I do enough writing for others that I’ve hesitated to make the commitment to a blog, but I’ve been encouraged to stop being the shoemaker’s child and to allow myself the indulgence of writing here.

As it happens, I’ve been thinking about shoemakers recently. Shoemakers or anything-makers. Makers are important. They are at the heart of a thriving community, for it is successful “makers” who draw positive cash flow into a region.

Think about the economic impact that takes place when the 14 year old next door offers to mow my lawn for $10. The wealth in Brian’s room increases. The wealth in Brian’s house increases. However, the wealth on our street remains the same because the cash only moved 300 feet.  Most services are delivered locally, moving wealth from one address to another, but not influencing the net wealth of the community.

Somewhere along the way, we accepted that America would become a service economy.  And we’re missing the Makers, the jobs they create and the wealth that they bring to our community and to our country.  Somewhere along the way, we accepted that price was the only critical criterion for our purchases – of products, of labor, of raw materials.

Why did we agree to this? As consumers, we’ve seen declining durability in products and we reminisce over the days when things were made to last. We’ve seen different quality standards that resulted in tainted food products and toys with lead paint. We turn a blind eye to child labor, unsafe work conditions and environmental pollution because it’s not happening in our own back yard. Why are we willing to pay more for a “green” product, but not willing to pay more for a product made under the conditions that we ourselves mandated for United State manufacturers?

Consumers are held captive by the product choices that retailers make, but you can at least look for the Made in the USA label.  B2B purchasing should think about the “big picture” TCO.  Are you feeding – or starving – your own food chain?  Entrepreneurs should think long and hard about the “best” place to have your products manufactured.  You may be surprised at the value delivered “onshore”.

Perhaps the time has come for the resurgence of Makers.