Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local - and Helped Save an American Town
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.39 (658 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 031623141X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 496 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-09-27 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
The instant New York Times bestseller about one man's battle to save hundreds of jobs by demonstrating the greatness of American business.The Bassett Furniture Company was once the world's biggest wood furniture manufacturer. Run by the same powerful Virginia family for generations, it was also the center of life in Bassett, Virginia. In FACTORY MAN, Beth Macy brings to life Bassett's deeply personal furniture and family story, along with a host of characters from an industry that was as cutthroat as it was colorful. But beginning in the 1980s, the first waves of Asian competition hit, and ultimately Bassett was forced to send its production overseas.One man fought back: John Bassett III, a shrewd and determined third-generation factory man, now chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co, which employs more than 700 Virginians and has sales of more than $90 million. As she shows how he uses legal maneuvers, factory efficiencies, and sheer grit and cunning to save hundreds of jobs, she also reveals the truth about modern industry in America.
She makes a complex, now universal story understandable."Mimi Swartz, New York Times Book Review"An educational, fascinating reading adventure. Get Factory Man and take your time with it. Macy's book is an important read."Shawn Donnan, Financial Times"This business book, laced with Byzantine intrigue, has "made for Hollywood" stamped all over it."Cecil Johnson, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram"Boisterous. Factory Man is a Big Tale of a Big Man doing Big Things, and a rebuke to those who would declare American manufacturing dead."Earl Pike, Cleveland Plain Dealer"Spirited, meticulously researched and well-written. A page-turning tale that covers the company's history, fami
. Beth Macy writes about outsiders and underdogs. Her work has appeared in national magazines and The Roanoke Times, where her reporting has won more than a dozen national awards, including a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard
Wow! DCist I read about this book in the "New York Times" a week or so ago and downloaded it this morning. It sounded like it shared some characteristics with other books I have enjoyed that explain some of the economic characteristics of different products and put them in a global context - books like "Extra Virgin" (about olive oil) and "Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy". I told myself I'd read the first chapter this morning, then put it down until tonight.I emerged six hours later.My god, this book is AMAZING. Everyone who cares about communities, or about the economy, must read it. It makes me want to que. Addresses Our Key Economic and Emotional Health Issues Offshoring eliminated 673,000 jobs from American furniture makers and related firms, per author Macy. (I certainly believe it, having driven through areas of North Carolina over a period of years, and witnessed the drastic decline in functioning furniture factories in the early 2000s.) Between 2001 - 12, 63,300 U.S. factories closed and five million associated American factory jobs went away.Author Macy 's book begins with a focus on the effects of offshoring on America's working class, zeroing in on the Appalachian regions of Virginia and North Carolina that once monopolized the market. She contends that Th. Factory Man is a treasure trove of well researched facts Factory Man is a treasure trove of well researched facts, complex compelling characters, insight and wit, a business book that had me up at 5 am to find out what happens next! Macy brings the furniture industry, the industrialists, the factory workers, the suppliers, the salesmen and citizens of these factory towns alive. I found these people sitting in my car, accompanying me down the street, sharing a space at my dinner table the whole time I was reading the book; I couldn't get them or the complexities of globalization out of my mind. This book stays with you. Whether you come to this book knowing or cari