As far as the public and the media is concerned, there is no need of domestic contract sewing and manufacturing in the US because sewing production has moved off-shore. You and I both know that’s not true. Rather, there is a severe shortage of sewing manufacturing services. I hear that from both ends. Entrepreneurs are hard pressed to find facilities and contractors are telling me they’re turning people away left and right. I’ve been talking to a newspaper reporter who is interested in covering your side of things. However, anecdotes are not something he can write about. He needs testimonials and people he can interview.

It’s one thing for me to tell other people that there’s a serious lack of contracting services and quite another thing to have a stack of letters from individuals saying that it’s true. Consequently, a letter describing your problem of finding contract services would be very useful towards documenting the need of sewing contractors. Testimonials should come in the form of “letters of need”. Letters of need are typically used to describe the need for services. They are used as an attempt to measure needs in a given community for whatever kind of service.

In an attempt to get some media attention -which would hopefully chase more contractors out of the woodwork- I will be collecting letters of need. I’d appreciate anything you’d care to submit. Please use the following bulleted list to provide some background and email them to me. Of course, your submission will be handled in the strictest confidence. If you prefer, you can leave this in comments. Also please indicate whether you’d agree to be interviewed. Thanks.

• As well as you can, estimate (in dollars) your total lost sales attributable to the lack of sewing services over the past calender year:
• Describe the services needed:
• Describe your products briefly:
• Average retail price of your product:
• List the materials used in your product:
• Describe any unusual processes your product requires (if not obvious from the types of materials you’ve listed):
• How many units you need:
• How many units you anticipate needing over a year’s time:
• Approximate total (in dollars) you anticipate spending on contract sewing services over the next year:
• How much you’ve spent in the past year on sewing services:
• When do you anticipate needing contract services?

Please include your contact information:

• Name:
• Company:
• Email:
• Telephone:
• Address:
• Web address if applicable