Tuesday, January 27, 2009

BUY AMERICAN!

When you're buying Confer Plastics products you can rest assured that all of our products are blow-molded right here in the good ol' US of A. You can't say that about our competitors' products...many of their spa steps and swimming pool ladders/setps are made in China.

With American-made goods you get quality, service, and safety...and you keep your fellow Americans employed, truly stimulating our economy. You can't say that about Asian-made goods.

CPI's vice-president, Bob Confer, is a columnist for the Greater Niagara Newspapers. In this week's column he wrote about the importance of buying American. Here it is...



BUY AMERICAN, BUY LOCAL
By Bob Confer


The American Experience is defined by our unprecedented combination of brain and brawn. Our predecessors, dreaming dreams of Manifest Destiny, tamed a wild land, giving up blood, sweat, and even their lives to make a better world for their children and their children’s children. From those seeds of the American Dream, great metropolises sprung up like forests of concrete and steel, fitted with impressive architecture and ever-evolving factories that gave housing and goods to our burgeoning population. Those modern marvels and what they wrought have continued to develop over the years, and, without a doubt, they have made America the most powerful economic engine that the world has ever seen.

The path that got us to that level, one that took our nation from nothing to everything, was paved by ingenuity and work ethic that was without peer. The infrastructure, technology, science and products that provided the riches of the past and present were once but thoughts, fully developed and ultimately realized by some of the keenest minds ever, made real by some of the hardest-working hands and backs ever. America was made - and it is made - by Americans.

It is important that we never forget that. But, now, it must take on an even-greater meaning.

Our economy is in tatters with consumer confidence at record lows and the stock markets a daily roller coaster of misery. Millions of workers have lost their jobs in recent months. Many more live in fear that they, too, might become jobless this year or next.

How do we stave off this recessionary monster and the economic and mental depression that comes with it? How do we reignite the fire within our markets? How do we keep people employed and give them the confidence to buy?

Those questions have been asked time and time again for almost a half year now. Businessmen, civic leaders, and regular folk alike, all deeply affected by this tragedy, want answers, answers that will pan out in the end and put America on the fast-track to recovery. They’ve all thrown around ideas, imposing some while debating many, concepts from bailouts to rebates to nationalization to stimulus packages.

They’re all wrong. The economy doesn’t start with Uncle Sam. It begins at home. It’s we as consumers in a free marketplace who save, invest, and spend our money on products and services.

Realize, though, that it begins at home in more ways than one. The very best stimulus that our economy could ever have is from our consumers focusing on buying American and buying local. That is what made our country great and that’s what will bring us out of our supposed demise. It was Americans building and selling things to Americans that created our prosperity and the quality of life we have appreciated. History proves that.

We’ve lost sight of that importance. In days gone by we did not rely on foreign production as we do now. Historically, we never had trade deficits that were not in our favor. We did not toss away American workers and decent products for inferior, foreign-made goods to save a few dollars here and there. We did not buy our products in cold, multinational department stores. No, in the past, we as a people made what we bought, and we bought those goods in stores owned and run by our neighbors. We looked out for one another by basing our buying decisions on pride of workmanship, quality, and Country.

We need to get back to those roots. We must frequent the mom and pop stores, the locally-owned franchises and roadside stands, putting the global corporate conglomerates at a distant second. We must analyze the labels of everything we buy from them, from food to clothes to durables to cars, ensuring that they were made on America soil by American hands and American minds.

As buyers become tighter with their dollars and buy less of many yet more of quality they’ll find that American products will make the best investment of their spending dollar, not only in terms of a better-made product, but also to the bigger picture of investing in our national well-being. It is such a simple and effective stimulant: if we buy goods that are made in America we employ American workers, managers, designers and farmers all who extract American resources and turn them into the goods we need and want. So, please buy what they make, keep money in America and ensure that they - our friends, families, and fellow citizens – are all gainfully employed. The payback of buying patriotically is an economic, emotional, and national victory.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

CPI TO ATTEND ATLANTIC CITY SHOW

Confer Plastics will be at the NESPA Atlantic City Show, to be held January 27 & 28 (noon to 6pm) and the 29th (10am – 2pm).

Stop by and visit us at booth # is 3127. We will be featuring our new #7200 Roll-Guard A-frame ladder and displaying our SIG Step/Inpool/Gate system as well as our Leisure Accents Spa and Patio products.

We look forward to seeing you.

CONFER PLASTICS TURNS 36!!

Confer Plastics, Inc. celebrates its 36th anniversary on January 22nd.

Confer Plastics was founded in 1973 by the late Ray Confer and his son Doug. The company invented the first plastic swimming pool ladder back in the 70’s. The company continues to manufacture pool ladders and steps and, about 10 years ago, Confer Plastics delved into the spa industry, manufacturing a line of spa steps, spa pads, gazebos, and patio furniture.

Bob Confer, the third-generation vice-president of Confer Plastics, says, "36 years is a remarkable achievement, especially in this day and age of global economies and an ever-changing business climate. What makes it even more special is the fact that we’re still making everything right here in the US. All this success couldn’t be achieved were it not for some really great customers and coworkers."

Confer Plastics also manufactures custom OEM goods, ranging from items as small as toner bottles to as large as kayaks. The company employs 110 people in its two facilities in the Niagara Falls, NY area.

More information about the company can be found at www.conferplastics.com

Monday, January 12, 2009

CONFER PLASTICS IS NOT HIRING

With the economy like it is, many folks who are now unemployed have recently stopped-by or called the factory looking for a job.

Unfortunately, we cannot help any job seekers. There are enough unknowns in the economy that we are keeping our employment levels where they are and we're instituting a hiring freeze for 2009.

Good luck in your job-seeking endeavors.

Monday, January 5, 2009

BLAST FROM THE PAST: THE COL. SANDERS PIGGY BANK



Once a month on this blog we’ll look at a product that was manufactured by Confer Plastics, Inc. in days gone by. For our initial installment we’ll look at the Colonel Sanders piggy bank.

We manufactured this product in 1977 and 1978 for the Margardt Corporation which was run by the Colonel’s daughter, Margaret Sanders. Known as his “Spicy Daughter”, Ms. Sanders, who once went searching for the lost city of Atlantis, toured our facility which at the time was housed at the end of the Roblin Steel complex.

The piggy bank was available in three different colors: red, yellow, and white and it was the classic Colonel pose…bespectacled, cane in hand, holding a bucket of KFC. It stands about 8” high and has a coin slot in the bank.

The banks were distributed as giveaways at Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants throughout the United States. Over the life of the project we made tens of thousands of these banks. Many of them can now be found as collector’s items on EBay, selling in the $5 to $12 range.