When visitors arrive at the office of America Knits in tiny Swainsboro, Ga., the first thing they see on the wall is a black-and-white photo that a company co-founder, Steve Hawkins, discovered in a local antiques store.
It depicts one of a score of textile mills that once dotted the area, along with the workers that toiled on its machines and powered the local economy. The scene reflects the heyday and to Hawkins, the potential of making clothes in the rural South.
Some companies will test whether the United States can regain some of the manufacturing output it ceded in recent decades to China and other countries.
For much of this year, Joseph Norwood’s next breath was locked in a zero-sum competition with people eager to upgrade their iPhones. Norwood has sleep apnea, meaning that he frequently stops breathing while sleeping. A device known as a CPAP or continuous positive airway pressure machine can pump air into his body through .
A maker of medical devices can’t keep up with customer demand as the shortage of computer chips puts it in competition with bigger companies with more clout.