(StatePoint) As the holiday season ramps up, shoppers may be paying more attention to where and how their products were made.
While a significant portion of factory jobs have moved offshore over the last few decades, some companies maintain manufacturing facilities stateside, touting benefits to workers, communities and end-consumers.
In the case of Renewal by Andersen, the full-service window and door replacement division of Andersen Corporation, its state-of-the-art Cottage Grove flagship campus in Minnesota, just 10 miles south of Saint Paul, employs approximately 1,424 manufacturing professionals. And approximately 900 additional jobs are planned as they prepare to open a new facility in Locust Grove, Georgia in 2026. Renewal by Andersen windows are custom built in the United States with U.S. and imported parts, and the company’s designing, engineering, manufacturing and testing of energy-efficient composite windows, conducted locally, is the essential middle component of an end-to-end customer experience that begins with an in-home consultation and results in professional installation and continued customer support.
This is part of a larger cycle: local workers assemble exceptional products; satisfied customers share their stories; demand grows and local economies thrive.
The impact of domestic manufacturing can sometimes even go beyond job creation and a seamless customer experience. Companies that choose to keep manufacturing stateside often have robust philanthropic programs that support the communities where their employees live and work. Through its Renewal Cares program, Renewal by Andersen and its retail network support over 100 local charities across the United States. These efforts are as wide-ranging as helping a veteran with a new patio door, replacing all the windows of a youth camp, raising more than $5 million for the American Cancer Society (ACS), and replacing windows in multiple ACS Hope Lodges, which provide free lodging for patients undergoing treatment.
While consumers have endless choices today, selecting products manufactured domestically often means supporting the economy and the resilience of local communities.
