WAYLAND, Mich. (WZZM)-A West Michigan company is trying to create jobs by "in-sourcing" it's parts from the United States.
Bill Stimer is the Vice President of Global Operations at Falcon Water-free Technologies in Wayland. The company makes water-free urinals. They were recently able to find a Coopersville company to make its main component. The cartridge traps the urine.
"And we chose to bring that in because thousands of those were made in Asia," Stimer said. "We thought, why shouldn't we produce them here and bring jobs back to America?"
The move attracted the attention of the U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.
"It's good to know this company that's been around for 11 years has been able to bring back jobs from China," Solis said.
Solis would like to see more companies do the same.
"It's just a matter of having some tax incentives and breaks to be able to grow."
So far, between Falcon and its suppliers, eight new jobs have been created. Stimer says, "It's not a huge number of jobs. This is a strong business model, and these jobs are here to stay, so we're confident to say we're adding permanent jobs to the market."
Next, the company hopes to find a ceramic manufacturer for its urinal. If they do, the product will be 100-percent made in the USA.