Yes, that’s right. One company is bringing jobs back to Detroit and electronic manufacturing back to the US and seeing great results. Element Electronics has begun manufacturing a line of LED tvs in the Motor City, bringing hundreds of jobs to many former assembly line autoworkers in the depressed capital. The line, which comes packaged in a box emblazoned with the American flag, is sold out until the end of the year.
I’m sure you’re assuming these televisions are more expensive than those produced overseas, but you should be pleasantly surprised to know you’re wrong. Element executives say that even though labor costs are higher, lower tariffs and transportation costs help stateside tv production make economical sense. And as said previously, people don’t seem to be dismayed by the price tag at all.
With enough success, hopefully consumers can sway Element to bring all their production to Detroit – and persuade other companies to do so as well!
Watch the NBC News segment on Element and their Detroit factory:
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![An image of Detroit as it stands today, ready for regrowth [courtesy of Fast Company].](http://blog.locallectual.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Picture-13-300x178.png "An image of Detroit as it stands today, ready for regrowth [courtesy of Fast Company].")
Have you heard of the Hantz Farms project? If “not yet” is your answer, then let this notice be the first of many. In a once-ruinous Detroit, a great period of growth is now emerging. John Hantz, a native to Michigan, has given a healthy sum to the creation of this self-named project that plans to convert 5,000 acres of neglected land in the city. From destitution will rise fields of organically grown crops and the basis for biofuel. Though the fields themselves may be small (Hantz is going to be working with non-contiguous plots), his hopes—and what will come of them—are large enough to make a difference.
