For Manufacturing Day (Oct. 3, 2014): Look at the label...Where was it made? Was it made in America?

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sept. 24, 2014 - PRLog -- On Manufacturing Day, and during the preceding days, many factories across America will be opening their doors to celebrate the process and the art of manufacturing and to show people how things are made.

“It’s fascinating to see how things are made and it’s great that they are making it in America,” says Robert Barrows, President of R.M. Barrows Advertising & Public Relations in San Mateo, California.

“But when you go home and you look at most of the things in your house, and when you go to the store and look at most of the things on the shelves,” says Barrows, “take a look at the labels and see where those things were made. Were they made in America?”

Some of the things that businesses and the media will be focusing on during Manufacturing Day will be the state of manufacturing in America and how to revive manufacturing in America much more quickly.

Take a look at the clothing you are wearing? Take a look at your camera, your phone, your TV...Was it made in America? Did it used to be made in America? Can we make it here again?

Could it have been made in America? How much did you save by making it in another country?

And what was the cost to our country?

How many jobs were lost? How many factories closed? How many people in the supply chain lost their jobs, too?

Is this the price that society pays for a cheaper pair of underpants, or a cheaper toaster or any kind of TV? (Are any TVs still made in America?)

“There are some very serious consequences to the outsourcing of manufacturing to other countries” says Barrows, and along these lines, he has also written a poem called “It used to be Made in America.”

  “It used to be Made in America” is about the loss of jobs and the consequences of the outsourcing of jobs to other countries, says Barrows, and it paints a vivid picture of conflicting economic forces.”

“You can see it online at www.itusedtobemadeinamerica.com and also at www.madeinusa.us.com

  So, is manufacturing increasing or is it declining where you live. Is the glass half-empty or half-full? How many manufacturing jobs have been lost where you live? How many factories have closed down? How many schools have been closed? How many school programs have been cancelled? How many jobs have been outsourced to other countries?

  What are the human and economic consequences of all that outsourcing? What can be done about it? How can America bring those jobs back?

  These are the themes that run through the poem according to Barrows.

Barrows hopes to be able to develop the poem into a variety of entertainment and business projects that could help bring more attention to the need for manufacturers and retailers to start making more of their manufacturing and purchasing decisions to offer more products that are made in America.

  He hopes to be able to develop the poem into some country and hip-hop songs and some television and documentary film type projects about the state of manufacturing in America and the efforts to revive manufacturing in America.

   He also hopes to be able to develop the website into a series of moneymaking directories about manufacturing, jobs and products that would be made in America.


    “When you take a look at all the proposals that businesspeople and politicians are discussing about ways to revive American manufacturing, you realize that a lot of those ideas and incentives may take a very long time to work” says Barrows.

 “The real power to reverse the manufacturing decline quickly is not in the hands of Congress nor in the fine print of various tax codes and incentives, the real power to increase the amount of manufacturing in America is in the hands of the people right now. (That's right! Power to the people!) And it's called "Buy American!" says Barrows.

     “Once consumers start boycotting products and brands that are not made in America, and once consumers start ‘demanding’ that American manufacturers and retailers start making more of their manufacturing and purchasing decisions to offer more goods that are Made in America, you will see how quickly the tide will turn to manufacturing it here in America.

     And while the President and Congress can't start proposing protectionist bills that will "anger" our international trading partners, the people can take immediate action right now by boycotting products, brands and companies that are not offering enough goods that are "Made in America” says Barrows.

  “Higher profit margins on goods made in other countries won't mean anything if the public here won't buy those goods” he adds.

 “As an anecdote, he says, when he was calling different computer programming companies for bids on the development of the directories on the website, one of the companies told him that they could do it a lot cheaper if they did the programming overseas.” (“I think they might have been a little bit unclear on the concept says Barrows.”)

 “However, he adds, the same themes that run through ‘It used to be Made in America’ could be relevant to almost every other country because so many businesses in so many countries are outsourcing their manufacturing to the lowest bidders so they can reap the highest profits,” says Barrows. “What is the human cost in this? What is the cost to society? That’s what the poem is about” says Barrows, and “It used to be made in America” is a poem that every American should read. We all have a stake in it”

   “And perhaps after reading the poem “It used to be made in America,” perhaps when people go to the store to buy something, they will take a close look at the label before they make their purchasing decision” and perhaps they will make the decision to Buy American” says Barrows.

      Barrows hopes that the poem can help bring a lot more attention to the situation, and he hopes that his poem “It used to be Made in America” can be used to help improve our economy by influencing marketing and manufacturing decisions, political decisions and consumer and industrial purchasing decisions to “Buy American” and to “Make it in America.”


  For more information about “It used to be Made in America," contact Robert Barrows at R.M. Barrows, Inc. Advertising & Public Relations in San Mateo, California at 650-344-4405.