(Cracking the Code with Greg Kozera - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

This week, we were rousted out of sound sleep at 5:30 a.m. by the sound of a siren at our local fire department. Looking at my phone, I realized it was a tornado warning.

Tornadoes are rare in our area. The damage they cause is well known.

We hustled downstairs to turn on the TV. Then we got a call on our cell phones from Kanawha County EMS telling us we were under a tornado warning. We took it seriously and prepared to move to our safe place with blankets to cover our heads. The thunderstorm and high winds hit us. We saw from TV weather that, fortunately, the tornadic activity was just south of us.

I’m glad our county and local fire department learned from other communities of the danger of nighttime tornados. They chose to make changes to keep us safe, like a new and louder siren. We are grateful to be awakened so we could act to stay safe.

Many of us have been told by our doctor to lose weight, change our diet or exercise. We mean well and intend to change but change is hard, especially for some future event that may or may not happen. We may have a good plan but never start, or we start and fall back into old habits. It is easier not to exercise. Donuts and cookies can be tempting. We will only eat one. Right! Sometimes, people need someone to get their attention like a doctor saying, “Quit smoking now, or plan your funeral.”

The lesson is, “If we do what we have always done, we will always get what we have always got.” A definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result.

It has been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic started. In 2019 almost 10% of total U.S. imports were health care related. When the pandemic happened medical devices like respirators were in short supply. New York City was dependent on flights of respirators from China. Nurses wore garbage bags for protection because health care PPE was unavailable. My wife, Lynnda, and her nurse friends sewed their own masks, adding a polypropylene layer for protection because masks were made overseas and unavailable. Even hand sanitizer was imported and unavailable.

Shale Crescent USA did over 70 radio interviews across the country discussing, “Has the pandemic showed us made in America is essential?” Americans had no idea how much we rely on imports. They were angry, wanting manufacturing back in the U.S.

How quickly we can forget after the crisis passes. According to the American Hospital Association, in 2024, the U.S. imported $41 billion in medical equipment. They stated, “The United States relies on foreign countries, especially China for medical equipment and supplies.”

Strikes at our ports and a boat stuck in the Suez Canal impacted imports and raised the cost of goods, one risk of relying on global supply chains. My friend cut off his Chinese supplier during the pandemic and found he could reduce costs by moving to a regional supply chain.

We hear a lot about tariffs, their positive and negative impacts. During the pandemic, we saw supply shortages of cars and light trucks. Some manufacturers had acres of vehicles ready to go and lacked a small part like a door lock or a chip made overseas.

We hear from major media, tariffs will increase car prices. Auto companies who learned from the pandemic won’t have to increase prices. They may suddenly find themselves with a competitive advantage.

The Shale Crescent USA region learned from the pandemic. JobsOhio, the West Virginia Development Office and Team PA have been very active bringing in new industry, creating thousands of jobs. A new factory is making products like paper towels and toilet paper south of Columbus. Masks and respirators are now being made in Bryan, Ohio. Hand sanitizer is being made in Ashland, Ohio. A company in Versailles, Ohio, is making dental chairs and medical tables. A Columbus company is making 3 million nitrile surgical gloves per day. The raw material for those gloves is manufactured in Belpre. Intel will be manufacturing microchips now being imported from China and other Asian countries. Creating jobs, a win for American consumers and the planet. Intel’s CEO stated, “All of Intel’s suppliers will be within a 500-mile radius of Columbus. (A secure regional supply chain creating more jobs.)

A company in Clarksburg makes biohazard and autoclave bags, hand sanitizer is made in Charleston, and diabetic equipment is being manufactured in Morgantown. A Somerset, Pennsylvania, company is making respiratory equipment. In the Pittsburgh area, new firms are making various types of medical equipment and plastics processors are making new high-tech plastics for medical equipment. None of these manufacturing companies will be negatively impacted by tariffs and use American raw materials and energy. Making essential health care products in the U.S. creates security for American consumers.

Medical equipment is only one of many industries where manufacturers in the U.S. are advantaged in a fair fight. Chinese companies backed by the CCP with infinite resources is not a fair fight. Tariffs can level the playing field.

At SELECTUSA, Shale Crescent talked to overseas companies who have been looking to manufacture in the U.S. for the last three years because of the United States’ large and growing market AND abundant economical energy. French, Dutch and Belgian companies deciding to attend the U.S. Commercial Services Roadshow in February had to apply and be vetted. Their executives told us, “Avoiding tariffs by manufacturing in the U.S. is the icing on the cake.”

We hear a lot of reasons why people don’t believe the U.S. can replace foreign suppliers of critical goods and global supply chains. Successful companies looked for and found the reasons they CAN manufacture in the U.S., use regional supply chains and succeed. Nucor Steel, Shell, Intel and hundreds of other companies changed their thinking and are succeeding.

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Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker and author of four books and many published articles.