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“It is critical that we not only continue to do a good job with this quality product, but if we focus in on bringing back manufacturing, we can get more products in and that is the future. “We’re very proud to see K’NEX coming to Maine to bring back the Lincoln Log,” he said. The toy was invented in 1916 by John Lloyd Wright, a son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and named after President Abraham Lincoln’s fabled childhood cabin, according to the National Toy Hall of Fame.ĭuring a press conference Wednesday at Pride, LePage touted his “Maine is Open for Business” campaign and spoke on the state of manufacturing in Maine and the wood products industry. The logs come packaged in building sets containing anywhere from 80 to 170 pieces and will be painted and packaged near company headquarters in Pennsylvania. The company expects to produce 30 million logs annually. On Wednesday, employees had already begun work on the small wooden logs. In 2009 Pride Sports closed its Guilford factory, but the company still maintains a machinery shop that was used to produce two machines designed specifically to make Lincoln Logs, said Dicker. without incurring a large cost difference, said Crowley. Items that were traditionally manufactured in Maine such as wooden dowels, turnings and furniture parts can be made in the U.S. In the wood products industry, that new desire for domestic manufacturing tends to apply to companies that specialize in smaller finished products, such as Lincoln Logs. “People are a little skeptical of the ‘Made in China’ label, and there are many companies that are jumping on the bandwagon and reaping the benefits of people wanting to buy local.” “A lot of retailers and buyers have found that products made overseas are not necessarily of the same quality as those made in the U.S.,” said Crowley. When production of the toy is at capacity, about 20 percent of K’NEX’s products will be made in China and 80 percent in the U.S., including Lincoln Logs, which will be produced only at the Burnham plant. and invited them to come to the Burnham factory, said Randy Dicker, senior director of manufacturing at Pride. Managers at Pride Sports in Burnham, which is based in Brentwood, Tennessee, and owned by a New York-based private equity company, saw online that K’NEX was looking to move the manufacturing of Lincoln Logs back to the U.S.
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The toy construction company shares headquarters with sister company The Rodon Group, a maker of plastic hardware parts. At the time, about 80 percent of its products - which also includes brands such as Tinkertoy, Angry Birds and PacMan - were being made in China and about 20 percent domestically. Being in the North American market and working in that market we can now be closer to the market and bring new designs to the market quicker.”Ībout seven years ago, K’NEX, which is based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, began looking for opportunities to bring more of its manufacturing to the U.S., said Fanelle. “We’re closer to our market, the North American market, and it reduces our excess inventory because we don’t have to project so far in advance to make the products. “It’s not just so we can say our product is American-made,” said Larry Fanelle, chief supply chain officer for K’NEX, the company that licenses the rights to sell the Lincoln Log toys from Hasbro Inc., the Rhode Island-based toy and game company. The production of Lincoln Logs is expected to add five to 10 jobs, officials said. Paul LePage and members of the media were invited to tour the inside of the Burnham factory, which currently employs about 130 people. It’s been a slow march, but we’re starting to see a change for the better.” “A lot of things that used to be sourced overseas are coming back to Maine. “There is a lot of excitement in the manufacturing of wood products right now,” Dan Crowley, executive director of the Maine Wood Products Association, a trade organization, said Wednesday. wood manufacturing sector has risen from a 10-year low of 332,200 in 2011 to 367,400 in June 2014. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of employees in the U.S. For years, the number of jobs in wood manufacturing have steadily declined in the U.S., but the U.S. The company’s contract to produce Lincoln Logs is one example of a growing trend toward manufacturing finished wood products in Maine, a market that has been increasing as a number of companies redirect production from overseas to the U.S., according to analysts. At left is Walt Whitcomb, commissioner of agriculture and at far right is Larry Fanelle of the K’NEX company. Paul LePage, center, listens Wednesday as Randy Dickers of Pride Manufacturing announces that the Burnham plant will now mill pieces for Lincoln Log toys.