Investing in American Jobs
At Walmart, we believe we can create more American
jobs by supporting more American manufacturing. By
making production more affordable and feasible in
the United States, we can bring our customers more
U.S.-made products and manufacturers can create
more jobs in America. This commitment is part of
our contribution to help continue to grow the
American economy.
Walmart supports American manufacturing.
According to data from our suppliers, items that are made,
sourced or grown right here in America already account for about
two-thirds of what Walmart spends to buy products for our U.S.
stores – but there is room to do more. With this in mind, last year,
we announced a bold new initiative to purchase an additional
$50 billion in U.S. products in 10 years. To put that into context,
each year we’ll spend increasingly more on U.S. products, and
when you add up what we spend each year, over the next decade
we have pledged to buy an additional $250 billion in American
products. The Boston Consulting Group, an independent
management consulting firm, has predicted that our investment
will create 250,000 manufacturing jobs. That’s not including
the multiplier effect: For every one manufacturing job, three
related service jobs are created.
We are focusing our efforts to grow U.S. manufacturing on
three fronts:
Walmart is investing
250
$
BILLION
in products that support
American Jobs
More than
250,000 Real Jobs
FOR
American Families
•by increasing what we already buy here – like
sporting goods, apparel, storage products, games
and paper products;
• s ourcing “new to Walmart”
U.S. manufactured
goods; and
• h
elping to onshore U.S.
production in high potential
areas like textiles, furniture
and higher-end appliances.
Get
to know Walmart.
Visit walmart.com/americanjobs for more information.
Walmart supports innovation.
We know that keeping dollars in our local and
state economies strengthens our communities,
encourages business growth and keeps people
employed. That’s why we’ve stepped up our
commitment to supporting local and American
businesses. In January 2014, Walmart and the
Walmart Foundation announced a new initiative
through which we will provide $10 million to fund
a five-year program that will provide grants to
innovators in the manufacturing sector seeking to
create new processes, ideas and jobs that support
America’s growing manufacturing footprint.
Our efforts are paying off for American companies and creating jobs.
Working with new and existing suppliers, we have made significant
progress in spurring new investment and manufacturing. Some
examples of new opportunities include the following:
• Kent International, Inc., which has designed and produced
bicycles for 56 years, opened its first U.S. manufacturing facility in
Manning, South Carolina, in October 2014. The company expects
to produce 500,000 bicycles by the end of 2016 and bring 175 jobs
to the area over the next three years. The Kent-made bikes will be
the first U.S.-assembled bicycles sold at Walmart stores in more
than a decade.
• In July 2014, Walmart hosted our first-ever Made in the
USA Supplier Open Call, where we invited more than 500
manufacturers who make products right here in the US. to
gather at our headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, to pitch their
products to our merchant teams for the possibility of securing a
deal to sell their goods with us. Jarratt Industries, owned by Hugh
and Nicole Jarratt and located in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, had a hit
with their unique Taco Plate. Walmart committed to purchasing at
least one million of the plates to sell on Walmart.com.
• Element Electronics opened a factory in Winnsboro, South
Carolina, where it employs 500 people to assemble flat-screen TVs
for Walmart. Element attributes its decision to open the factory
directly to Walmart’s commitment to increasing U.S. manufacturing.
Get
to know Walmart.
Visit walmart.com/americanjobs for more information.