We started Columbus Design & Manufacturing in 2013 with a simple idea, make custom manufacturing in the United States more accessible. After decades working in the manufacturing industry, it became an inescapable fact that too much of our manufacturing base in the USA was being outsourced to low wage countries in Asia, China being the clear leader. With the rise of the internet, social media, and ecommerce platforms, it became possible for the average person with limited resources to develop products, launch a brand, and sell direct to consumers. Platforms like Alibaba made finding factories in China accessible, and so the vast majority of new consumer-direct brands were sourced in China. However, the decision to import was not always driven by a need for lower costs. Chinese manufacturers were eager to grow and fostered a friendly business model. Domestic manufacturers can be hard to find and even harder to work with.