In the past, it has been far less expensive for businesses large and small have relied upon imported items to make their products, but new financial realities are making the latter turn more often toward those made in the U.S.
A large and growing number of small businesses are now starting to adopt domestically-made products when it comes to making their own goods or services, according to a report from NBC News. This is largely being driven by increases in production hubs in relatively small cities – for instance Raleigh, North Carolina, has seen something of a garment-producing boom in recent years – and using the power of the Internet to connect with smaller companies across the country.
This has led to a decline in prices for many owners whose enterprises may have been stretched a little thin, because goods made domestically now come with fewer associated costs than those manufactured overseas, particularly if they're not buying in massive numbers that help to keep prices down, the report said. Further, this new boom in production within American borders is also proving something of a boon for many smaller cities' job markets, as there necessarily needs to be people working to make these goods.
Some experts also note that the increase in hiring among these manufacturers could be good in the long run, too, as it trains many Americans to work within industries that have been shifting more toward foreign production for decades, the report said. Nonetheless, these changes aren't having a huge impact on the U.S. market quite yet; today, more than 97 percent of clothing and 98 percent of shoes sold here are made overseas, whereas in the 1960s, that came to only about 5 percent.
"No one is predicting that we're going back to employment levels in manufacturing that we had 30 years ago," David Trumbull, a consultant and expert in textiles and U.S. manufacturing, told the news network. "[While America has shed about one-third of its manufacturing jobs in the last 10 years,] 'Made in USA' is a trend we have seen and it has continued."
Owners looking to reduce their overall costs to make their companies more streamlined might want to look for ways to cut their small business insurance costs. Finding more affordable general liability insurance and other such policies may help to give companies more flexibility with their bottom lines going forward.
