For many years leading up to and following the recession of 2007, the message was that United States manufacturing was dead. The idea of a knowledge economy without manufacturing was hard for some producers to reconcile, especially with the growing demand for higher quality, reduction of lead time and innovation. These competitive advantages would be hard to meet in the new “farm it out” environment. It turns out that where you make things matters. This story was published in the Record-Eagle's Momentum '17 special publication.