The Biden-Harris Management Agenda Vision lays the foundation for an effective, equitable, and accountable Government that delivers results for all through three main priority areas. Over the course of the year, we will share stories that highlight a real world example of one of the three PMA priorities. Follow along as we tell these stories and explore the importance of each priority area.
Gabrielle and her family own a clothing manufacturing business in the heart of Manhattan’s Garment District. Her parents started the company in 1987, combining two interests – her dad’s love of machines and her mom’s love of fashion – to open Ferrara Manufacturing. Three and a half decades later, Ferrara Manufacturing is a thriving business that produces everything domestically and a new partner of the Federal Government.
Ferrara Manufacturing produces garments that are not only worn on the runways of New York and Paris, but also by American Olympians and the U.S. military. In the Spring of 2020, the Mayor of New York City reached out to Gabrielle, Chief Operating Officer of Ferrara Manufacturing, with a unique request. An early hotspot for COVID-19, New York City was in desperate need of PPE for city hospitals. Though her company had never produced PPE before, Gabrielle was confident they could help—especially because their production was locally based. At a time when many businesses had shut their doors and people were isolating at home, Ferrara Manufacturing quickly called back its employees, converted its operations, and answered the Mayor’s call to help the city in its time of need.
Gabrielle and her family quickly established Ferrara Supply, drawing on their expertise in garment manufacturing to produce gowns for the city’s hospitals. They then spent months exploring product development for masks and eventually created a high filtration product that President Biden wore during the 2021 inauguration.
Now, the Ferrara family is contracting with the Federal Government for the first time. The Federal Government procures more than $600 billion in goods and services annually. As part of its Management Agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration is working to strengthen U.S. domestic manufacturing and support American workers through Federal purchasing. One of the first 2021 American Rescue Plan allocations went to Ferrara Supply to buy domestically produced PPE. Most recently, Ferrara Manufacturing won a contract with the Defense Logistics Agency to produce men’s and women’s dress coats for several branches of the U.S. military.
In 35 years of operations, Ferrara Manufacturing has produced 100% of its products in America. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the supply chain needs it revealed, reaffirmed Ferrara’s commitment to making it in America. As Gabrielle explains, “We need to make sure we are training people and keeping skill sets in the United States so the next time there is a crisis we have the capacity to support our country.” The company continues to grow; with a recent expansion to a facility in Long Island City, Ferrara Manufacturing plans to increase their capacity and hire more employees.
Gabrielle and her family are just one example of how Americans in manufacturing are pursuing innovation and creating jobs – and the role the Federal Government’s purchasing power can play in supporting domestic supply chains and creating good American jobs.
