Flexible companies change to stay put

Second of four parts

BRADFORD, Pa. — Zippo Manufacturing, a small-town company owned by the same family since it was founded in 1932, is hiring.

Zippo insists on making its iconic lighter, with a trademark rectangular shape and a distinctive slip-click shut, in the U.S. It is starting a production line for a new pocket lighter aimed at cigar aficionados and pipe smokers, and it plans to move manufacturing of a multipurpose lighter, used to light candles and grills, from China to Bradford, Pa.

“Made in the U.S.A. is the primary strategy — long term, it is to make everything here in Bradford,” said Gregory Booth, president and chief executive of the privately held company.

While many U.S. manufacturers continue to struggle, there are still healthy American companies that make products on U.S. soil, including Zippo and other icons of American manufacturing. Many more companies make products in which American consumers seldom consider the label, including machine tools, medical equipment, combat vehicles and precision components for computers.

In this four-part series, The Washington Times looks at the past, present and future of products made in the U.S.A. Today’s article examines U.S. manufacturers finding success at home and abroad.

‘Against a wall’

U.S. manufacturing limped along for three years, with industrial output declining in 2001 and growing only slightly the next two years.

In 2004, the manufacturing sector grew 4.8 percent, the strongest performance since 2000, and last year, manufacturing output rose 3.8 percent. U.S. companies are making more than ever before.

“Manufacturing is coming back,” said Al Frink, assistant secretary for manufacturing and services at the Commerce Department.

President Bush asked Congress to create Mr. Frink’s position, informally dubbed “manufacturing czar,” in January 2004 amid concerns of a sectorwide crisis and criticism that administration policies were failing a once-vital sector of the economy.

Mr. Frink is charged with helping manufacturers become more competitive by listening to their concerns and advocating for changes that would reduce regulatory and other costs, increase investment in research, better train workers and help companies export.

Mr. Frink, who founded and ran a California carpet manufacturer before joining the administration, acknowledges that the outlook for U.S. industry appeared bleak for a time and that some companies will falter.

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