Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local - And Helped Save an American Town (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780316231411)

The instant New York Times bestseller about one man's battle to save hundreds of jobs by demonstrating the greatness of American business.

The Bassett Furniture Company was once the world's biggest wood furniture manufacturer. Run by the same powerful Virginia family for generations, it was also the center of life in Bassett, Virginia. But beginning in the 1980s, the first waves of Asian competition hit, and ultimately Bassett was forced to send its production overseas.

One man fought back: John Bassett III, a shrewd and determined third-generation factory man, now chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co, which employs more than 700 Virginians and has sales of more than $90 million. In Factory Man, Beth Macy brings to life Bassett's deeply personal furniture and family story, along with a host of characters from an industry that was as cutthroat as it was colorful. As she shows how he uses legal maneuvers, factory efficiencies, and sheer grit and cunning to save hundreds of jobs, she also reveals the truth about modern industry in America.

Author: Beth Macy
ISBN-10: 031623141X
ISBN-13: 9780316231411
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Language: English
Published: 06/09/2015
Pages: 496
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 1.30d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 08/02/2015 pg. 24