Growing up, my grandfather and mother both worked for Tappan Stove Company, my father worked at Ohio Brass, and though I didn’t know him yet, my husband’s father worked at their local steel mill. What’s the common thread here? None of these jobs exist anymore — small town manufacturing plants have all but disappeared.
I won’t speculate on the cause other than to say that I don’t think it’s fair to point fingers at any one single source. But I do believe that we can all do our part by choosing to vote with our wallets… purchasing American-made options whenever possible.
That’s something that’s not always easy to do, but now, thanks to a new initiative by Walmart, purchasing “Made in the USA” products is going to get a lot easier. Over the next 10 years, Walmart is investing $250 billion in products that support American jobs. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty amazing!
What does that mean exactly? Well, Walmart will be working with suppliers to:
- Increase what they already buy of U.S. manufactured goods
- Source “new to Walmart” U.S. manufactured goods
- Re-shore the manufacturing of goods they currently buy by facilitating and accelerating efforts of their suppliers
You may have already seen some of the TV spots highlighting this initiative, but if not, you’ll definitely want to take a look at the following video playlist. I especially found the one from the perspective of a closed factory fascinating, but I also loved watching the human aspect of the American workers telling their stories.
You can browse over 1,000 products that support American jobs that Walmart already sells online at https://bit.ly/12b9c3N. And look for more products in stores now!
