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Many small business owners – especially those with government contracts – celebrated Monday’s news that President Joe Biden had signed legislation to tighten the Buy American Act.
“In a very short period of time, there was a much clearer message and a stronger level of support,” said Marisa Fumei-Smith, president of textile manufacturer Two One Two New York, which made clothing and knitwear. but which has shifted towards manufacturing personal protective equipment for local government agencies and businesses.
The company has grown from 60 workers at the start of the pandemic to around 400, including contractors who work exclusively for Two One Two.
The law requires companies that accept federal contracts to be entirely U.S.-based and not source any of their supply chains internationally. It also raises the burden of proof for companies to argue that sourcing products in the domestic market is too expensive and, most importantly, creates a watchdog.
Desperate times
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the industry was in crisis due to a steady decline in manufacturing jobs in the United States and lax standards forcing companies to produce locally. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that at least 7.5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since 1980.
“There was a time when each of your customers said if you didn’t move to China you wouldn’t have business with us,” said James Wyner, CEO of Shawmut Corp., a textile company. . manufacturer headquartered in West Bridgewater, Mass., whose family has run the business for four generations. Although Shawmut has employees worldwide, it is part of the Federal Classification of Small Businesses for the textile finishing industry.
But the pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of global supply chains. Protective equipment shortages across the country were clearly illustrated by images of nurses using trash bags as coverings. When Covid-19 hit, many textile manufacturers had the first opportunity to secure government contracts to manufacture protective gear.
Gabrielle Ferrara, director of operations at Ferrara Manufacturing in New York, had worked with designers Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan to make bespoke clothing before the pandemic. When the company turned to making masks and isolation gowns, it first had to source materials from countries like China. “That network and those relationships didn’t exist, and frankly, the manufacturing lines didn’t exist,” she said.
During the pandemic, she began working with larger companies, such as DuPont and Parkdale Mills, one of the world’s largest cotton producers, to source the fabric for the domestic market.
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“It’s more than just a supplier-hardware relationship,” she says. “There is a real sense of community and enthusiasm around Made in USA products.”
During the pandemic, having national supply chains has been a boon for textile manufacturers, making them eligible for new government contracts. Two One Two connected with a Federal Emergency Management Agency contractor through an industry contact who knew their manufacturing was entirely domestic, Fumei-Smith said.
“Every component has to be from the United States,” Fumei-Smith said of federal grant requirements. “Your fabric, your yarns, all trim, right down to poly bags. All stickers, labels, boxes, pallets. Every component.”
In the first 10 weeks of the pandemic, the company shipped 5 million masks. Protective gear has become a permanent division of the company, she said. It developed to make isolation gowns, ankle boots, bouffants, gaiters, aprons and blankets for patients.
Cautious optimism
Some textile makers still fear that Biden’s attempts to improve conditions for US manufacturers may not be enough to save them.
Kathie Leonard, CEO of Auburn Manufacturing in Mechanic Falls, Maine, oversees the production of high temperature fabrics used to make safety clothing for the automotive and shipbuilding industries. As a defense industry customer, the company has not experienced the same peak in government contracts as other textile manufacturers.
“I haven’t seen this kind of business come our way yet,” she said. “The industrial sector is still floundering.
“We bid on a multi-year contract which should have been awarded in October, and it has been extended,” she said. Defense contracts are expensive, she said, and while essential, many have been postponed due to the pandemic.
Overall, however, Leonard is optimistic.
“It’s going to be a nice little kick in the arm, to remember that we have a lot of employees in this country who want to work, who want to do things. Let’s support them and buy the products that are made here,” she said. said.
Promising prospects
For Shaffiq Rahim, president of Hi-Tech Engineering, Buy American means companies have more support for investing in quality. Hi-Tech, based in Camarillo, Calif., Near Los Angeles, manufactures aerospace parts for the defense industry and commercial customers. Rahim said that when potential clients decide to outsource projects to save money, 60% of the time they come back to Hi-Tech Engineering. He said they often paid for products that didn’t meet quality specifications.
Companies also appear to be hoping that Biden’s latest changes will mean more opportunities to create manufacturing jobs. Wyner, of Shawmut Corp., worked on a contract to replenish the strategic national stockpile of protective gear. He was able to employ 550 people and he hired 100 more to help him complete the project, which ends in a few weeks.
“We are faced with the fact that when our contract expires, these jobs are likely to disappear,” he said. “We want these jobs to stay.”
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