Earlier this year Bill Simon, Walmart CEO committed to buy an additional $50 billion in U.S.-made products over the next decade.
In August GE announced an investment of $30 million at three plants to produce light bulbs for Walmart as part of Walmart’s initiative.
Today, Redman& Associates announced that it will open a new manufacturing and distribution facility in Rogers, Ark., that will produce six volt battery-powered ride on toys exclusively for Walmart.
Redman, based in Bentonville, will invest $6.5 million in the facility, which will employ 74 people.
“This agreement was completed through working collaboratively with the state and Walmart and was accelerated following Walmart’s U.S. manufacturing summit in August,” said said Mel Redman, CEO of Redman & Associates “We look forward to starting production and creating good-paying positions with average hourly wage of $18.”
The factory will produce 6-volt battery powered ride on toys featuring characters from popular Disney and Marvel franchises including: Disney Princess, Classics, Disney∙Pixar and Spider-Man. Production should begin in early 2014. Redman is licensed by Marvel Characters B.V., and Redman produces Disney character ride-on toys for Walmart under Walmart’s license with Disney.
“Today’s announcement is an example of what can happen when companies, industry leaders and government work together to make production in the United States possible again,” said Bill Simon, CEO for Walmart U.S. “This agreement was a direct result of conversations held at our recent U.S. manufacturing summit. It reinforces our belief that we can revitalize American manufacturing and help rebuild the middle class with good-paying jobs that will allow employees to be a part of the American dream again.”
