Bringing manufacturing back to America
>>> are the jobs." our ongoing series where we show where the jobs are and how to get hired. this week, president obama has been on the road making a special push for manufacturing jobs. he's also promoting his plan to bring jobs back to america . it's called insourcing. made in america is something we don't hear often enough these days. for example, the last american-made television rolled off the assembly line almost 20 years ago. but now a company called element electronics is trying to reverse that trend. the minnesota-based company built its brand selling chinese tvs . but in march, it will open a new television assembly plant outside detroit to actually build tvs right here in america . it will be the only one of its kind in the country. the company is starting with one assembly line and will have 100 jobs to fill. the owner michael o'shaughnessy says he hopes to add many more. i spoke with him this week and asked him about his plan.
>> we have been working on the project for a while. we've been talking to our customers about it for 18 to 24 months getting them ready. we're start with one assembly line . our plans are over time to go two, three, four, five. as our output increases against the demand.
>> you hope to get up to 500 jobs but you are going to start with 100.
>> frankly, i don't know what the limit really is. the idea is to get started small, one step at a time. first plateau is 100. phase two, as we attract people to the business, specifically domestic suppliers that can supply this new business in the united states , i really don't know hat the potential is. the thing we have influence over, i believe there's an opportunity for a couple hundred jobs or several hundred jobs over time . that may be multiple years. but as we attract a supply base to the area and to the business, at this point it could be exponential.
>> you are part of a trend of people bringing jobs, bringing manufacturing back in the country. the president mentioned it in his state of the union address . do you see that trend growing? are you hearing anything to that effect?
>> i do believe it's a long-term trend. i think we're maybe at the tip of the arrow, right, as it's just getting started. potentially trend-setters in this space. but the economics are real, right? the costs are going up. the different things we talked about. they are real. so it makes sense for companies. if they aren't doing it, it makes sense for companies to begin to look at doing it.
>> now you've said this is emotional. this is personal for you. why?
>> i lived in warren, ohio . if you go to warren, ohio , now, it's not much different than in 1985 . the factories shut down. the jobs went away. of course, there's still work there. but those people are suffering. warren, ohio is probably indicative of many places as industrial left the midwest. i remember that. that had a material impact on the family and friends i had. on my own family. there's an emotional part of this to bring jobs back. to be able to potentially make a difference in communities with people and families that nor different than the people i grew up with.
>> now the president talked about incentives for bringing jobs back. reshoring as they call it. have you been able to see any tangible incentives and any of these incentives helping you to do this?
>> i watched the president's speech, and i thought it was right on the money with respect to his ideas. for me, as a small business owner who is trying to grow his business, those words are encouraging. at the same time, for somebody like me, it's -- we are rarely not educated in that space as an entrepreneur. we are encouraged to go out and build our business. if there are government programs that we can tap into or learn about and get educated about, then, obviously, that's in our best interest. our accountants at some point in time will tell us if there's tax innocentives or otherwise. frankly even having conversations like this may open those doors. it's encouraging to hear. i think it's an important part of helping businesses retrench back in the u.s. and make those things happen.
>> i am sure some of our viewers are wondering how can you open a plant outside of detroit and sell televisions at a reasonable price that is high quality to compete with tvs made in china.
>> i've got the answer for them. in the end, it won't just be a reasonable price. it will be an exceptional price. we are being very strategic in how we do this. we'll not do it on 32-inch tvs and smaller 40-inch tvs . we're talking about the 46-inch tvs and above because the cost of building a tv, if you take the total cost , at this point if we make the adjustments for the labor advantage we had over time against the increased costs on the other side of the business, we can produce these tvs for about the same cost, apples to apples, features to features, size to size. we can produce these tvs in this factory just outside of detroit for essentially the same cost. the quality is exceptional. i would argue the element branded tv will be as good a quality as consumer can buy anywhere, any brand.
>> what do you need to know ? what kind of background do i need a background in electronics? what do i need to know , what background for me to apply?
>> so there's going to be a number of different things we're going to do in the facility. we're moving right now our service and repair work there. we'll put a call center there. it's not just assembly work.
>> looking at 100 jobs and who knows where it goes as you try to brand and sell element in the marketplace.
>> that's our story, yes.
>> all right. michael, thank you so much and keep us posted.
>> pleasure to be here. thank you so much.
>> good luck.
>> thank you.
>> in march, element will start accepting applications for those 100 jobs. to find out more, just go to their website, elementelectronics.com/careers. our website, politicsnation.msnbc.com, has the latest information on the companies we are featuring. we also have updates on the status of their jobs. just click on "here are the jobs." we're looking forward to hearing from you.
