CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Made in America. It's a concept that ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer has been featuring for the past several months. Now, we're taking a look around Eastern Iowa to see who is succeeding at hiring Iowa workers, and making products right here at home.
We found it is practically raining jobs, at “The Raining Rose.” The business got started in 1996 as a family hobby in a basement kitchen. Ever since, this local manufacturer has seen a steady increase in demand, and in turn, how many people they're hiring.
The Raining Rose has added 51 jobs since the Flood of 2008. That's half of their workforce. They came back from the flood, making lip balms and glosses, lotion, and hand sanitizer.
“We manufacture here, but it’s under their name,” says Judy Lubben, VP of Administration at The Raining Rose. There are “Too many to count,” in terms of companies they do that for, she said.
The company takes orders from all over the country, formulating recipes for lip-smacking lip balm in house, then literally “cooks” them in their kitchen. They then manufacture all of those lip balms and body products at their facility in Cedar Rapids. They'll do order sizes of ten tubes of lip balm, all the way up to millions. "We're selling to somebody who is selling to somebody," says Lubben.
98 cents of every dollar they make comes from orders placed outside of Iowa. But many of their products end up local too. "You go into your dental office and you get lip balm, it's probably ours,” says Lubben.
Next year, The Raining Rose will move to a brand new building. That means they’ll be producing more product, and have a need for more employees. The company added a new 2nd Shift to keep up, and they want to add dozens of additional jobs, “By 2013. Adding jobs. We are definitely adding jobs."
And from a big company, to a small company that does big things. The Czech Feather and Down company relocated after the flood of 2008 to Mt. Vernon. But now owner Cookie Vanous says they're right at home.
"We're in a large Czech community. In fact, we rent from Czech People,” says Vanous.
This business has been family owned and operated since 1885. Vanous and her employees spend hours crafting pillows and comforters out of fine down and specialty fabric. Their goal is to make sure you're comfortable when you sleep. Vanous says they've gone global. "We have em in France, England. Germany, a lot in Germany. Nigeria."
Because everything they make is hand crafted, Vanous says you’re going to get a quality you won’t get in a machine-made product. “It's never going to shift. Once you've got it on your bed it's not going to shift from one end to another, " says Vanous.
It Is $950 for a King Comforter. You might think that’s pricey, but that's more than 30 hours worth of hand stuffing and stitching. The business also cleans and "renovates" old comforters and pillows, giving them new life. "We have pillows come in that are close to 200 years old," says Vanous.
Vanous says what their business does is a “lost Czech Art”. While what they do is rooted in history, she says they have adapted to the times and what products people want. That includes pillows of strange shapes and sizes.
“One of our big sellers…. It's a C-Pap pillow for Sleep apnea," says Vanous.
Everything made in the store is custom, and while they've had to add staff to keep up, Vanous says "We're always looking for more work. We're open 7 days a week. "
If you have a business that's making things and employing people right here in Eastern Iowa, we want to know about it. Submit your information to ABC news (below) or KCRG-TV9's Ashley Hinson. We’ll work on compiling a list for our viewers who want to utilize products made in their own backyard. Email: Ashley.Hinson@kcrg.com.
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