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From Autos to Apparel: Michigan Broadens its Economic Base
TD Industrial Coverings in Sterling2 Heights, Michigan, uses industrial sewing equipment to make nylon coverings for the robots used in auto1 assembly plants.
But when the three major American auto makers3 nearly went bankrupt in 2008, President Mark D'Andreta had to lay off more than 75 per cent of his workers.
“After that experience I never want to go through that again,” said D’Andreta. “So we decided4 to take what it is we do really well and try to map it outside of the automotive industry which, as a cut and sew shop, led us to apparel.”
With help from a business partner, D'Andreta retooled5 his factory floor and launched Motor City Denim6, a clothing line of jeans and other urban apparel that styles itself as “industrial couture.”
He is among a small but growing number of Michigan business people venturing into the garment trade as a way to diversify7 beyond the auto sector8.
Today, D’Andreta divides his factory floor space to create a distinction between his automotive and apparel production lines.
“We actually move sewers9 in and out depending on work load and how much volume we’ve got," he said. "It’s that balancing of the resources that is allowing us to really get a diversification10 effort [and] to get into the apparel business."
Yelena Gaziyan was one of the lucky few who kept her job at TD Industrial during the auto industry downturn.
These days she is interviewing applicants11 for seamstress jobs but says the company is having trouble finding skilled workers.
Gaziyan says she has more job security today because the company has work in more than one sector.
“It’s an opportunity to have more customers,” said Gaziyan. “More jobs, more workers, so it’s better for us.”
And better for Michigan, says Eleanor Fuchs, an economic development planner who helped launch the Michigan Garment Industry Council in 2011.
The Council helps small garment operations across the state connect with each other to develop their business.
Fuchs says auto workers who were laid off in Michigan’s auto industry downturn are now being retrained for the state’s growing garment sector.
But she adds the garment industry needs to be one of many sectors12 that eventually lead to the diversification of Michigan’s economy.
“Those that are involved are incredibly committed to the revitalization of Michigan,” said Fuchs. “They want to see this succeed. They can see that it’s not the answer but that it’s part of the answer for the state as a whole.”
Michigan’s native clothing designers agree.
Bonnie Foley is founder13 of Christian14 LaRue, an upscale fashion label based in the affluent15 town of Birmingham north of Detroit.
She concedes that Michigan’s garment industry doesn’t employ many workers today but believes apparel manufacturing could one day provide more jobs in the state than many other non-automotive industries.
“We have the music industry, Motown. But that doesn’t really bring any jobs to anyone. So the only viable16 industry right now that I see growing all around me is the garment industry,”said Foley.
It’s unclear how many jobs have been created by Michigan’s burgeoning17 garment sector.
The industry includes family owned sheep farms and textile mills in the more industrial northern part of the state, as well as pattern makers, cut and sew operations, and fashion designers based around Detroit.
Eleanor Fuchs says apparel manufacturing accounts for less than $5 million of Michigan’s economy.
But she says the state wants to rebrand itself, eventually, as a manufacturing center for clothing made in the United States, and it plans to get there one stitch at a time.
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1 auto | |
n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车 | |
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2 sterling | |
adj.英币的(纯粹的,货真价实的);n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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3 makers | |
n.制造者,制造商(maker的复数形式) | |
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4 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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5 retooled | |
v.(给…)更换工具, (给…)更换机械设备( retool的过去式和过去分词 );改组,革新 | |
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6 denim | |
n.斜纹棉布;斜纹棉布裤,牛仔裤 | |
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7 diversify | |
v.(使)不同,(使)变得多样化 | |
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8 sector | |
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形 | |
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9 sewers | |
n.阴沟,污水管,下水道( sewer的名词复数 ) | |
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10 diversification | |
n.变化,多样化;多种经营 | |
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11 applicants | |
申请人,求职人( applicant的名词复数 ) | |
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12 sectors | |
n.部门( sector的名词复数 );领域;防御地区;扇形 | |
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13 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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14 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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15 affluent | |
adj.富裕的,富有的,丰富的,富饶的 | |
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16 viable | |
adj.可行的,切实可行的,能活下去的 | |
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17 burgeoning | |
adj.迅速成长的,迅速发展的v.发芽,抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 );迅速发展;发(芽),抽(枝) | |
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