Jumper Surfboards. Handcrafted in New York. 100% U.S.A. materials.

Jumper Surfboards was founded in October of 2011 in Putnam Valley, NY. Forty-five miles north of New York city and Sixty miles north of the Atlantic Ocean.

New York has a very dedicated surf scene that can been seen riding the subways and marching through snow to ride some waves. The surf in New York is very dynamic, from small mushy waves to twelve foot tall barreling waves. Jumper Surfboards can work in both of these conditions as well as boards that can be custom tailored to work well in conditions all over the world.

Jumper surfboards is dedicated to building surfboards in New York and using only USA made materials. On top of the surfboards being 100% US made, all clothing and stickers are US made.

You can confidently buy a Jumper Surfboard and know exactly who and where it came from. Please feel free to check out www.jumpersurfboards.com, become a fan on facebook at facebook.com/jumpersurf, and send an email with any questions to stephen@jumpersurfboards.com

Made in USA Wallets – ALL-ETT

My wife recently emailed me a link to this wallet company.  ALL-ETT is based in the San Diego area and fabricates and sells a wallet with the claim to fame of being “the world’s thinnest wallet”.  I have had a chance to review this wallet and am quite impressed with it.  It is indeed thin, despite being made of leather.  They achieve this thinness by making all the pockets and lining out of nylon material.  The wallet is also available in all-nylon.  They have different sizes and styles available.  Mine is the Inside ID style.  After having trialed it for a week, I am using it as my permanent wallet.  It is also  getting shown off to friends.  Aside from ALL-ETT, I can’t think of another wallet company that manufactures in the US.  There are certainly small craftsmen making wallets here.  I’m sure you can find some on Etsy.com  However,  here is a full-production wallet made right here, at a decent price.

If you are interested in the ALL-ETT, go to their website, http://all-ett.com.

Below is a Q&A with Adam Muscat, General Manager of ALL-ETT.  I like picking the brains of American manufacturers.  They are the ones making the decisions to fabricate here, abroad, or nowhere, so it’s vitally important for all of us to know how they think.

Q: Why did you decide to manufacture in the US?

A:We decided to bring our manufacturing back to the U.S.A. for a few reasons, the number one reason is the quality of our products. When we were
having things manufactured overseas it was more difficult for us to oversee
and manage the quality of our products, we now manufacture right here in San
Diego and are able to make smaller quantities and keep a closer eye on the
operation. The materials we source here are higher quality and the
workmanship is better. Another big reason is that we feel as business owners
that we have a responsibility to do our part in bringing the U.S. economy
back. The economy has been bad but if we are sending our jobs overseas and
complaining about the result it will never get us anywhere. Another great
thing about manufacturing here is that we are able to respond to our
customer’s needs much more efficiently than when doing things overseas. We
do make smaller margins on our products but we really feel that in the end
it is worth it.

Q: Do you manufacture in-house or by a third party?

A: We work closely with our sewers to be sure that our products are high
quality and consistent.

Q: How many people do you employ and is your business growing?
A: We employ about 12 people and our business has been growing at a rate of
about 25-30% for the last few years.

Q: Are you considering off-shoring?
A: We are not considering off-shoring. We love manufacturing in the U.S.A.

Q: If you had a wish list, what would be some things you would have government stop doing immediately to make your life easier?
A: My wish list for our government:

I would like for congress to actually get some work done. All you hear about
anymore is how each party blocks the other from doing anything and that
there is no compromising. I believe that an elected official’s job is to
compromise for the greater good of everybody but it seems like our elected
officials have forgotten that.

I would like to see tax holes corrected. I do not mind paying my share of
taxes, but when I hear about corporations making billions in profits, not
paying taxes and then getting subsidies while small business owners like
myself do our part it is extremely frustrating.

I would like to see people in government held accountable. We constantly
hear about scandals and shady deals but never hear about anybody getting
arrested. Even after the bubble burst not one person has been held
accountable and the people who were bailed out seem to be doing better than
ever.

Overall I would just like to see people in office who actually care about
taking care of the country rather than worrying about themselves or getting
reelected.

Just Bought a Minivan – Guess Which One?

I recently had an accident that totalled my beloved Ford Focus (I was really quite fond of that car).  My wife wanted to get a minivan and I would take her Mercury Mariner.  So we decided we were going to buy American.  We looked up which minivans are made in USA.  Guess which ones are?  Sadly, only Toyota, Honda and Nissan have American-made minivans.  When we went to the Toyota dealership, I was impressed that not only was the Sienna assembled in USA, a full 80% of the parts, including the engine and transmission are made in USA also.  I would much rather buy a car made mostly by American workers where the profits go abroad than buy a foreign-made car where the profits come to the US (I hope you’re listening, Ford & GM).  The percentage of profit from such big-ticket items is usually quite small, around 5-8% on average, so the lion’s share of the money stays in the US.  I wonder what percentage of each Apple ipad or iphone’s cost stays in the US and what part goes to China to make them?

So remember, when shopping, just because the company is an American company doesn’t at all mean that the product is made in USA.  Frequently, you will find foreign companies manufacturing in the US, while American companies are getting their products made abroad.  Or you may have an American company with a foreign-sounding name, so don’t discount those either.

So far, we love the Sienna.  It’s the 2012 XLE with the navigation system and other perks, so it’s quite luxurious.  It drives quite nimbly and the fuel efficiency is decent considering the size of the vehicle.

Made in USA, eco-friendly toy

Last year my wife (Janet Street) designed a new toy: Easy Keepers – a bendable, eco-friendly toy horse. Last February we went to the international toy fair in NYC to check out other toys and to see if we could meet a manufacturer. What we found opened our eyes to the state of the toy manufacturing in the United States. It is pretty much non-existent. Over 97% of toys sold in the U.S. are made in China and usually in sweat-shop conditions.

We did not want to follow that route, but everyone has told us that in order to make a profit, the only option is to find an non-American manufacturer. This just seems wrong. And so we began talking with local the Small Business Association, outlining a business plan that would enable us to set up a small facility where we could make these toys locally. But what seems amazing is how difficult it is to get the local business community to get on board with this.

Unable to find adequate funding, we have set up shop in our home and our making them ourselves. Progress is slow but we are starting to find customers who are starting to make pre-orders so that we can create a manufacturing facility without a loan.

There is a growing community out there that has had enough of seeing our manufacturing jobs slip away. This trend will continue until all of us start to support the small shops that are springing up in communities across the country. We should not look to big business or the government to create jobs here. We need to do it ourselves.

Thanks

Dennis Caraher
Norhampton, ma

easykeepers.com

Nika Design – Handmade Dresses, Imported From Detroit

Nika Design is a fashion business of handmade dresses and other women’s fashion from Detroit. Veronica “Nika” Braslavsky, the designer and maker of the fashion line, has created clothing using felt and silk and a unique steam-based manufacturing process. Nika has an extensive background in art and design and previously had a business making custom doll-purses. She has achieved a new level of success with Nika Design and has attracted a growing following through fashion trade shows and conventions across the country.

I admire Nika in her tireless energy and willingness to make these clothes herself in USA rather than outsourcing to some Chinese factory and living on the narrow margin. This has advantages too. She controls the entire process from start to finish and maintains ownership of everything. She also can make smaller quantities of individual product as demand dictates. As her sales increase, the profits will be correspondingly larger as well.

For more information or to contact Nika, go to www.NikArtDesign.com

Nika Design Made in USA Dress

Nika Design Made in USA Jacket

The MadeinUSABlog Take on Occupy Wall Street

As someone concerned about the success of the US economy, I have been doing a lot of thinking about my response to some of the opinions and demands put forth by demonstrators from Occupy Wall Street and related movements.  In some ways, I agree with them, but not in the way that they would think, however philosophically, we are on opposite sides of the spectrum.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is diverse and has no clear objective or political platform at this time.  However, common Occupy themes could be summarized as follows:

1. Disgust with big banks and corporation getting bailouts while average Americans have continued to see erosion in employment and income.
2. Disgust with inherent “unfairness” over the fact that the richest have more than they used to and that there is a growing income disparity between the richest and the poorest.
3. A desire that the government “do something” to redistribute wealth from the richest to the poorest and regulate banks more so that the problems in 1 and 2 become less severe.

However, let’s break down what the problems are leading up to our current economic stagnation:

1. Ongoing outsourcing of jobs, especially in manufacturing, seeking lower labor costs, development costs, and easier regulatory climate.  This leads to a shrinking jobs base and lower income in the population.  The growing trade deficit that also results shrinks Americans’ total assets and leads to growing public and private debt.
2. Housing bubble.  Spurred by cheap lending and fiat currency and government policies aimed to make housing “affordable for everyone” caused housing prices to soar artificially.  Buying and selling houses even became a good investment business.  Of course, anyone who was honest with themselves knew that it would not last.  It was the government through Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac that pushed out and guaranteed all those loans beyond what private enterprise was willing to do on its own.  That created such a huge inflationary bubble that it was a giant explosion when it burst.  It wasn’t the banks that started it, it was our government.

Then came the bank bailouts and an even further lowering of the federal reserve interest rate.  It was hoped that this government intervention in the market would finally be useful.  What it did instead was give cheap money to banks who then turned around and invested it in stocks, created a second stock bubble.  Then stocks crashed again when the Greece news hit.

As you can see, government intervention only creates unforseen problems.  It may make a few people wealthy by riding on the misfortunes of others, but it rarely increases overall wealth and economic production.  Rather, it usually has a negative effect on overall production and tends to drive industry overseas.  The richest get richer when they are the first to spend money they receive when cheap money is allowed by the Federal Reserve.  They then buy stock, houses and other things and drive up prices for the rest of us.  This is an invisible tax on the middle class and the poor.  Then when these bubbles pop, the ones who lose the most are the poor and middle class.  Is this what OWS wants more of?

I would side with Ron Paul in stopping ALL government mucking in the markets, whether it be the Fed and too big to fail banks, the minimum wage, entitlement programs, and most workplace regulations.  Let freedom reign.  Let fit companies survive and poor performers dwindle away.  Let’s make America the most attractive place for businesses to relocate to.  (By the way, you may be surprised to learn that it was Medicare that caused the cost of medicine to skyrocket by providing unlimited payment and separating the medical consumer from the payor).

Rather than rehashing the failed social democrat/progressive policies of the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the War on Poverty and the Great Society, let’s resume the ideals of freedom and liberty that made this country great in the first place.  Let’s stop bailing out banks and stop printing money that helps only bankers.  Let’s banish workplace regulations and allow workers and employers to freely engage with each other without the government sticking its nose in it.  Let’s let those who are inclined work as hard as they want for as much money as they can get people to voluntarily pay them.

Occupy Wall Street – you should occupy the Fed and the Department of Labor!

 

Revenge Is – Made in USA T-Shirts

Revenge Is is a Los Angeles-based maker of t-shirts with an environmental and social political message. Not only are the t-shirts made in USA, but they are made from organic cotton, 50% recycled PETE plastic, or another environmentally-friendly material. Their inks are soy-based and made without PVC or other dangerous chemicals. The t-shirts are available for men and women and come with a variety of designs with activist slogans. The major themes of activism appear to be environmental and gay rights at this time, according to the website.

Although one may agree or disagree with particular messages from an activist organization, I find it refreshing that the owners of Revenge Is display integrity and internal consistency by having their products made in USA. Otherwise, it’s like waving an American flag on the 4th of July that’s made in China. How can you walk around with political slogans that describe your vision for the betterment of your country while simultaneously worsening the trade deficit and domestic unemployment. American political groups should take Revenge Is’ example and make sure that their merchandise and promotional products are made in USA.

Take a Poll About Your Supermarket Shopping Habits

Made in USA Pants & Shirts – Alex Maine

It is really quite refreshing to find another Angeleno who is not only patriotic but on the vanguard of an economic patriotism rarely seen around these parts.  Bron Heussenstamm, the founder of Alex Maine (meaning “defender of the homeland”) is serious and is doing the very thing that I’ve been growing hoarse ranting about.  Bron has dedicated his business to making high-quality, cutting-edge men’s clothing entirely in the US.  You don’t know how many times I’ve been in boutiques from LA to Los Vegas where prices may be double those on Alex Maine but where everything is nevertheless made in China.  Have you seen Diesel or even Prada goods sporting the made in China label?  So I’m quite proud of and impressed with Alex Maine.   They have a new flagship store on 8025 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, as well as allied retailers.  You can also buy Alex Maine goods at their web store, AlexMaine.us.

I am reviewing a pair of slender cut twill pants and a bamboo cotton v-neck shirt.  They look quite nice, and I would probably have picked these up had I recently been shopping on Sunset Blvd.  The construction is excellent and the feel of the material very smooth.  I highly recommend!

Alex Maine T-Shirt and Men's Pants - both made in USA

At this time, a mere 3% of US clothing and textiles are made in USA.  Surely we can do better than buying over 97% of our clothing from overseas.  Factories will continue to outsource production overseas until consumers stop buying their imported crap.  So it’s time for the US consumer to put out or get out – don’t buy at Target – buy at places like Alex Maine!

China’s Low-Price Manufacturing A Plan for Monopoly

China seems to practice dumping of under-priced goods to purposely drive it’s international competitors out of business then follow this up by doubling and tripling prices.  Case in point: rare earth minerals.  Currently China produces 95-99% of the world’s rare earth minerals which are used in high-tech devices.  This is essentially a monopoly.  Prices have gone through the roof and China has been restricting supply to foreign competitors.  At the same time, it is waving the carrot of access to its rare earth supply if foreign companies locate their production in China (so that China can then appropriate their intellectual property and production capital as well).

However, China only has 1/3 of the world’s rare earth supply.  In the 80′s the US supplied a major share but mines were driven out of business by low-priced minerals that flooded the market from China.  Now that China has squeezed the supply and raised prices manifold, these same mines are in the process of reopening, but the damage to our industry has already been done (just look at our economy these days).  Of course China will surely repeat the process once international rare earth production gears up.

Another example is with fluorescent lighting.  Cheap Chinese fluorescent lights flooded US markets in the last 2 decades.  They drove domestic manufacturing out of business.  (Remember how getting energy-efficient was supposed to be good for the US economy, according to Obama?  Well, it just sent money to China.)  Now that they have done so, they have jacked up prices by double, and that’s just the beginning.  I know this from personal experience in buying fluorescent lighting for my business.

So when you buy Chinese goods for their low-price, just remember what you are doing.  You are destroying domestic competition in favor of Chinese goods dumped on our shores at below-cost prices.  As soon as they have driven your countrymen out of business, you will be paying more than you were before the Chinese.  Just think about that the next time you decide that all that matters is price.  Economics and trade are more complicated than that.