Made in America Makes Jobs

Stephen Spielberg called, and we’re off to Hollywood! Okay, that’s not true, but we were on the news! Not just any news station either, we were on ABC World News.

Have you been watching the ABC News made in America nightly segment? ABC News had a month long campaign with Diane Sawyer and David Muir urging people to pledge $64 towards Christmas gifts this season. The reason? To create American jobs–about 200,000 of them. Last night David Muir had the wrap up of their challenge and discussed some companies positively affected by the Made in America movement.

Last year the ABC News Made in America team came to Vernon, Vermont to visit Vermont Woods Studios and discuss our very own Made in America Holiday Shopping Challenge. Our first shot at fame went on air few days before Christmas in 2011.  After a year of growth, ABC News circled back to Vermont Woods Studios once again. This year we hired five new people, proving that buying American made creates jobs. Our town, our company, and our new hires were all mentioned on last night’s segment. Thank you ABC World News for including us in your segment!

Diane & David- if you are reading this, you have an open invitation to come and visit our new, expanded furniture showroom this spring!

The post ABC News Made in America – We’re in! appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

I am really sorry if, like us, you were watching for a segment on our Made in America Christmas Challenge tonight.  We weren't there     I just asked the producer what happened and she explained that time constraints prevented our segment from being aired on schedule.  I guess this is not unusual as the news is never predictable.  Anyway, Christine assured me that our segment is still in the works and will be aired in the near future.  She will let me know when that is and I'll post it here and on our facebook.

Don't forget to tune in (or set your DVR) to ABC World News with Diane Sawyer at 6:30pm EST TONIGHT to see our crazy Christmas Shopping Challenge in patriotic Vernon, Vermont.   All your favorite American-made shopping stalwarts will be featured from the Town Hall, the Firestation, the Vernon elementary school, the Portside Tavern, Malhana Farm and Vermont Woods Studios Furniture (home of 100% American made, wood furniture).

Check out what the Brattleboro Reformer had to say about us and watch the previews on ABC.  

Here's the premsie:  Americans will spend, on average $700 per person on Christmas and holiday gifts this year.  If we allocated just $64 of that to American made gifts, we would generate 200,000 jobs, nation-wide.  So the question is:  Are you IN?

If you're IN, then get counted by joining us at our Made in America Holiday Shopping virtual Facebook event (it's just a mouse click– you don't have to actually show up anywhere).  Thanks for joining us and be sure to share (on our Facebook) any cool things you find in your shopping adventures!

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Don't forget to watch us (or set your DVR) tomorrow night on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer and then join with all of us who are promising to buy at least some American made gifts this Christmas– and be sure to get counted on Facebook! 

As a company that sells exclusively American made furniture (Vermont-made, actually) we're psyched to get this level of traction behind our push to create more American jobs.  As consumers, we have the power and what better time than Christmas (when we're each spending an average of $700 on gifts) to excercise that power!

The post Made in America Furniture Sale: Back For The Holidays appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

Thank you so much for attending our Made in America Holiday Shopping Challenge!  Today (I think it's because of your support) we got a phone call from ABC World News telling us they are sending a camera crew up to Vernon, Vermont on Tuesday to film some footage for their November 30 nightly news show.

They want to learn more about our pledge to buy American made holiday gifts at Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture and also tour around the town of Vernon.  They'll visit all the BIG attractions in town:  the elementary school, the town hall, the general store, the fire station, a farm or two and Chad Woodruff's custom furniture workshop.  What could be more cool for the evening news than that?  They'll be interviewing people along the way and asking them about any plans they might have to "buy American" this holiday season.

So we're pretty excited about this and we're grateful to you for all your support, as always.  By the way, what are you buying for Christmas this year?  If you haven't taken the challenge yet, it's not too late.  We figured that if everybody in the country bought everything "American made" over the holidays, it could generate almost 5 million jobs! Who needs politicians, right?

For local Vernon and Brattleboro area residents– if you'd like to be on TV or just see the camera crew in action, you can keep up with their schedule as it evolves by joining this Facebook group or checking our website.  Here's a clip of a similar segment in the ABC series.  People in the crowd scene at the Vernon Town Hall will all have a chance to be interviewed and present visuals to feature on the national show.

The post Vermont Made Furniture To Be On ABC World News appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

It's tough to do since universities are unwittingly pushing imported goods through their campus stores, but it is possible, as demonstrated on the show.  And in fact this room was $92 cheaper to furnish with American made items than similar imported ones.

 Sawyer notes that the average college student shopper spent $800 this season or a total of $46 BILLION.  If that money had been spent purchasing American goods, it could have provided almost half a million American jobs! 

So it turns out it can be cheaper to furnish a college dorm with American made items than imported ones?  Maybe some smart college presidents will commission their business school faculty and students to get on this and transform their campuses into American Made spaces.

Oh and if they're looking to add American made furniture to the dorms, Vermont's own New England Woodcraft has been building solid wood furniture for college dorms right here in the USA for over 50 years.

It looks like this Vermont-made furniture is pretty well equipped to handle college students, wouldn't you think?

And while we're on the subject of USA made furniture, I can say that 100% of our furniture at Vermont Woods Studios is 100% made in America… in Vermont to be precise. 

Your purchases here employ our 5 staff members who operate the website and take care of sales and customer service, plus about 15-20 furniture makers and many additional support people including shippers.  You are making a difference when you Buy American and we are grateful for your support.

The post Made in America: How College Students Can Create 500,000 American Jobs appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

Last week I blogged about Diane Sawyer's Made in America Series on ABC News.  As I was going through ABC's website I noticed that they have a great little map of the USA that shows where American made products are being produced.  The only problem was that Vermont Woods Studios Furniture was not on that map. 

So I contacted ABC and requested that we be included.  Low and behold… a few days later I got a call from Zach at ABC wanting to know what our company was all about.  I assured him that all of our furniture is made right here in Vermont by Vermont furniture makers using wood that is sustainably harvested in America, preferably locally– in Vermont and New England. 

Now we've been featured along with the many other awesome American companies on ABC's website.  Check us out!

The post Vermont Furniture Included on ABC News “Made in America” Website Map appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

At Vermont Woods Studios all of our furniture is 100% made in America but we realize that's not enough.  Like any other American company that's going to be successful selling to consumers in the USA, we have to also have the best quality, best prices, best service and best social and environmental policies.  We're always working on that and welcome your feedback and advice.

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