Advertise on podcast: The Manufacturing Report

Hundreds of pro ballplayers are wearing belts made in a Texas town of 3,000 people. Matt Hadden is the third-generation president to run Pioneer Fit, a company his grandfather started in 1979 selling sports gear out of the back of his trunk in Nebraska. He joins AAM President Scott Paul today and shares how the business grew by taking on the custom work no other manufacturer wanted, and how one question from an employee — "Why don't we make baseball belts?" — opened that market in two seasons. He's also candid about what making things here costs: Pioneer's belts can run twice the price of an import, and both of the company's patents have been knocked off. He explains why he still buys American leather and American buckles anyway, and what that choice means for the people who work alongside him in the shop. 👉 Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest resources Pioneer Fit: https://pioneerfit.com Resources & links Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

At the height of a Washington, D.C., summer heat wave, members of the United Steelworkers came to town for the union's Rapid Response Legislative and Policy Conference — four days of talking legislation with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. AAM Media Relations Director Cat Adams grabbed a mic and went down to hear from the people who actually build things. Tire builders, welders, assemblers and machine operators talk about the first day they walked onto a factory floor, what their first paycheck bought, and what these jobs did for their towns. Scott Paul and Cat unpack what that means for trade enforcement, for the USMCA review now underway, and for whether Congress treats manufacturing as a drumbeat or a photo op. Workers heard in this episode: - Anthony Elrod - Goodyear, Topeka, Kan. - Diana Caspersen - Speed Queen, Ripon, Wis. - Bonnie Reese - Assembler, BAE Systems, Pennsylvania - Corey Ingram - BAE Systems, York, Pa. - Will Wilkinson - USW staff representative, Wyoming 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Resources & Links Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

He bought a $5 bill’s worth of beanies, sold them, bought more, and, eight years later, he’s manufacturing American-made knitwear in Detroit for brands you’ve heard of. Josh York, founder of Soft Goods, joins AAM President Scott Paul to talk about building a cut-and-sew factory in Corktown from scratch, teaching himself to sew off YouTube, and ruining roughly 100 T-shirts before one came out right. Josh also gets candid about the things most founders won’t say out loud: that sourcing domestically started as a practical decision, not an altruistic one; that he didn’t believe the business would work until year eight; and that after years of convincing buyers why American-made costs more, the market finally shifted and customers now come to him. 👉 Learn more about Soft Goods: https://softgoodsmfg.com 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources Soft Goods: https://softgoodsmfg.com AAM Resources & Links 2025 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide: https://bit.ly/2025Gifts Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest: https://bit.ly/4iWbJga or our bi-weekly: https://bit.ly/4rXmh2Q Check out our Made In America Directory: https://bit.ly/4oUQRY7 You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3XQ7glr Spotify: https://bit.ly/48PXG7d Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

What does it take to build a musical instrument company in America — with no woodworking background and a fear of power tools? Zack Munsell went from a sales job with “no passion” to founding Friendly Banjos, maker of a color-coded, easy-to-play banjo built for kids and beginners. Today, he joins AAM President Scott Paul, and shares his winding, cross-country journey learning from America’s artisan banjo makers, the painting that reshaped his entire mission, and why he was determined to build an affordable instrument in the United States. They discuss how Zack partnered with Massachusetts-based Magic Fluke to manufacture the banjo with locally sourced materials, went viral on TikTok, launched on Kickstarter, and how learning to make music became part of his own healing journey. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources https://www.friendlybanjos.com/ AAM Resources & Links Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing #MusicalInstruments #BanjoBuilding #EntrepreneurJourney #MadeInAmerica #Craftsmanship #KickstarterSuccess #MusicEducation #ArtisanCraft #HealingThroughMusic #ZackMunsell #HandcraftedMusic #SupportLocalArtists

Russ Warner just wanted an extra $400 a month for a car payment and to hang with his kids. Instead, a single TikTok from an Ohio teenager racked up 50 million views, buried his made-to-order skateboard business under 600 orders a day, and turned a Utah garage operation into a real American factory. AAM President Scott Paul talks with Russ Warner, founder of Ghost Boards, the maker of custom transparent acrylic longboards handcrafted in Utah. Russ shares how he and partner Brent Johnson went from cutting boards on a machine shop’s lunch break to selling $965,000 in boards in a single month, and why he still refuses to send manufacturing overseas. He discusses building fully customizable, made-to-order boards with no minimums, reaching a customer base that’s 68% female, and landing in retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue and Ron Jon Surf Shop. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources Ghost Boards: https://ghostboards.com Resources & Links Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

AAM President Scott Paul spent 15 years hunting for a Western shirt actually Made in America. He never found one — because almost nobody was making them. Carter Baldwin was on the same hunt, going back to his college days in ’90s Austin, and eventually decided to make the shirt himself. Brazos Fine Shirts is the result: 100% cotton, mother-of-pearl snap, made in the Los Angeles Garment District — and it took roughly six years, a career’s worth of DTC marketing know-how, and one catastrophic run of 1,000 shirts with the snaps pressed on backwards to get there. Carter walks Scott through why a Western shirt takes 24 hand-cut pieces and can’t be automated, how NAFTA hollowed out El Paso’s garment district, and how Post Malone’s stylist found the brand a month after launch. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources Brazos Fine Shirts: https://brazosfineshirts.com Instagram: @brazosfineshirts

Detroit didn't just build cars. During World War II it built the machine that helped win the war. In the final installment of our three-part series on American manufacturing history — marking the 250th anniversary of the United States — AAM President Scott Paul visits the Detroit Historical Museum to walk through the story of the “Arsenal of Democracy” with the Detroit Historical Society's Director of Collections, Jeremy Dimick. They trace how the Motor City's auto plants pivoted to produce a B24 bomber every hour and more than 90% of America's M1 helmets, and how that effort remade the city of Detroit. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources Detroit Historical Society & Museum: detroithistorical.org AAM Resources & Links Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest: https://bit.ly/4iWbJga or our bi-weekly: https://bit.ly/4rXmh2Q Check out our Made In America Directory: https://bit.ly/4oUQRY7 And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manufacturing-report/id1213359909 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3jAoV4AHejHd36wSjSEPMs YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0ETr3PZq7dHqAqlkiB17jvFe4gAtpLSf&si=uFmYHrp7lfxHepY6 Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

America turns 250 this year, and the steel that built the modern nation was forged on the banks of the Monongahela. In Part 2 of our three-part series on 250 years of American manufacturing, Scott Paul tours the Carrie Blast Furnaces in Pittsburgh with Ron Baraff of Rivers of Steel. They trace how the region’s last pre-WWII blast furnaces poured thousands of tons of iron a day for Carnegie’s Homestead Works across the river; how the Bessemer converter made steel cheap and scalable enough to raise skyscrapers, lay railroads, and float a navy; how steel jobs forged the American middle class and drew Black workers north in the Great Migration; and why the lessons of this “man-made volcano” still matter as America fights to bring manufacturing home. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources Rivers of Steel: https://riversofsteel.com Carrie Blast Furnaces -Tours & Visiting: https://riversofsteel.com/experiences/tours/ Resources & Links Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

America turns 250 this year, and the story of how it learned to make things starts in one stone building on the Blackstone River. In Part 1 of our three-part series on 250 years of American manufacturing, Scott Paul tours Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, with Park Ranger Allison Horrocks. They trace how Samuel Slater carried England’s guarded textile technology to America in his head, how Moses Brown and William Almy financed the first successful water-powered cotton mill, why the Blackstone River Valley became the country’s first industrial corridor, and the human cost — including child labor — behind the birth of the factory system. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park: https://www.nps.gov/blrv Old Slater Mill - Ranger-Guided Tours: https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/ranger-guided-tours-slater-mill.htm Resources & Links Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

America invented the circuit board but now makes less than 4% of the world's supply. Team AAM goes behind the scenes of the documentary "The New Frontier," hearing from Wesley Sprecher of Blue Water Components, Jesse Vaughan of Summit Interconnect, and Sean Kincaid of K&F Electronics on why the collapse of domestic PCB production is a national security crisis — and the fight to rebuild it before America loses the capacity for good. 👉 Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. Watch The New Frontier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z3r-aUeuo4 And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources The New Frontier (film): https://newfrontierfilm.com Blue Water Components: https://bluewatercomponents.com Summit Interconnect: https://summitinterconnect.com K&F Electronics: https://www.circuitboards.com Resources & Links 2025 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

American manufacturing needs workers — and veterans need a path back to work. Today, AAM President Scott Paul speaks with Dr. Martin Anselm, Director of the Center for Electronics Manufacturing and Assembly (CEMA) at the Rochester Institute of Technology, about a four-week veteran training program that’s placing underemployed and unemployed veterans into high-demand electronics manufacturing jobs. Dr. Anselm shares how the program combines hands-on lab time with industry-recognized IPC certifications and a workforce readiness week, why employers are hungry for trained technicians, and how the “gray tsunami” of retiring baby boomers is reshaping the U.S. electronics workforce. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources https://www.rit.edu/cema/ Resources & Links Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

What started in a garage with pipe from the hardware store is now a 90-person factory shipping nearly a thousand wind chimes a day. Today, Scott Paul speaks with Luke Croushorn of Wind River, the Manassas, Virginia chime maker that has been handcrafting wind chimes, birdhouses, and garden decor since 1986. Luke shares how founder Mike Throne built the company from Florida craft fairs into a national brand, why Wind River invests in redwood, a custom aluminum alloy, and hand-assembled craftsmanship, and how the company's long-term employees, multilingual workforce, and tagline "Inspiring Harmony" reflect its commitment to quality, community, and American manufacturing. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources https://www.windriverchimes.com Resources & Links Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

In Maryland, you learn to crack a crab before you learn to walk - but Shelby Blondell decided the tools you use to do it deserved a serious upgrade. One night in 2017, Shelby picked up the traditional wooden mallet and plastic knife and saw how badly they both failed. That moment launched a years-long journey through prototypes, machine shops, and manufacturing partnerships to create The Sheller: a flat, stainless steel crab-cracking tool made in the USA. Today, AAM president Scott Paul talks with Shelby about her origin story, why she chose American manufacturing from day one, the supply chain resilience that helped her weather COVID steel price spikes and tariffs, and the whirlwind that followed a CBS Sunday Morning feature and AAM’s 2025 Holiday Gift Guide. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. Guest Resources https://www.thesheller.com Resources & Links 2025 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

What happens when a cartographer and a fashion stylist go to Germany and fall in love with a canvas bag? They come home and build an American business that celebrates hometown pride with every product. Today, AAM President Scott Paul speaks with Rachel Rheingold Berick and Michael Berick, co-founders of Maptote, a Brooklyn-based company that makes map-themed totes, pouches, home goods, and accessories — all manufactured in the U.S. They share how a 2006 trip to Hamburg inspired their first Brooklyn tote, how they grew from door-to-door sales to major retail partnerships with J.Crew, HBO, and museum shops worldwide, and what it takes to build a Made-in-America brand that’s approaching its 20th anniversary. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. Check out our 2025 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide! And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships Guest Resources https://www.maptote.com Resources & Links 2025 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing

What happens when an electrical engineering professor decides to skip the MBA and just… start a business? For Dr. Maya Gupta, it led to Artifact Puzzles — one of the most distinctive puzzle companies in the country. Today, AAM President Scott Paul speaks with Dr. Gupta about how she bought a laser cutter, built a manufacturing operation from scratch in Silicon Valley, and grew Artifact Puzzles into a 15-year-old business now based in Port Townsend, Wash. They discuss her patented approach to puzzle design, how co-locating design and production drives innovation, surviving the COVID puzzle boom-and-bust cycle, and why manufacturing in America lets her offer something no overseas competitor can match: piece replacements, tight customer relationships, and puzzles that spark genuine joy. 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories on U.S. trade policy, buying American, and protecting American jobs. Guest Resources https://www.artifactpuzzles.com Resources & Links 2025 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide Sign up for our daily newsletter, Daily Digest. or our bi-weekly version, ManufactureThis Check out our Made In America Directory And sign our petition to bring shipbuilding back to America! https://act.americanmanufacturing.org/ships You can also listen wherever you get podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify Socials X: @KeepItMadeInUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanmanufacturing Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanmanufacturing