In an opinion article on the New York Times (3/28) website, Allison Arieff writes that in contrast to the image of decline people often associate with manufacturing in the US, “there are many parts of this country where manufacturing is very much alive, albeit in a different form.” Arieff focuses on the work being done by San Francisco’s SFMade and New York’s Made in NYC, “geographic ingredient branding” groups which “are increasingly able to share success stories of how manufacturing has developed new models for doing business in the 21st century.” Part of these companies’ success stems from a growing consumer desire to get locally produced goods, as have “growing consumer demand for greener, more ethically produced products, along with skyrocketing unemployment and nervousness about globalization.” Arieff argues that it is “time to rethink, and indeed rebrand, American manufacturing.”
From SME Daily Executive Briefing 3/28/2011