On the 250th anniversary of America, there is cause for a lot of celebration—and a little concern too. But, now more than ever, we should keep the glass half-full.
We are incredibly fortunate to be Americans. As a lifelong Mainer, hardly the epicenter of American society, I count myself blessed for the economic opportunities that hardworking people can still find to get ahead. Despite our socioeconomic challenges in a changing world, the U.S. economy is still the standard for the rest of the globe. While other countries face political instability, civic unrest, and double-digit unemployment rates, our economy continues to innovate and grow. There are nearly eight million open jobs in the United States—a testament to entrepreneurship and business dynamism.
No business community is more dynamic than manufacturing. From the Industrial Revolution to post-World War II globalization and current debates about tariff rates, manufacturers have consistently found themselves in the spotlight or under scrutiny. And yet, we persevere. Our perseverance as an economic sector is unprecedented, providing the entire economy with the strongest possible backbone.
In so many ways, manufacturing is the U.S. economy. Domestic manufacturers contribute nearly $3 trillion in economic output, accounting for about 10 percent of gross domestic product and employing well over 12 million workers. This is a greater impact than the entire economy of Canada or Russia or South Korea.
Much has been made of manufacturing’s demise in recent decades, but manufacturers remain alive and well. Our “Made in the USA” story is still being written. I know firsthand: My family’s company, Maine-based Puritan Medical Products, became North America’s largest supplier of COVID-19 testing swabs during the pandemic, hiring and training hundreds of workers to produce up to 100 million swabs a month for Americans in need. Today, we are a trusted domestic manufacturer of swabs and single-use specimen collection devices for healthcare, diagnostics, forensics, controlled environments, and environmental sciences. We source American inputs and we make our products in rural Maine, nowhere else.
Puritan’s story is just one of countless examples. From Guilford, Maine to the West Coast, every $1 spent in manufacturing generates nearly $3 in additional economic activity across other sectors. This multiplier effect means jobs, jobs, and jobs, but also something more: A brighter future for workers and their families. It means living the American Dream.
Today, countless millions of people are living their dreams because of manufacturing, despite negative headlines and constant chatter that U.S.-made products have no future. To the contrary, manufacturing firms like Puritan are looking for even more human talent to write our sector’s next chapter. There are currently about 500,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs, many of them in rural states like Maine. Despite the rise of artificial intelligence, we still need human capital from Maine or “from away” (as Mainers say) to write that chapter.
There is always a next chapter. Manufacturing isn’t declining; we are adapting, evolving, and innovating. I don’t see a “hollowed out” Maine. For a company like ours, it means an aggressive expansion of liquid transport systems and entering the industrial disposable market. For another business, it may mean securing our national defense or taking AI development to the next level.
Each passing day brings dozens of headlines about AI investments, but innovation is not confined to Silicon Valley. Our home base of Guilford has a population of barely 1,000, and it doesn’t stop us from serving global customers.
How many other stories like that can be told? Too many to count.
If America is going to survive another 250 years, that won’t happen without manufacturing. The birth of our great nation basically coincides with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, which came to our shores before the turn of the 18th century. The first permanent cotton-spinning mill was established in Pawtucket, Rhode Island dating back to 1790. This was during George Washington’s first presidential term.
Manufacturing isn’t only the strongest backbone of America’s economy; it is one with American history. Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated. We are just getting started.
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