Made in USA Works connects businesses to big retail markets
When it launched five months ago, Made in USA Works LLC was operating out of a Benton County living room.
By January, the consulting firm for manufacturers and suppliers looking to be part of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Made in America initiative will be moving from one office into another inside an eight-story building across from the retailer’s home office.
“It’s bigger than we thought, more diverse than we thought,” said Made in USA Works Executive Vice President Chris Neeley, a former public affairs director for Wal-Mart. “We will wind up doubling in size in just a few months. We’ve got a unique niche.”
A look at Made in USA Works’ last six weeks provides a snapshot of the scope and diversity of the company’s work so far. Since mid-October, the firm has met with people in 23 countries who have companies inter--
ested in moving manufacturing to the United States. Clients and potential clients include companies as different as a Greek olive oil company, a maker of Turkish candy, a Vietnamese coffee and tea producer, and a manufacturer of laptop and tablet accessories.
Since opening June 17 in Neeley’s home, Made in USA Works has had meetings with more than 200 companies. Those include established manufacturers that are currently operating overseas and small- to mid-sized American companies looking to break into the markets offered by Wal-Mart or other large retailers.
Made in USA Works is part of the Little Rock-based Roberts Group. Mike Roberts, a Little Rock attorney and businessman, opened the Roberts Law Firm in 1991 and the company has evolved from a litigation and insurance defense firm to an assortment of corporate-related work including transactions, litigation and business development. There also is a component of the Roberts Group focused on companies interested in corporate development internationally.
With Wal-Mart pledging to purchase $250 billion worth of U.S.-made goods through 2023, Roberts — a commissioner for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission — saw an opportunity. Other retailers plan to follow Wal-Mart’s lead and the company also is exploring options there as well.
“This is a great platform for companies who want to have access to Wal-Mart and other companies who have Made in the USA initiatives,” Roberts said. “We started in late spring, early summer and have seen a lot of opportunity.”
Those opportunities have led to relatively rapid expansion. In addition to quickly outgrowing office space, the company has grown from two employees to 10 full-time workers and advisers. Among the most recent is lawyer Asa Hutchinson III. Others include Ada Hollingsworth, a former campaign aide for Bill Clinton, and Dimitrios Tsikouris, a former Greek diplomat.
Hutchinson, who previously operated a law firm with his father, Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson, joined Made in USA Works earlier this month. Prior experience with corporations, international clients and intellectual property and employment law will be a plus for Made in USA Works, Hutchinson said.
“A lot of clients I’ve had or worked with want to do the same things Made in the USA Works wants to do,” Hutchinson. “There are going to be clients that need legal services. I’m very excited about the opportunity. It’s going to be great for Arkansas. It’s a blessing for us to have Wal-Mart dedicated to getting Arkansas re-shoring jobs here. I’m very excited.”
Hutchinson’s existing clients in the Hutchinson Law Firm will be taken on as clients by the Roberts Law Firm. Hutchinson, who was still doing deposition work in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, said he hoped to be fully on board with Made in USA Works by Jan. 1.
Already, he and Neeley have meetings set up in Vietnam to talk with manufacturers about how to move at least a portion of their business to the United States.
During its August manufacturing summit in Denver, executives and suppliers for Wal-Mart outlined some of the challenges associated with its quest to stock shelves with more U.S.-made products. Manufacturing outside the United States will take time to re-establish here and smaller suppliers breaking into WalMart for the first time will face difficulties in ramping up production, while keeping costs low enough to satisfy the Bentonville retailer.
“It’s a journey with a destination of a recharged economy,” said Michelle Gloeckler, executive vice president of the consumables division and U.S. manufacturing lead for Wal-Mart U.S., said during the summit.
Wal-Mart declined an interview request for this story. A spokesman said the company didn’t have much to add and the issues presented in August “are still the main challenges companies are facing.”
It is the mission of Made in USA Works to help navigate those challenges.
Along with those challenges comes criticism. A pair of highly publicized reshoring efforts have not gone as smoothly as the companies would have liked. Neeley said it’s natural there would be a learning curve.
Future companies, for example, likely will be more stealthy than Redman & Associates, which publicly stated its plans to help Nuvzn Technologies of China make children’s toys in Rogers. Nuvzn Technologies laid off 24 employees in September and announced it was ceasing domestic manufacturing after running into issues with the Chinese government.
Redman, which has shifted its focus to other manufacturing and logistics operations, filed a federal lawsuit against its Chinese import supplier, Sales Chief Ent. (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., claiming there is pressure to kill the Made in USA program.
“This isn’t going to be widespread, but China isn’t going to go down without a fight,” Neeley said. “They’ll do everything they can to keep manufacturing in their country. The problem is they have economic forces working against them.”
Element Electronics was initially praised for establishing operations in South Carolina, but has come under criticism because its Chinesemade TVs only are assembled in the United States and not totally manufactured here. Eventually, the company will increase the amount of work being done on the televisions in the United States.
Incremental progress is better than none, Neeley said. It’s up to Made in USA Works to help companies assess whether they are best-served to ramp up incrementally or begin manufacturing and supplying here all at once.
“There are people who want to be critical and worry about whether it’s 100 percent or 90 percent or 70 percent made here,” Neeley said. “Look, if it’s creating jobs in America and some parts of the product are being made or assembled here, let’s give credit where credit is due. You have to start somewhere if you’re going to rebuild it and get to 100 percent. The supply chain isn’t getting rebuilt overnight.”
Retailers pushing for more products manufactured in the states will be good for all of the country, but Roberts, Neeley and Hutchinson see opportunities for Arkansas. Already the state is a transportation and logistics hub and its proximity to larger markets such as Memphis; Kansas City, Mo.; and Dallas will help make it an attractive option.
Neeley notes that WalMart suppliers already have offices for marketing and other services here. Where it makes sense, Made in USA Works is hoping to convince companies to handle assembly, distribution and other facets of their operations in Arkansas.
“Wal-Mart has a great program with Made in the USA,” Hutchinson said. “We want to help that. We want Arkansas jobs, in particular. This is an opportunity to help economic development and job creation in Arkansas.”