CALEDONIA, NY (August 31st 2011) Today, it has become a rarity to find a product that is made in the USA. This was not always the case. In the 1920’s the Industrial Revolution brought a whole new sense of pride to America in the area of manufacturing. This process of advancing technology in essential and emerging markets increased from this pivotal point on. So, what has happened? When I hear people talking about globalization they conference that nothing is made in America any longer, and that everything has been outsourced because of cheap labor and cheaper material costs to countries like China. So few are willing to recognize that there are companies trying to survive here, in the United States, and despite economic conditions they remain intact and most also intact with the pride to help create more business to keep our American market going. There are people who care about this issue, and feel passionately that we need to bring business back here. Leadership on this subject needs to come from both political leaders and the average citizen.
One of these advocates is Senator Kirsten Gillibrand who over the years has pressed to be a top notch voice for the small businesses of America. The “Made in America Block Grant “or MABG has been designed to help keep these small to medium sized businesses afloat. Gillibrand’s team knows that we need to keep money here to fix the unemployment epidemic that has swept the nation. Currently unemployment rates are at 9.1% as of July 2011 which have only dropped slightly since 2009 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is approximately 13.9 million people, and chances are you know one or two. These are our friends, neighbors and our family members.
Throughout August of this year Gillibrand is making the trek to visit some of the few standing of these companies to show her support for their efforts. On August 31st, Kirsten will be visiting a company that has been in manufacturing for more than 30 years, and is launching a new line of products this month. Applied Energy Solutions prides themselves in what it means to be made in the USA. AES has been dedicated to designing, developing, manufacturing, and selling Industrial Battery Chargers from their headquarters in the town of Caledonia, New York for as long as they have been in existence. They are currently a industry leader in the emerging technology of High Frequency battery charging and are the only company that is 100% producing in the US. CEO, Vern Fleming explains “we know the importance of keeping our factory here; we thrive on the idea of helping our economy.” He then goes on to explain more in depth how they contribute.
By using American raw materials and skilled American workers you have a constant money flow which stimulates the economy, provides additional jobs and supports local families. The company purchases a major percentage of its materials to manufacture its products from US companies. The sheet metal used in the chargers is purchased from Phoenix Sheet Metal in Jamestown NY, the copper wire used in the transformers is purchased from Essex in Fort Wayne Indiana, the lamination material is purchased from Thomas and Skinner in Indianapolis Indiana, some of the printed circuit boards are produced at AES and the remaining ones are purchased from local electronics manufacturers here in New York.
When you break this down further, which is fast math for CEO Vern Fleming, AES indirectly employs a minimum of another 48 workers with the money spent on American materials and goods in addition to the over 40 directly at the company. Vern Fleming says:
“Our leadership and culture has become complacent and rushed to the immediate fix with fast returns to satisfy their pockets and or the ownership of businesses. However in the long run this method of outsourcing and displacing jobs will have the opposite long term effect. The leadership needs to take a long hard look and learn how to aggressively become more competitive by leaner manufacturing methods, and rely upon the knowledge base of our American workers. At AES we have increased our productivity year over year by an average of over 13 percent, by doing the aforementioned.”
This is the way we fix the American economy. Simply stimulating the circular flow model. Moving money creates jobs when it stays here. Once again leadership comes from the everyday America be it a consumer or an entrepreneur, it is up to us to passionately support the economy and preserve the American industrial infrastructure instead of looking at the current state with a shake of the head. Choose Made in USA, choose to keep the money in our family, a family of 300 million across the country.
For more information on Applied Energy Solutions and the complete line of AES battery chargers, call 1.800.836.2132 or visit http://www.appliedenergysol.com.
For more information on Kirsten Gillibrand and MABG visit http://gillibrand.senate.gov/issues/issue/?id=f5e31125-2c48-4957-a9de-e404b028cfa7
Applied Energy Solutions 