About

A Michigan man is upset about the outsourcing of jobs from the United States and is doing something about it.  John Hankerd, owner of Hankerd Sportswear, has introduced a clothing line using only U.S. materials and labor.  From cottons grown in the Southeastern United States to assembly in garment factories across the US, 100% of his products are produced by American workers.

Hankerd, a former displaced worker, who before getting laid off himself, found that his employer was outsourcing customer service and sales to India and sending manufacturing jobs to several locations outside of the United States. Hankerd quickly learned that although many garments manufactured in the U.S. carry a Made in USA label, much of the raw materials and fabrics used were imported.  After almost two years of research to insure that his product was 100% made in America, Hankerd launched his UESAY brand (pronounced USA - u-es-ay).  Anything with the UESAY label would be guaranteed to be 100% American made. UESAY is hoping to help re-build the American apparel manufacturing industry by giving people the option of having their items produced with 100% American made components.  UESAY currently has a ready-to-wear line promoting the UESAY label available on their website www.uesay.com. Hankerd is also hoping through licensing to partner with other US industry manufactures for additional lines like shoes, sporting goods and headwear.  He says he will be diligent and non compromising when it comes to where the products are to be produced – in the UESAY!


Textile jobs continue to be in jeopardy in this country, and according to The American Textile Manufacturers Institute and The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), as recently as 2002 there were nearly 1,000,000 jobs in the textile apparel industry in the U.S. By 2005 that number had been cut nearly in half with 510,600 jobs remaining.

U.S. Textile plants are often located in small rural communities in our Southeast states and often represent the major source of employment and taxes for many towns and cities.  When a textile mill closes, the entire community feels the ramifications, with local businesses, churches and government being hurt.  The industry is also a primary employer of women and minorities.

For more information about UESAY please contact Company Founder John Hankerd at john@basicts.com or  phone 989-725-2979