Weinbrenner Shoe Reaffirms Union Labor Commitment With New Facility
Weinbrenner Shoe Co. Inc. is reaffirming its support for unionized trade contractors.
The parent company of the Thorogood footwear brand is breaking ground on a new state-of-the-art facility in Marshfield, Wisc.
“We manufacture Thorogood boots for America’s working men and women and believe in supporting the union laborers that are the foundation of our company,” Weinbrenner’s president Jeff Burns said. “We invited both union and non-union trade partners to bid, and we are proud that union firms won the majority of the work.”
The company said the new facility will expand its manufacturing capabilities, support job creation and boost the local economy.
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Weinbrenner said it will continue to prioritize partnerships with unionized trade contractors during the facility’s construction, which is consistent with its heritage of producing union-Made in the USA boots. “Where union labor was an available option, union firms captured nearly 80 percent of the contractors. This achievement reflects our dedication to supporting American workers and ensuring that union labor remains a cornerstone of our manufacturing process,” the company said.
The company has been committed to American manufacturing since 1892, and currently operates three manufacturing plants in Wisconsin. They are operated under UFCW 688 and 717.
More companies have been thinking about bringing manufacturing closer to home, either through nearshoring or reshoring. Others are growing production options in the U.S. or expanding existing operations, like Weinbrenner.
Evolution St. Louis in 2020 opened a high-tech knitting facility in the Missouri city that was once a sizable fashion hub, with plans to assemble a Made-in-America supply chain. In footwear, Portland, Ore., lawmakers in April approved a phase-one funding for a $125-million effort aimed at building out a green manufacturing campus for shoes and apparel known as the Made in Old Town development project. And other brands, such as Clover & Cobbler and ComunityMade have laid the groundwork to grow footwear manufacturing in Los Angeles.
