By Polina Fishof
Shoe factories and paper mills used to be the biggest employers in Maine. But in recent years, unable to compete with low-cost competitors, mills closed and factory production moved overseas.
Adam Sutton, a struggling manufacturer in Brewer, a suburb of Bangor, was determined to find a way to survive.
Sutton had started out manufacturing shoes and handbags, but found them too labor intensive and costly to produce. Fifteen years ago, he founded the Highland Belt Company. Although belts are much less labor intensive than shoes and handbags, Sutton’s business still struggled.
About five years ago, Sutton reinvented himself again, this time as a contract manufacturer for major retailers like LL Bean and Brooks Brothers. Instead of laying out capital to purchase raw materials, Sutton’s clients supply the leather and fabrics he uses to make a wide array of belts–from high-end men’s leather belts to casual fabric belts.
His customers, said Sutton, benefit from quick turnaround times and the ability to place small custom orders. Highland’s upfront costs are much less, and big companies pay their manufacturers punctually.
“We did good last year,” said Sutton, and the company has “done better every year” since he started contract manufacturing. In 2017, Sutton made a profit of $146,000, about 18 percent of his total revenue of $810,000.
Sutton produces between 130,000 to 150,000 leather items per year. His biggest sellers are ribbon belts; he made 55,000 in 2017.
Remaining U.S. belt companies often produce their goods overseas. Highland is one of the few belt companies that continues to manufacture in Maine.
Ironically, domestic manufacturing is now Highland Belt’s competitive advantage, according to Sutton, who said he was able to deliver a finished product three to four times faster than foreign factories can. Sutton also is able to complete much smaller orders, whereas overseas factories need “high volumes” to sell at low prices.
Starting in March, Highland’s production begins to pick up, just in time for the early April opening of East Coast golf clubs, a big market for Highland, which produces customized belt orders for a wholesaler that supplies clubs all over the region. “The sooner we fill their inventory, the more likely it is that they will reorder,” explained Sutton.
Most golf clubs reorder two to three times per season, almost always items that include the club’s logo.
Today Highland has 15 employees on its payroll and adds another four or five during high season. Four employees are making $10 an hour, the minimum wage, while a few experienced stitchers make $12 to $15 per hour. Sutton said he would like to offer his workers health insurance but cannot afford it.
The company works out of a former shoe factory where Roberta, one of Highland’s more experienced stitchers who would only give her first name, used to work. A grandmother, Roberta said she had retired but decided to go back to work to keep busy after her husband passed away a few years ago. Virtually all the workers at Highland are about Roberta’s age. Finding young people who are willing to learn how to stitch belts is hard, said Sutton.
Video: Inside the factory