Rick Hill recently took a 1,500 mile, 3-day sales trip in Ohio and IL, searching for wood products made in America.

Day One: One day and 900 miles into our 3-day road trip, Bill Riebau, Bill Miller and I had our epiphany. All is not lost to the importers. America can compete.

We had just finished our second of two meetings with woodworking component manufacturers in Mid-State Ohio, and were compiling notes prior to a 400-mile ride to Arthur, IL.

As a team of sales reps for OnPoint Sales, we were on the hunt for American manufacturers of lazy susans, trash containers, cabinet accessories, spindles, balusters, newel posts and kitchen cabinets.

In the past we had represented import manufacturers of these products, and with the recent market crash, these importers are having difficulties in keeping containers flowing, quality levels high and prices low.

We had seen a few American manufacturers of these products at the recent AWFS meeting, but as sales reps we had to be sure of one thing. Can they really compete? The next few stops on our sales trip would determine just how viable that concept was.