Let’s Buy American!
Randy Wolken, President & CEO

It’s time to get serious about buying American products and services. As we begin to recover, our economic vitality and national security are at stake. We need to step up and buy from those who work and live in both New York State and the rest of our country. For far too long, we told ourselves that where goods were made did not matter. We told ourselves that price was the only thing that mattered. Both of these statements are blatantly false. It matters a lot where something is manufactured or delivered. Let’s start supporting American made products and services by looking to buy them whenever we can.

The great myth of the 20th Century is that we did not need to make things. We will be a service economy. Behind that myth was a great deal of shoddy economic theory. Service sector jobs generally pay less and are less secure. They also don’t fund research and development into the next generation of technology. Great products that we make here in our country have many advantages beyond outstanding jobs and a growing community. They are also environmentally friendly, use less energy for transportation, and contribute to more sustainable manufacturing practices. So many good things happen when we make the products we use and provide them to the world as exports. Made in America should be the worldwide standard for quality and the latest technology. It once was and needs to be again.

One of the first and most significant customers we need to focus on buying American are our local, state, and federal governments. Why aren’t taxpayer dollars being used to buy our own products and services? It’s our money – so let’s spend it on U.S. jobs. Trillions of dollars are spent at all levels of our government, and they should be supporting U.S. jobs here at home. We need legislation and purchasing practices to change. Just this week, we are seeing this with the Biden Administration’s Executive Order to Buy American. Also, Governor Cuomo has committed New York State to Buy American, emphasizing New York State products and services for such critical areas as medical products, PPE, and green energy investments.  This follows last year’s Buy American provisions around steel and iron for infrastructure investments in New York State. Billions are now being spent on good-paying jobs here in our communities. We need billions and trillions more spent on American goods and services.

We once knew we needed to be the leading producer of products and services in the world. It’s time we remember that economic and national security imperative once again. Our governments and citizens need to buy American. We need to help our neighbors grow back again as we come out of this economic downturn. Please join MACNY and others is both buying American and encouraging our political leaders to do so as well. Together we can build back stronger than ever!