We Make our LakeMats Locally

We build LakeMat Pros, MuckMat Pros and all our lake weed control mats in Michigan.

We get steel from Ohio for our frames — and our fabrics come from Georgia.

A while back, an investor offered to put a lot of dough into my business and move our production to China. The thought of a big investor was attractive, but China wasn’t.

“Why not just make them here?” I asked.

“We can make them cheaper over there,” he replied. “Besides, they’ll just start making knock-offs.”

Let ‘em make cheap knock-offs, we make the best. Besides, it’s just irresponsible business — we can make them right here.

And why would I want to be a part of sending more jobs to China?

Build them in China and… blah, blah, blah…

The investor said that by building them in China, we’d create more jobs here because…blah, blah, blah… (whatever, dude).

Actually, I never understood his reasoning on this one. Sounded like BS to me.

Here’s how I see it. There are over 1.6 billion people in China, I assume they have weeds and muck in their lakes, but none of them thought of inventing the LakeMat. Why didn’t they come up with this? After all, the odds were 1.6 billion to one.

You hear about “innovation” and “job creation.” Well, that’s exactly what we’re doing — innovating, creating jobs and getting rid of lake weeds for people.

I’m pleased to say the deal didn’t work out.

The investor’s plan may have allowed us to grow quickly, I suppose. But just how much money does one need to make — and at what cost?

So as I said, all our products are made here, in Michigan. Of course, after going through another Midwest winter, I’m thinking about a factory in Florida — which is also a state — but a much warmer one.

—Doug Fast