USA Made Cookware

As a father, I love to use everyday situations to teach lessons and share wisdom with my children.  It makes me their hero and they sleep better at night thinking that daddy knows everything.

Recently one of my sons asked me what I do. Proudly I told him I make the world’s greatest cookware and with even more pride, I told him I do it in the United States. He understood the first part, after all we learn good - better - best from an early age; it was the second part that threw him.

"Why does it matter if it’s made in America and isn't everything made in America?"

I could answer the first part of his question with ease. I told him I make our cookware in America because the quality we demand can only be found in America by American artisans, craftsmen and craftswomen.  People that don't need a time clock and are truly masters of their trade.  I care about the people that care about the product they make and I'll provide them with jobs for the remainder of my time. I told him how I could make an additional 60% profit if I made our product in another country which I translated into 8-year-old terms by saying, "It would be a lot more money but money isn't what's important to me. American jobs and American quality are important to me."

The notion of purposely forfeiting an additional 60% profit was a little hard for him to comprehend. He asked, "Why not make a lot more money?" So I put it to him like this, “Ok son, if we move the company overseas and make more money, we would have to fire all of our American employees. Who should we fire first?"
 
"What do you mean fire?  Why do we have to fire anybody?"

"Well, if we are going to make our product somewhere else we would have to fire Dave, a thirty year veteran buffer operator, husband, father and grandfather. We would also need to fire Andy, a 30-year press operator, father, husband and grandfather.  Maybe we should start at the top and let the plant manager, Tom go, he's been in the business for forty years.  A lot of Americans would have to lose their jobs in our company alone. That doesn’t include the thousands of other Americans employed by the American steel mills and packaging companies that we work with now. We would have to take that business overseas too. What do you think?  Which American should lose their job first?"

"But if they don't have jobs how will they buy food and take care of their families and stuff?"

"They won't be able to son, that's exactly my point. So do you think we should keep making our product in America?"

With a new sense of understanding, he proudly said, “Yes!”

-Bryan Hurley
Founder, Americraft Cookware "The Great American Cookware Company"