What would reshoring sewn trades production to the United States take?

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Urban Manufacturing Alliance (UMA) was already preparing research on equitable economic development opportunities in the sewn trades industry with members of our Sewn Trades Collective (STC). And as the pandemic set in and the call to reshore domestic production grew — particularly to meet the immediate need of PPE production — we found a renewed resonance in the workforce and entrepreneurial development activities of our STC members.

We are proud to release our report, “Sewn Trades Manufacturing in the United States: From pre-COVID state of the industry to the frontline responses to PPE demands.” This piece both identifies opportunities for sewn trades leaders in the United States to reinvigorate their industry and also showcases the heroic response of a select group of our STC members who pivoted both their production and training programs to meet this moment’s needs.