Current Trends: Made in Florida
A trend is brewing in America - purchasing products Made in the USA. We took this trend one step further and feature products on our store that are Made in Florida! We even made a logo for our store indicating products Made in Florida.
After many years of recession with little to no job growth, Americans are tired of seeing their jobs go overseas and are now favoring products produced in the USA. And many manufacturers that produce products in China are now bringing manufacturing back to the states. China wages are on the rise causing manufacturing price increases and the lack of consistent quality adds to the overall cost and frustration of making the products overseas. Florida Trends magazine wrote a great article "Not Made in China" that highlights the trend of bringing jobs back to Florida.
As publishers and manufacturers, Amerircaa Go Fishing, Inc.'s inhouse products are all Made in the USA in Florida. The official classification for being "Made in the USA" is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. A product is considered Made in America if:
- U.S. manufacturing costs constitute 75% of the total manufacturing costs for the product; and
- the product was last substantially transformed in the United States.
Our Fishing & Dive Sites cards are a perfect example of this. We purchase our memory cards from a Florida owned company that resells memory cards that unfortunately made in China (all memory cards are made in China or Japan). We then load the memory cards with our data files that are created in Naples, Florida. The cards are packaged in plastic blister packs that were purchased from a California company who imports them from China. The package inserts were designed by us and printed in Bonita Springs, Florida. We include in each package stickers that were made by a California company. Given over 75% of the cost to produce our memory cards are in the creation of the data files and that they are assembled in Naples, FL, our packages are considered Made in America and proudly Made in Florida.
We also offer on our store products from other Florida manufacturers, most of which are small companies hand-making their products.
Unfortunately it is impossible to have all our products Made in Florida due to lack of availability. One example is our hand nets - we could only find American companies in other states that have their nets Made in China. We sell their high quality nets because we couldn't find any made in America. If we find a company making them in America (or if you know of one) we will gladly sell their products over the China made ones.
In order to display the Made in the USA official logo, you have to pay $250 a year for the privilege - you won't see a lot of small companies with this logo due to the high cost even though they qualify. Below are our current Florida suppliers. Not one of them sports this logo but they sure do help our state by creating jobs and we salute them all!
Let Your Actions Be Heard
Purchase products Made in America, especially those Made in Florida (we're bias).
Ask where a products was made before buying; not all companies display the Made in the USA logo.
Purchase products locally and support small retailers.
Buy your bread from a small bakery over a large grocery store. Get your bait at a mom & pop bait shop over large retailers. You get what we mean, spend your money locally to support local jobs.
If you own a company and manufacture your products in China, why not consider creating jobs in America by bring your manufacturing back to the USA.
We all WIN by supporting American businesses.
Our Florida Suppliers & Contributors
- Angry Squid Tackle Company, Cutler Bay
- Top Shelf Marine Products, Boca Raton
- Presstige Printing, Bonita Springs
- Lamination Station, Cape Coral
- Kirby Rambo Collections, Sanibel Island
- Shore Products, Englewood
- Hit Promotional Products, Largo
- Tiger Direct, Miami
- Polar Navy, Sarasota
- Tightlines Publications, Deerfield Beach
- Bountiful Seines, Macon, GA (formerly located in the Panhandle)
- Fun Photography, Naples
- Florida Sea Grant, Collier County
- University of Florida, Tallahassee
- Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association, Mexico Beach
- Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission (FWC), Tallahassee
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Tallahassee
- Many Residents & Small Businesses around Florida contribute pictures and information for our website
If you are a Florida manufacturer and would like to include your products on our store, shoot us an Email.
