Make It In The U.S.A.

So, where is this bicycle made? I hear this question a lot in the bicycle shop I work at. Oh, it doesn't happen to get asked as often as it did 9 years ago, when I started my current job, but it still gets asked often. Obviously, the answer is kind of a downer in a town that still "makes" tractor parts and some agricultural tractors in a factory across town.

Made In Iowa, U.S.A.

I came from a small manufacturing town. I watched as labor unions and management fought each other while the rank and file workers, like my father, stood by and watched them piss it all away. Now they don't make anything in that town of as much significance as they did then. Jobs in other cities met similar fates, or were shipped overseas. It seems like everything is "Made In China" anymore.

Depressing.................

But, it isn't really that way, of course. Things are still made here in the U.S.A., and not everyone is in a "service job". As far as bicycles go, little pockets of U.S. based manufacture are still bubbling up. Out east in Boston, down in the southwest in Arizona, and of course, Portland, Oregon. It isn't huge. It isn't a big, huge deal in terms of "workforce numbers".....yet, but if things start to change in the right way, (and I think it is very likely that they will), you just might see a "big" bicycle factory pop up somewhere on these shores again.

Recently a "U.S. Manufacturing Council Listening Session" happened out in Oregon where Francisco Sanchez, the Under Secretary of Commerce For International Trade, led a session which included large, medium, and small U.S. manufacturers who voiced their concerns about how U.S. manufacturing is being held back, and how it could be grown. The small manufacturing concerns were represented by Chris De Stefano of Chris King Precision Components. (See a report about the meeting here)

The day before, a tour was held at the King manufacturing facility which hosted several government officials attached to the Commerce Department. They were shown how a small manufacturer can thrive in a business dominated by foreign competition, and how such a business can be run cleanly and with respect for the environment and the people employed there.

Hope.....

 Image by Dylan VanWeelden

Why Does It Matter? Well, it probably doesn't to a lot of folks. I mean, you ride your bicycle, you are happy, right? (That's a lot of "you" right there though, ya know?) How about this kind of "you" instead? So, what if you could buy a bicycle you wanted at a fair price that was made in the U.S.A.? Why wouldn't you? It would be something that employed another U.S. citizen, maybe benefited a U.S. family, and the money that family brought in from your purchase, (and others), would be spent in this economy. Maybe.....

Sound good? It sure does to me.

Basically, the bikes made overseas are probably pretty dang good. (In fact, I know that they are.) The parts that are on them, well....they are awesome. It isn't that folks there are being worked in bad conditions or not, or that they use "child labor", or not. This isn't about that. This is about doing things here for us, so that we can benefit the U.S.  It's about doing things that we can feel good about, instead of, well........not so good. 

Ya know, it would be pretty rad if I could answer that question I brought up at the outset of this post by saying, "Well Sir, it is made right here, in the U.S.A." 

Yeah......that would be pretty cool.