RESELECT: RESHORE, RETAIN AND REINVEST
June 10-12, 2019
Carey Manufacturing was featured at the SelectUSA Investment Summit this June in Washington, DC. We are one (1) of four (4) companies in the USA featured in the case study and video about our success in moving our manufacturing to Connecticut from China. In addition, Paul S. Lavoie, our General Manager, participated in a panel discussion titled, “ReSelect: Reshore, Retain and Reinvest.” The panel discussion highlighted the best practices and lessons learned from companies that have reshored operations in the United States. SelectUSA is a U.S. government-wide program led by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The summit was focused on their mission which is, “to facilitate job-creating business investment into the United States and raise awareness of the critical role that economic development plays in the U.S. economy”. The crowd of 2,000+ was made up of government officials, businesses from across the United States, and businesses from across the globe who are interested in doing business with America.
Paul Lavoie (General Manager) and Jack Carey (Owner/President) rolled up their sleeves and dove right into a private round table discussion with Gil Kaplan, Under Secretary of Commerce, International Trade Administration and other senior trade officials. They discussed Carey Manufacturing’s commitment to restoring our manufacturing to Connecticut and continuing to manufacture quality products at competitive prices for our customers. A task that has its challenges, with the recent tariffs on raw materials that has increased our costs significantly. Carey Manufacturing is dedicated to carrying on a conversation about the external factors that make it harder for a small business like ourselves to remain competitive. However, in addition to discussing better ways to do business, we wanted to focus on the positive impact of reshoring as well. We can proudly say that since becoming USA Made, we are able to take control of the quality, lead times and service that we provide our customers, all of which have greatly improved. We are also happy to help contribute to our state economy, as well as growing American jobs!
This was an exciting day because Carey Manufacturing was featured in a video, shown before thousands at the SelectUSA conference. The video takes you inside our Cromwell, CT facility, where we’ve invested over $5.0 million in Trumpf machinery to successfully reshore the manufacturing of our product lines.
General Manager, Paul Lavoie discusses how manufacturing our own products allows us the ability to fix any problems that arise quickly and efficiently. In the example he gives, an issue with a customer was identified and resolved in just 1 week. If we were manufacturing from China you could add 18 weeks to that. The video ends with the closing statement:
“That’s how you create customers for life… to be that responsive and that flexible, to be able to meet their needs!”
In addition to our videos grand reveal, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was there to address the crowd!
On the third day of the investment summit in D.C. the keynote speakers included Wilbur Ross, Steve Mnuchin, Sonny Perdue, Rick Perry and first daughter Ivanka Trump! The conversation on building up American businesses and encouraging foreign countries to invest in USA continued. IvankaTrump posted this on her Instagram:
The U.S. welcomes Foreign Direct Investments – there is no better market on the planet to invest in! In ONE day, 66 international companies from 12 different markets around the world committed nearly 1 million opportunities to #PledgetoAmericasWorkers! #SelectUSASummit
Overall, it was a spectacular week to share our business with the rest of the world, while doing our part to represent the USA manufacturing industry at this important event. Thank you SelectUSA and Washington D.C.!
