Expansion Management

The Stuff We Are Made Of

April 30, 2011

While the manufacturing sector is fond of saying that the U.S. needs to get back to "making stuff", I think it's also worth taking a look at the "stuff" we are made of.

While watching Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s program "Faces of America" in which he traces the ancestry of a handful of U.S. celebrities, what struck me was that all of the immigrants possessed the same traits.

They were risk-takers, optimists. They were industrious with the fortitude to leap over many, many obstacles.

They created lives in a country that wasn't always happy to see them. They created businesses when the color of their skin was a huge barrier. They even rebounded from incarceration (during WWII).

They saw opportunity and turned it into successful businesses.

And that's what manufacturers are doing today and will continue to do. We must be cognizant of how much easier we have it. Our barriers are mostly economic. We aren't judged by our country of origin, our social status or the color of our skin. We are judged by our ideas.

We need only remember that the spirit and determination of our ancestors, their legacy, lives on in us.

About the Author

Adrienne Selko Blog | Senior Editor

Focus: Expansion Management & the Biotech & Life Sciences Industries

Email: [email protected]

Follow Adrienne on Twitter: @ASelkoIW

Call: 216-931-9235

Senior Editor Adrienne Selko manages IndustryWeek’s Expansion Management, delivering ideas and information about how successful manufacturers leverage location to gain competitive advantage. She explores the strategies behind why companies located their headquarters, research institutes, factories, warehouse and distribution centers and other facilities where they did, and how they benefit from the decision.

Adrienne is also the editorial coordinator of the IndustryWeek Expansion Management Roundtable events, which unites economic development professionals to network and discuss the latest trends in site location.

As well, Adrienne tells the stories of successful companies in the biotechnology and life sciences industries.

In the past, Adrienne has managed IndustryWeek’s award-winning website, overseeing eNewletters, webinars, and contributed content. Before joining the staff, Adrienne was managing editor of corporate publications at a large regional financial institution. She also ran a public relations and marketing company that published a best-selling healthcare book.

Adrienne received a bachelor’s of business administration from the University of Michigan and is especially interested in wellness and natural health.