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The Tip is 'Manufacturer's sites' I recently ran out of my favorite pancake syrup. I loved the brand we had been using but when I went to the grocery store, I couldn't find it. The syrup was made in Indiana and I was living in Florida at the time. I tried unsuccessfully to find it on an internet. The manufacturer is small and their products are not readily available so I thought I would try their website. They did, in fact, have their own internet store so I ordered it directly from them. Now, I always buy their made in USA maple syrup from their website and never run out. Made in America Secrets has thousands of made in USA products offered by hundreds of small manufacturers. These small Made in America companies are a large contributor to our economy. In fact, according to the 2008 US Census Bureau small businesses, those employing 1 to 99 employees comprise 98% of all the USA businesses. This is equivalent to 5.8 million businesses that employee over 40 million people. Most American's are unaware of how significant small business is when compared to the total size of the US economy. This website is aware of it and that is why 99% of the businesses that advertise on Made in America Secrets are small businesses. Use this web site to for a list of products made in the US- especially since it is likely that a small US manufacturer employs someone you know- your husband, wife, children, or grandchildren. When using Google to search for Made in America products often times these small made in the United States businesses never show up on page one- and most folks don't look past page one. What does this mean? The consumer has a difficult time locating that US made product. Made in America Secrets was conceived to provide a solution to that problem. As an example search for motorcycles Made in America using Google and you will likely miss many of the companies that make this country great. Use Made in America Secrets for the search and you will likely find a hidden jewel. Buying Tip Continued - Read more on Made in America Products by Performance Scrubs During the 1970's, two European companies began experimenting with fabrics that would help keep athletes dry while competing in extremely cold temperatures. This early wicking material was primitive, felt like burlap and carried an odor. However, it achieved the initial goal of controlling moisture. Kirby Best, one of the Performance Scrubs founders, was a Canadian National Ski Team and Bobsled Team athlete and tested the material during his training and competitions during the 70's and 80's. In 2001, Kirby's wife, Anne, was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and was desperate for help to combat the negative effects of her treatment. Kirby suggested she wear his early wicking polypropylene long underwear. The results were amazing. Unfortunately, while this helped manage the night sweats, the garment was both uncomfortable and unflattering. The past three decades have brought a marked improvement to the look, feel and performance of moisture-wicking fabric. Today, the fabric is light, soft and silky, has odor controlling properties, helps moderate body temperature and is available in a variety of weights and finishes. The proliferation of this fabric in the athletic industry reaches every sport, is sold to all ages, and has replaced cotton clothing among elite athletes. The most recognizable brands using this material are UnderArmour?, Nike's Dri-fit?, and Coolmax?. In 2002, working with wicking material provided by Milliken & Company, Kirby started making sleepwear for Anne using this new kind of material. The effects for Anne were dramatic. Following remission from her cancer she decided to continue to develop sleepwear for women and men in the same predicament. Thus Performance Sleepwear was born. The business, based from home and marketed under the DryDreams brand, gradually grew a loyal client base and demand grew for garments made from this new material. Due to the personal nature of DryDreams, profits from this venture have been donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Today, through the iShare! Program, Performance Scrubs is building an organization that helps support the worthy causes of the organizations that help tell the world about the sustainability of Performance Scrubs - a win for the customer, the cause and the company. In 2009 Kirby was introduced to Cullman Regional Medical Center, a ?Top 15? U.S. hospital located in Cullman, Alabama. The CEO of the hospital was aware of the Performance Sleepwear line and asked Performance to design a new scrub and gown for his hospital teams using the specialized fabric. Up to this point the material that Performance was using in its sleepwear line had only achieved measurable popularity in the sports market. Recognizing the need that exists within the medical, dental and veterinary fields, Performance sought to expand its partnership with innovative fabric creator Milliken & Company to explore fully this opportunity. Due in part to the vision and highly skilled team that Performance has created for this endeavor, Milliken & Company, which is a $2.3 billion private company, worked with Performance to tailor its innovative fabric specifically for the health care sector. Testing has revealed that these next-generation scrubs are catching on and medical professionals are dumping their cotton incubators and adopting this next generation line of scrubs. |
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