find out what brought Globus to the factory and how she has reinvented the button. *Photo courtesy of Winky&Dutch

President Donald Trump made revising the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) a key campaign promise, but has he fulfilled it with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)? In this episode, host Scott Paul and the Alliance for American Manufacturing's Scott Boos discuss who will benefit from the USMCA and what happens next for the trade deal. * Photo courtesy of The White House

Trade talks are still underway in D.C. and the halls of power around the world, but The Public Theater is bringing manufacturing and trade debates to the people most impacted by trade action -- the communities of industrial America.  On Sept. 24, New York City's Public Theater launches its fall tour of the award-winning play "Sweat" through industrial cities of the Midwest and other locations to p...

The pace of innovation seemingly accelerates every day. Even in Traverse City, Mich., where manufacturers are accustomed to serving on the vanguard of technology, factories are constantly reconfiguring to continue their digital transformation. In this episode, Part II of our Traverse City, Mich., roundtable, manufacturers discuss how they stay ahead of the technology curve and the role of automati...

The factory of the future is becoming the factory of today, but how can manufacturers share this innovation with their local communities, particularly when it comes to recruiting workers? Visiting Skilled Manufacturing, Inc.'s Aerospace Division in Traverse City, Mich., host Scott Paul speaks with some of the leading manufacturers of Traverse, including the CEOs of Skilled Manufacturing, Kalkaska...

Losing the steady paychecks that factory jobs provide can decimate a community, with ripple effects hitting nearly every corner of town. Unfortunately, many former manufacturing centers, like much of rural America, are grappling with an opioid crisis as community members face uncertain futures. But there's hope. In this episode, host Scott Paul and Beth Macy, award-winning journalist and author of...

Plenty has been written about industrial communities and the "flyover states," but the portrayal of these communities too often reduces to stereotypes. According to Georgetown University English Professor Sherry Lee Linkon, author of "The Half-Life of Deindustrialization", the most accurate portraits of the working class can be found in fiction. In this episode, host Scott Paul and Linkon explore...

Don Jackson wanted nothing more than to follow both his steelworker father and grandfather into the steel mill to work among the sparks and molten metals. It took him 35 years before he could. Listen to learn why Don spent decades searching for his steel job.

You may spend hours agonizing over which vitamins or medicines will optimize your health, but have you considered where exactly those medicines are coming from? What you find out may be a bitter pill to swallow. In this episode, Scott Paul sits down with Rosemary Gibson, co-author of "China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America's Dependence on China for Medicine". Photo courtesy of Victor, licensed un...

For decades, America's workers have fought against unfair trade practices. Now that America has acted to protect the nation's metals industry, are these communities rebounding? Scott Paul speaks with workers from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana to find out. Photo courtesy of Catching12 at English Wikipedia [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons.

As midterm elections approach, Scott Paul, host of The Manufacturing Report, and Robert Kuttner, author of "Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism?", examine what political leaders need to do to ensure the survival and support of America's workers. * Photo courtesy of the United Steelworkers.