Manufacturing is important to this country. It is the engine that builds wealth and creates prosperity. It is the process of taking raw materials and adding value to them through intelligence, technology and capital to create something of more value thus creating wealth. Farmers are manufacturers as they take raw materials, land, equipment, seed and fertilizer and create a crop to sell. Food companies manufacture the food we eat. Either they grow it, or process it or manufacture a product for sale from it.
Too often we look at manufacturing as a big smokestack on the edge of town. Manufacturers are everywhere we look and are necessary for the health and wealth of our society. Whether they are manufacturing chocolate candy or needlepoint kits or toys or hot salsa, the people who take raw materials and turn them into products are to be commended for driving our economy. Since the industrial revolution we have come a long way from the farm.
We make glue and hockey pucks, tires and potato chips. We make beer and wine and whiskey. We make cars and trucks and buses. We make shoe and boots, locks and toilet seats. We make plastic parts, metal parts, automotive parts and toy parts. We make guns and dog food, cookware and flashlights and shower heads. We make crayons and chain saws, vacuum cleaners and coffeemakers, stoves and refrigerators, lawn mowers and paint brushes, Airstream trailers and Gibson guitars. We make flags and wooden bats and NFL footballs. We make Steinway pianos and Sharpie markers.
Look for and support the manufacturers in your community. In addition, don't forget that all the money in a foreign made item does not necessarily go to the country of origin. A $70 pair of Nike sneakers has as much as $50 in domestic costs. Costs for transportation, distribution and sales are employing people here in this country. Truck drivers, warehouse personel, retail sales people owe their jobs to the consumer no matter where the product originated.
Manufacturing is coming back. Energy prices are moderating. Our economy is coming back to life. We have much to be thankful for.
Too often we look at manufacturing as a big smokestack on the edge of town. Manufacturers are everywhere we look and are necessary for the health and wealth of our society. Whether they are manufacturing chocolate candy or needlepoint kits or toys or hot salsa, the people who take raw materials and turn them into products are to be commended for driving our economy. Since the industrial revolution we have come a long way from the farm.
We make glue and hockey pucks, tires and potato chips. We make beer and wine and whiskey. We make cars and trucks and buses. We make shoe and boots, locks and toilet seats. We make plastic parts, metal parts, automotive parts and toy parts. We make guns and dog food, cookware and flashlights and shower heads. We make crayons and chain saws, vacuum cleaners and coffeemakers, stoves and refrigerators, lawn mowers and paint brushes, Airstream trailers and Gibson guitars. We make flags and wooden bats and NFL footballs. We make Steinway pianos and Sharpie markers.
Look for and support the manufacturers in your community. In addition, don't forget that all the money in a foreign made item does not necessarily go to the country of origin. A $70 pair of Nike sneakers has as much as $50 in domestic costs. Costs for transportation, distribution and sales are employing people here in this country. Truck drivers, warehouse personel, retail sales people owe their jobs to the consumer no matter where the product originated.
Manufacturing is coming back. Energy prices are moderating. Our economy is coming back to life. We have much to be thankful for.
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