Decline of U.S. Manufacturing By any metric, U.S. manufacturing continues to decline. Visual Capitalist says, “Overall, the number of U.S. manufacturing firms has shrunk by 14% over 20 years, with 50% or higher drops in the apparel and textile mills sectors.       Amid factory closures across nearly all manufacturing sectors, employment has dropped to 13 million workers as of January 2023, down from its 1979 peak of 19.5 million workers. Today, manufacturing jobs make up roughly 10% of the U.S. private sector workforce.”  According to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “In the 40 years since manufacturing employment peaked, the industry...

Diversity or Optical Illusion?   THE HISTORY OF DEI   Although it is easy to look at diversity in the workplace as a fairly recent phenomenon, it is in fact the result of the evolution of political and social changes that have been on the march for over half a century. A summary of these changes can be seen in the following timeline: A HARD RIGHT TURN   Most political and societal trends tend to follow a pendulistic cycle, and DEI is no exception. A slate of executive orders, legal changes, and strong red political winds, as well as growing anti-DEI sentiment in the U.S., has...

Doris Day   Doris Day, an American actress, is also widely known for her 1956 song, Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be). The lyrics continue with, “The future’s not ours to see, Que Sera Sera.”   Perhaps at no time in the recent past has the phrase “the future’s not ours to see” been more germane. With an escalating worldwide trade war intensifying almost daily, businesses are on increasingly unsteady ground. Government policy can appear to be haphazard and opaque.   Planning is Critical   Planning for the future is critical for any business. The odds for success of any plan are largely based on being...

Is it live, or is it Memorex?   That was the question asked by the narrator in the 1972 Memorex ad campaign for their blank cassette tapes.   The campaign, created by the Leo Burnett ad agency in Chicago, set out to prove that the recording tape manufactured by their client had exacting sound precision so accurate that it could mimic the glass-shattering performance of a live singer.   ELLA FITZGERALD   Enter Ella Fitzgerald, jazz legend and gold standard for vocal excellence and exemplar of high-fidelity sound. The campaign was a huge success, enabling Memorex to break out of its narrow niche and enter...

The state of small businesses in 2025   By definition, a small business has less than 500 employees and annual revenue less than $7.5 million. Businesses that fall under this category account for 61.7 million employees, or 46.4% of the private sector workforce.   A DEEPER DIVE   According to the Pew Research Center, among the approximately 6 million small businesses with employees, 49% have just one to four workers. Broken down further, about a quarter (27%) have between five and 19 employees; 8% have 20 to 99; and just 1% have 100 to 499 workers. The remaining 14% had paid employees at some point...