Yet Another Made in USA General Store

I'd like to tell you about my sort of business person.  His name is Mark Andol and he's an American manufacturer.  He lost a large client to a Chinese competitor and had to close some manufacturing locations and lay off workers which he found disturbing. 

Now in this situation a man like Jeff Fettig, CEO of Whirlpool Corporation would start to whine about his company's inability to compete in the marketplace.  In 2009 during a recession, Mr. Fettig enjoyed a 77% increase in his compensation.  Nice raise.  In 2010, 1,000 Americans in Evansville, Indiana lost their jobs when Whirlpool moved them to Mexico.  So that whole competition problem is solved now to Mr. Fettig's satisfaction, correct?  Mr. Fettig is only mentioned again on this Blog because he serves as superb contrast to an inspiring and admirable American. 

Mr. Andol reacted to foreign competition by investing $50,000 in a 2,000 square foot retail store in Elma, New York.  He stocked that store with exclusively Made in USA products.  The legal definition isn't quite good enough for Mr. Andol as he insists that every item in his store be 100% Made in USA including the packaging.

Most of the employees Mr. Andol had to lay off he now employs in his store.   

His store launch was quite successful.  The store is stocked with a variety of U.S. made goods as well as his own products.  If you are in or near Elma, New York stop in to browse and shop.  If you reside elsewhere in the country you can click the photo below and shop his online store. 

As an American manufacturer I can tell you that it's extremely difficult to get shelf space in large chain stores.  Large retail chains prefer imported products because they come with a larger profit margin.  It makes sense because there isn't quality, safety, innovation, craftsmanship, etc. built into those products.  That leaves a greater margin for profit.  No, the chain stores didn't pass on any savings to you, the consumer. 

This is the third brick and mortar store that we've found with exclusively Made in USA inventory.  Other prudent merchants will likely embrace the same concept.  With each new such retail location comes another opportunity for American manufacturers to find shelf space. 

This is the right direction.  Well done Mr. Andol. 

Country artist Ricky Lee recorded a song that just might be my new favorite Country tune. 

Please visit our site to browse and shop the companies who can compete.

Mary - Proud American manufacturer and web person for FindUSMade.com

Whirlpool Update - 19.3 Million Taxpayer Dollars

Disclosure: Whirlpool Corporation is not a competitor to my own company.

A company's reputation and public image is very important.  Companies often spend a bundle to carefully craft their image for consumers and no company looks forward to bad publicity.

A brand name is carefully developed and promoted with the hope it will embed itself in the conscious and subconscious minds of consumers.  I cultivate and guard the reputation of my own brand as will my son after me.

Whirlpool, the company and the brand enjoyed decades of consumer trust and regard. They are a splendid example though of how a brand is betrayed.

I wrote a post in September 2009 about Whirlpool and there is now more to write about the company.

Whirlpool is presently engaged in damage control. There is fallout from their decision to close their Evansville, Indiana plant.

Whirlpool is not committed to U.S. manufacturing, precisely why they sit on our watch list. They've spent years closing U.S. plants and moving production abroad to low wage countries. They have several plants in Mexico where they will pay inexperienced workers $70.00 per week after they close the Evansville plant. Whirlpool is presently busy removing equipment & machinery from the plant and shipping it to Mexico.

It does not matter that my company and the thousands we list on our site can compete in the marketplace. It does not matter that G.E. returned to the U.S. to manufacture appliances. It does not matter that Evansville extended numerous tax breaks to Whirlpool and community members, including Whirlpool employees actually subsidized the corporation. It does not matter that Whirlpool applied for and received $19.3 million taxpayer dollars in stimulus funds to offset their research costs. It also does not matter that Whirlpool enjoys about $19 billion per year in sales.

Even though the rest of us can compete - what matters is that appliance giant Whirlpool is unable to compete, even with taxpayer assistance. Whirlpool Corporation can only afford $1.75 per hour employees.

This is Mr. Jeff Fettig, CEO of Whirlpool Corporation.

You and I know the buck stops at his desk but you'll have to excuse him because he's been preoccupied.

Whirlpool Corporation is headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Ever since Whirlpool and other manufacturers moved production from Benton Harbor, the area has been in decline and a state of decay set in with high unemployment and poverty. The cruel and deplorable results of offshoring lay just outside Whirlpool's doors. Rather than witness & comprehend what their management & policies delivered to their fellow Americans, Whirlpool sought to remake the area as a community befitting a global corporation.

Mr. Fettig, like the CEO before him wanted a "world class community" with a world class golf course. Mr. Fettig and a developer were busy for several years battling with local residents over a public park.

In 1917, 73 acres of land situated on Lake Michigan were donated to the townspeople of Benton Harbor in perpetuity. It was known as Jean Klock Park.

John & Carrie Klock deeded the property to the city in honor of their deceased daughter, Jean.

"Perhaps some of you do not own a foot of ground, remember then, that this is your park, it belongs to you. Perhaps some of you have no piano or phonograph, the roll of the water murmuring in calm, roaring in storm, is your music, your piano and music box... The beach is yours, the drive is yours, the dunes are yours, all yours. It is not so much a gift from my wife and myself, it's a gift from a little child. See to it, that the park is the children's." - John Nellis Klock

The community treasured their park and fought for it but Whirlpool needed that lakefront property for their world class golf course. The majestic Lake Michigan views are now for Mr. Fettig and other Whirlpool executives to enjoy.

The developer, Harbor Shores did receive at least 120 million in funding and tax incentives from the state of Michigan. To compensate for the community's reduction in public parkland, Harbor Shores swapped some other parcels of land for the desired public property. It turned out that those other parcels were contaminated with dangerous levels of lead, arsenic, volatile organic compounds, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. The Harbor Shores Board President is David Whitwam, retired Whirlpool CEO. I'm sure Mr. Whitwam considered a swap of contaminated inland parcels for pristine lake front public property a square deal.

This is Mr. David R. Whitwam, Retired Whirlpool CEO, Harbor Shores Board President.
 
Whirlpool insisted that the course would benefit the community. Per capita income for Benton Harbor is $8,965, the lowest in Michigan. If you are in the area and you'd like to play this course rather than the numerous other courses in the vicinity, schedule a tee time two weeks in advance and take about $175.00 with you - the cost of a round of golf.

I have no doubt that such a course is a morale booster for Whirlpool executives. As I recall time spent at my club, the course is a relaxing place to discuss business. I don't expect any Whirlpool executives to catch a clue though by the 18th hole as they ponder ways to approach damage control.

You see the 1,000 American workers in Evansville are understandably displeased with the closure of their plant. As Americans with strongly held views will do, they planned a demonstration outside their workplace. Upon learning of these plans, one of Whirlpool's executives laid down his golf club long enough to send a memo to those employees explaining that "these negative activities will only hamper employees when they look for future jobs."

The purpose of the memo was to limit publicity and public awareness of Whirlpool's actions. Whirlpool prefers to discreetly export American jobs while reaching into taxpayers pockets. After all, they do have a brand to protect.

Whirlpool attempted to intimidate their employees who held their demonstration anyway and have now filed a Federal case against Whirlpool with the National Labor Relations Board.

In a recent interview Mr. Fettig was asked the following question:

"Ethics has also been a big issue in the press. Some companies and some sectors in particular have been hit very hard by ethical issues. Are you doing anything differently in this arena?"

This was Mr. Fettig's answer to the question:

"We have had a long history, dating back to the beginning of the company, of being a very ethical and morally responsible company. It is part of our culture. We evaluate people on ethics. We have a very broad compliance and training program. We have a saying at Whirlpool: There's no right way to do the wrong thing. At the same time, we are a big global company. We have 70,000 people in 170 different countries. You always worry that someone somewhere could do something that is not appropriate."

Next year, Whirlpool will market their new smart dryers which you, the American taxpayer helped finance. They will only cost you about $10.00 to $20.00 more and are expected to save you between $20.00 and $40.00 per year in electric costs. Sales are down for Whirlpool and they no doubt have high hopes for this innovation. By 2015 they will incorporate this technology into all their electric appliances they produce worldwide.

This U.S. taxpayer funded innovation could improve sales for Whirlpool - well, unless someone somewhere did something that was not appropriate and hurt their brand.

Mary - Proud American manufacturer and webperson for FindUSMade.com

Whirlpool Corporation - Another Failure to Compete

Advertisement Transcript:

This country may be in danger
It could be losing something we can’t afford to lose.

Once in this country when a man produced a product it was the best he could possibly make

He stood behind it
With pride

He lived a simple idea
Do it right or don’t do it at all

Nobody told him that
No government agency dictated it

And it built a standard of living
For the world to aim at

Now that idea is threatened
By shod, the second rate

To some it means quick riches

To some it means quick death
Of the standards we have built

Some are fighting this threat

Whirlpool Corporation believes in one simple idea
To continue to design, build and service home appliances
The right way, with pride, so you can live with them comfortably for years
Or they will not build them at all

If we can’t keep this simple idea alive
Then indeed we are the endangered species.
___________________________________________________

Countless times as a child, I heard the message from both my parents, “do it right or don’t do it at all.” I was raised on that philosophy just as I suspect were many Americans. I agree with the message in the above advertisement even if I lack that particular level of testosterone. Yes, Americans worked hard, produced the best products possible and built a standard of living for the balance of the world to strive to achieve. Whirlpool Corporation, like myself perceived a threat to this country from “the second rate.”

Today, the difference between Whirlpool Corporation and myself is that I maintain my ideals not unlike the many thousands of American manufacturers we list on our site.

Once upon a time, Whirlpool Corporation had a fine reputation due to their innovation & dedication to quality. Today their concern is cost cutting - not innovation, quality or keeping alive a “simple idea.”

Whirlpool announced that they will close their plant in Evansville, Indiana and move production of their top mount refrigerators to Mexico next year demonstrating again that Whirlpool now embraces what it once recognized as a threat.

From their August 28, 2009 press conference:

"While Evansville has most certainly had the best quality, it has not been competitive in terms of cost and asset utilization for some time. That combined with a decrease in demand for top mount refrigerators, aggressive new global competitors and the continued effects of a recessionary economy, are requiring Whirlpool, like many companies, to take unprecedented steps to help ensure that it remains competitive."

Please note that Whirlpool acknowledges that their Evansville plant has the best quality and they are willing to sacrifice that quality for other concerns. Whirlpool also states that this recessionary economy contributed to their decision to move production. That recessionary economy is the very same one that the thousands of manufacturers we list on our site navigate and persevere yet proves too difficult for Whirlpool. I’m smiling now thinking my own company must be better managed than Whirlpool Corporation.

Two other things struck me in that paragraph from their press conference. The use of the word “requiring” implies that this decision was the result of having no other choice, or that some external entity is forcing them to close this plant. If those who manage Whirlpool Corporation lack an understanding of corporate responsibility, they likely also lack an understanding of personal responsibility.

There is also the phrase “like many companies,” as though no one need take this decision personally or think ill of Whirlpool since they are just one of many companies moving production and are actually part of a trend - m’kay?

I can tell you about a trend - in lean manufacturing, something many companies are pursuing and utilizing enabling them to better compete in the marketplace. By comparison, Whirlpool established committees to explore such techniques. Those committees meet regularly and discuss what other companies are actually busy implementing.

Okay, so Whirlpool Corporation is not exactly trend setting or cutting edge. They needed to cut costs so the first thing, or the second thing they considered, after establishing committees was to move production to a low wage country. Or perhaps it wasn’t the first thing they considered.

Perhaps they reviewed their entire operation and business model. Perhaps they reviewed their levels of management and compensation packages. Perhaps they studied each and every one of their expenses and made all prudent cuts eliminating all waste. Perhaps they engaged with their workforce and implemented the ideas and suggestions from the very people who daily have their hands on product. Perhaps they are truly operating as effectively and efficiently as possible - honest to goodness running lean & mean and is still reduced to moving production to Mexico.

Which scenario strikes you as more likely?

The Whirlpool press conference also noted "unprecedented steps" which confuses me since Whirlpool had already closed some plants in the US and moved production to Mexico. There doesn’t seem to be anything unprecedented about this type of production move, it’s just another step that indicates Whirlpool’s inability to innovate and compete. I would though categorize as “unprecedented steps” the occasion when Whirlpool moved some production from Mexico back to the US because of a high failure rate in those particular foreign made appliances.

The average person may believe that highly paid/compensated individuals, well educated and with experience, such as those who run large corporations, certainly must know what they are doing.

Pause for a moment and consider our bankers…

Couldn’t you make better decisions? Give it a try. Come sit in the big chair in the large office on the top floor. You need to cut costs for your company. You can continue to manufacture in the US with your skilled experienced workforce and cut other costs. Trust me on this - if you are blessed with a capable, highly trained & experienced workforce, you have one heck of an asset! Then, if you manage a company well, you can make some real money.

Or, you can move production to northern Mexico, incurring some freight costs and hassles at the border. You leave behind the most productive workers in the world, American workers trading for low wage workers. That cuts wage costs but you’ll have higher, ongoing training costs due to the high attrition rate in the Mexican workforce. You’ll trade the infrastructure in the US for the infrastructure in Mexico. You’ll operate in a country with drug cartels with armed thugs that number as large as the Mexican military. Consider also that those drug cartels sometimes extort “protection” money from US companies.

You might also consider the growing desire for US made goods by American consumers and their growing dissatisfaction with imported products. Now consider that my own company is operating in this recessionary economy and I made cuts in our costs, none of which had any impact whatsoever on product or workers. My approach was to cut fat, not meat.

What would be your approach?

That’s what I thought. See, you would do well seated in the big chair in the office on the top floor.

When companies can so easily and readily abandon manufacturing here for manufacturing elsewhere, there really isn’t a framework in place to compel companies to focus on themselves and their products so they can improve, advance & innovate, is there? They can simply trot off to another country with their same poor practices, inefficiencies, behaviors & imprudent management decisions. They can readily preserve the “fat” in their companies while sacrificing the “meat.” The consumer is not well served in such an environment.

As a consumer, would you purchase the refrigerator that was built by Americans with decades of experience or would you buy the refrigerator built by a person with perhaps months of experience if they lasted that long on the job?

Whirlpool is moving production to Mexico supposedly so they can better compete with new global competitors, correct? So consumers can expect a decrease in the price of those top mount refrigerators that will be made in Mexico, correct? Now if the price remains stable, we’ll know that Whirlpool simply enlarged their profit margin, won’t we? And they only had to sacrifice quality and over 1,000 American jobs to accomplish that feat.

We’ve all been to this rodeo, haven’t we?

Whirlpool Corporation has many divisions and still manufactures some brands in the US such as KitchenAid products. I have no confidence in their dedication to US manufacturing so their product lines sit on our watch list. Personally, I would still purchase those US made brands, placing greater faith in American workers than I do in the management personnel of Whirlpool Corporation.

It’s pitiful and sad to me to see a once great company falter and fail with their best days behind them.

Sadly, Whirlpool Corporation is unable to keep a simple idea alive.

“Do it right or don’t do it at all,” as my parents would say…

Please visit our site to browse and shop the companies who can compete

Mary - Webperson for FindUSMade.com