Making It in America

October 15, 2023
What does "Made in the U.S.A." mean these days? One company's odyssey suggests an answer. There aren't many success stories in 21st-century American manufacturing, but Slade, a journalist and bestselling author of Into the Raging Sea, has found one: an apparel firm called American Roots, founded by idealistic Ben and Whitney Waxman. They were determined to compete against cheap imports while paying their workers at good rates and with union benefits to make vests, shirts, and hoodies. When the pandemic hit, the firm pivoted to produce face shields and other protective equipment, reconfiguring their factory so workers could operate safely. The American Roots story shows that manufacturing in the U.S. is alive and deserves support, which makes it unfortunate that Slade often wanders away from the primary narrative. The text meanders for 100 pages before the company is established; after that, the author takes numerous detours to deliver diatribes on misleading official statements about masking made during the pandemic and "the demonization of unions, wrapped in the new mystical language of free trade." Granted, a certain amount of background information and cultural context is welcome, but the amount of it here raises the question as to what the book is really about. Slade is on firmer ground when she examines the problems of running the company, from haggling with fabric suppliers and finding skilled employees to monitoring the bottom line. It was a constant battle between operational efficiency and social objectives, but eventually, the Waxmans found a balance. By the end of the book, American Roots is poised for the next step in its growth path. If Slade had been willing to tell the story in straightforward terms, this would have been a more readable, engaging book. A sometimes illuminating but uneven examination of the current state of American manufacturing.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2023
The U.S. clothing manufacturing industry has been waning for decades. Free trade agreements like NAFTA and clothing companies' concerns with maximizing profits led to rampant outsourcing to other countries. The vast majority of clothing sold in the U.S. is now made elsewhere. Affable and proactive, Ben Waxman had worked as an organizer for the AFL-CIO and, in addition to his knowledge of employee struggles, was familiar with clothing manufacturing through his mother's work. In 2013, Ben and his wife-to-be, Whitney, formed American Roots, a company that would specialize in making hoodies and other clothing accessories in Portland, Maine. The combination of union labor and domestically sourced materials has made this company distinct. In this biography of a business and its founders, Slade (Into the Raging Sea, 2018) both provides a wealth of background information on the rise and fall of manufacturing in America and tells a story of rebellious entrepreneurship, one full of hope, determination, and the American spirit.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from November 27, 2023
Journalist Slade (Into the Raging Sea) offers an incisive look at the history and current state of American manufacturing. Using as a lens the story of Ben and Whitney Waxman—a young couple with backgrounds in union organizing and working low-paid jobs who set out in 2015 to found an entirely American-made hoodie company in Portland, Maine—she charts the once stalwart American garment industry’s slow death, from billionaire attacks on the early unions in the 1930s, through international trade agreements such as NAFTA. She shows how the latter have allowed multinational corporations to move production to countries with fewer rights and protections for workers or the environment, thereby lowering their costs and undercutting American-based manufacturing with cheap imports. Tracking the Waxmans’ difficulties sourcing American-made cotton fleece, drawstrings, zippers, and grommets in this depleted manufacturing landscape, Slade delves into the histories of the companies they eventually find to supply them, some of which have been family owned for over 100 years. The Waxmans’ company, American Roots, has transformed their community, according to Slade, who writes that every hoodie made “supports one-hundred-plus Maine workers.” This galvanizing call for Americans “to start making things for themselves” serves as both a sweeping report on a globalized industry and a practical road map for aspiring small-scale manufacturers. Readers will feel invigorated.