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Darke County Economic Development
County loan
assists All American Clothing Co. growth
All American Clothing to move into former Creative Cabinets facility in
Arcanum
ARCANUM- Darke County has again utilized its low interest revolving
loan program to assist the expansion of a local business. Last
Friday, the county commissioners closed the 15-year, 1.8% loan which
will enable All American Clothing Co to move into the former Creative
Cabinets facility in Arcanum. The company, which currently resides just
outside the village at 2149 Arcanum-Ithaca Rd, is one of the few that
promotes clothing lines manufactured entirely in the United States and
will establish its’ headquarters at its new facility. The 45,000 square
foot location will feature a substantial amount of warehousing space, a
showroom, a retail store, and main offices for its employees. All
American Clothing Co. also plans on installing a manufacturing facility
within the next year.
“The Commissioners are pleased to be able to utilize the loan program
for a local, family-owned company that promotes a ‘Made in America’
theme and creates new opportunities for Darke County,” stated
Commissioner Diane Delaplane. “They were the perfect candidate for this
program.”
“We are certainly glad they decided to stay and grow their business in
Darke County,” added Commissioner Mike Stegall.
All American Clothing has been featured on CNBC, ABC News, Fox
Business, and on many other media outlets. The company’s American-Made
theme has brought them, and Darke County, a significant amount of
recent attention, especially as elections loom near. In addition
to utilizing existing manufacturing space in the Arcanum community, All
American’s expansion will also create new jobs and set the company up
well for potential future expansions.
“The company is a gem, simple as that,” stated Darke County Economic
Development Director Marc Saluk. “The Partnering for Progress network
brought the company to the county’s attention at a pivotal time
for their growth and we obviously wanted to do anything we could to
support that growth. The low-interest loan program is a great
tool for that and one I hope we can use every year.”
Previous county revolving loan recipients have helped companies such as
JAFE Decorating Company and Tigereye Design LLC expand their operations.
According to All American, offering a USA Made product can create up to
$15.7 billion annually if every American (313,793,643 citizens) spent
$50 a year on one USA Made clothing item.
“That number alone can create thousands of jobs for American citizens,”
said BJ Nickol, Co-Founder of All American Clothing Co. “We care about
our country and the people in it; if we were only in it for money, we
would move our production overseas. We will not trade American jobs for
foreign profits,”.
The All American Clothing Co. was founded by Co-Owner Lawson Nickol in
2002. Prior to this, Lawson worked for another USA Made jeans
manufacturer and was on his way to retirement. But Nickol reports that
he discovered his employer`s jeans in a store with a tag that said
‘Made in Mexico.’ The company he worked for had begun to outsource.
According to Nickol, he immediately sent in his resignation and started
a family owned clothing company along with his son BJ and wife Mary
Ann. Together, they instilled the same American Made core values that
he believed in and established the All American Clothing Co.
Today the Nickol family continues to operate the company and they say
the USA label will always stay on their jeans. More about the
company and their products can be found at:
http://www.allamericanclothing.com/. Companies interested in the
county’s revolving loan program can call the Economic Development
Office at 937-548-3250.
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