Amazon Plans for Manufacturing Clothing on Demand

May 1, 2017

Amazon continues to cast a shadow over the apparel industry. Not only does the e-commerce giant create pricing headaches for major clothing manufacturers, but the company’s supply chain efficiencies and trove of consumer data are exceedingly hard to match.

Location Decisions and Incentives

March 28, 2017

When Elyria Mayor Holly Brinda learned that Riddell Inc. was looking to leave this small Ohio city, she came up with a $14 million package of tax incentives and offered to lease land to the company for $1 a year. It wasn’t enough. Riddell, which makes the football helmets used by NFL and college players, decided to move its 320 employees just over 2 miles down the road to a neighboring town, which offered its own bundle of incentives and lower corporate and individual income-tax rates. Continue reading

Returning Bicycle Manufacturing to the U.S.

by Barry Render

Kent International plans to produce 500,000 bikes in the U.S. in 2017, and more than 1 million by 2020.

Kent International plans to produce 500,000 bikes in the U.S. in 2017, and more than 1 million by 2020.

 

After decades of offshoring, bicycle manufacturing is coming back to the U.S. as overseas costs rise and companies realize the value of “local for local” production. “From hand-crafted boutique brands to high-volume manufacturing, U.S. bicycle makers are reshoring bike production,” writes Industry Week (Dec.8, 2016).  A confluence of factors are giving rise to new opportunities. Continue reading