The "Made in USA" label carries weight with me. Buying goods made locally and services offered by members of my own community means even more. Sometimes it's either impractical or impossible to exercise my commercial preferences, of course, but I do my best.
Early this week I found myself on the outskirts of Columbus with time to kill. I dropped into a military-surplus store, browsed a while and emerged with a hank of polypropylene utility rope and two 100-foot bundles of 550 paracord.
I noticed right away that all three items carried the name of Atwood Rope Mfg., tags prominently displaying the U.S. flag. Later, a visit to the company's website revealed that Atwood Rope is located in a neighboring village, just ten minutes from here -- a pleasant surprise.The next time I'm braiding paracord, which should be soon, it'll be good to know that I'm using a local product. And what the hell, a trip over to Atwood Rope's offices may be in order, too -- we'll see.
