Every year at this time millions of America's young people prepare to return to school and are shopping with their families for school supplies and clothing. In the last 25 years the majority of school-related products went from being almost exclusively made in America to largely foreign made. This year, because of the efforts of supporters of the Buy American Made Campaign, there has been some improvement, but as you can see from the labels on products, foreign made still far outweigh American made products.

During the last few weeks, while shopping I looked at school related items and spoke with several sales representatives. This year in addition to seeing more items with made in America labels, I also found that store personnel were more responsive to inquiries regarding items made in the U.S.A. As I hear reports from sales representatives that people are speaking up about the made in America issue, I feel we have helped to maintain and create more jobs for American workers in the school supplies industry.

As you shop for school and fall seasonal items, I urge you to alert store personnel of your concerns so they pass on the word to managers, owners and investors. If you don't like the responses you receive from your inquiries, walk out the door and shop elsewhere. No business these days wants to see customers walking away because their store has become an outlet for foreign products.  If we continue our efforts to support the Buy American Made Campaign and contact our elected officials and business leaders, we will continue to see a broader selection of American made products in stores and more Americans employed again.

Thanks for being part of the Buy American Made Campaign. I encourage you to discuss our efforts with your family, friends and neighbors and also ask them to spread the word. Together we are making a difference. Thanks for your participation.

This is Michael Blichasz.  Every Wednesday from 11 A.M. to 12 noon, tune in to American Workers Radio on 860 AM serving Philadelphia and the Tri-State area. You can also listen live or to rebroadcasts from anywhere in the world from the easy access links located on the front page of: AmericanWorkersRadio.com