After lining up some initial customers among a collection of friends and former colleagues, Waxman turned his attention to funding. He said his initial funding of more than $200,000 came from “cashing out” everything he had, raising funds from investors and a loan. This allowed him to buy machinery and set up operations.

 

Initially, the company worked out of about 1,000 square feet in his mother’s manufacturing facility, Old Port Wool and Textile. Co.  As America Rootswear grew, he moved it into a 5,000-square-foot space.

 

“Our business model is very simple,” Waxman said. “We sell to nonprofits, political organizations, organized labor, hospitality, government agencies and American companies that believe in American-made products. We definitely have a desire to support American jobs. We pay a good wage, a bonus and benefits.”

 

Waxman said American Rootswear expects to sell between 15,000 and 20,000 units during its first full year, which is above expectations. So far, the company’s primary focus has been on business-to-business sales with promotional products, but eventually it will move into consumer sales. New products are in the works, including a new line of cotton T-shirts and sweatshirts.

 

As a former union executive with the AFL-CIO, perhaps it’s not too surprising that Waxman created a unionized company. It’s the foundation of his plan to create living-wage jobs.

 

“I opened the factory to be unionized,” Waxman said. “A lot of people say I am nuts, but it’s what I believe in.”

 

American Rootswear employs a largely international workforce of immigrants who have moved to Portland. The first group of six women trained and hired was comprised of three from the Congo, two from Iraq and one from Colombia. In addition to Waxman and Reynolds, American Rootswear employs 18 stitchers and a designer. He said he expects that number to grow in 2017.

 

American Rootswear relied on local assistance organizations such as Coastal Enterprises, Goodwill Industries and Portland Jobs Alliance to help develop a worker training program that was overseen by Reynolds and Dory Waxman.

 

A huge role model in textiles

 

Waxman and Reynolds put great effort into assembling its U.S. supply chain. The primary supplier is Polartec, which provides the fleece fabric used in most of the company’s products. Waxman said he admires Aaron Feuerstein, the former CEO of Malden Mills, the creator of Polartec, for the way he treated his employees. Feuerstein, now 90 and retired from textiles, drew national accolades after he continued to pay his 3,000 employees following a 1995 fire that halted operations.

 

“I knew the story of Aaron Feuerstein,” Waxman said. “I want to be that guy, to be someone who treats their workers right.”

 

The company’s U.S. suppliers also include Jagger Spun, a Springvale, Maine, manufacturer of worsted yarn, and Vernon, Calif.-based UCAN Zippers.

 

Waxman said he believes his fledgling company faces two major challenges as it grows in the company years. One is capacity. He said he has been cautious about how the company has been rolled out. Orders poured in in the days after American Rootswear was launched. Demand was so brisk during the first few weeks that Waxman said he had to “pump the brakes” to make sure orders could be filled. That’s when he knew that he had to recruit more employees.

 

Maintaining a strong U.S.-centric supply chain is the company’s other primary challenge. As more product lines are added, more suppliers will be needed, and while U.S. suppliers can be found, it’s not always the easiest task.

 

“Building a company like this requires a lot of patience and capital,” he said. “Whitney and I do all the cutting and the inspection. Sometimes we are cutting until after 10 p.m. on a Friday night. We love our team and what we are doing. It’s about as American as it gets. We have new Americans working in our shop and we are providing them with a good living. We see a path for real middle class jobs here.”