Wal-Mart pushes 'made in America' at business summit
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO & MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press on Aug 23, 2013, at 2:26 AM Updated on 8/23/13 at 5:33 AM
Florida Gov. Rick Scott addresses the Wal-Mart U.S. Manufacturing Summit in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday. PHELAN M. EBENHACK / Associated Press
Retail
Incredible Pizza Co. will jump into the indoor trampoline park business later this year.
A recurrent favorite, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. once again ranks among top picks of investing professionals who like the retailer's focus on international expansion and growth of its smaller store formats.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is hoping for a groundswell "made-in-America" movement.
The world's largest retailer hosted its first two-day summit Thursday bringing together retailers, suppliers and government officials that it hopes will build on the company's recent commitment to drive more manufacturing in the U.S.
The event, which attracted representatives from 500 manufacturers, eight governors, U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and officials from three dozen states, comes seven months after the Bentonville, Ark.-based discounter pledged that it planned to buy $50 billion more U.S.-made goods over the next decade. That's the equivalent of just more than 10 percent of what Wal-Mart will sell at retail this year.
But Wal-Mart has said that if other merchants do the same, that would mean an additional $500 billion in American-made goods over the next decade.
The lineup for Thursday was impressive, and the campaign could serve to boost Wal-Mart's image, constantly under attack by labor-backed groups who have criticized the retail behemoth as a destroyer of U.S. jobs, not a creator.
Wal-Mart's CEO Mike Duke, Bill Simon, the company's U.S division CEO and other executives, joined other business leaders including Kevin Toomey, president and CEO of the Kayser-Roth Corp., and Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric Corp.
Immelt got into the spirit of the summit by announcing that General Electric would be bringing 150 manufacturing jobs to plants in Illinois and Ohio where high-efficiency lighting will be built. The $30 million investment will be at plants in Circleville, Ohio; Bucyrus, Ohio; and Mattoon, Ill.
"We wanted to be a part of this," Immelt said. "This is a first step."
The announcement by GE was in keeping with the goal of the summit, which is to start "connecting the dots" with a dialogue among manufacturers, retailers and state officials about where opportunities are to bring more manufacturing to the United States, Simon said.
Original Print Headline: Wal-Mart pushes 'made in America'
Retail
Incredible Pizza Co. will jump into the indoor trampoline park business later this year.
A recurrent favorite, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. once again ranks among top picks of investing professionals who like the retailer's focus on international expansion and growth of its smaller store formats.
