Do you want to see the words "Made in USA" again? I certainly do.

I own a hat and bag factory in Newark, New Jersey, where 100 union garment workers earn a living wage and health benefits sewing products way more labor-intensive than T-shirts and jeans. There are much easier ways to make a living, but I love my job.

What do I do all day? I solve problems. I believe every business problem can be solved mathematically. Some short term problems can be solved with simple equations. "How can we meet that deadline? Spend extra on shipping." "How can we increase profits on our next production run? Cut costs by outsourcing manufacturing overseas."

Some short term solutions create long term problems. After years of outsourcing manufacturing jobs overseas, our economy discovered that our underemployed consumer base had lost the ability to consume at the same time that our businesspeople had lost control of the means of production. Longer term problems can't keep human behavior out of the equation, but complex mathematical equations can still be solved with a combination of approximation and trial and error--also known as gut instinct and commitment.

So how do we solve this problem? First, we define the problem. For the last twenty years our business minds focused on the problem of increasing profits. Maybe they were focused on the wrong problem. Maybe the problem to solve is, "How do we build a sustainable economy?". My gut instinct tells me we build a sustainable economy by encouraging the building of sustainable businesses.

I see nothing morally wrong with making enormous profits. But profit, by definition, is cash taken out of a corporation. A corporation, by definition, is a legal entity expressly developed to earn a profit. Sustainability requires that cash be reinvested in a business to harvest future growth.

THAT'S the problem. That's THE problem. That's the PROBLEM.

That's the problem I've spent the last 15 years of my life trying to solve. How does a business, and by extension, an economy, find a balance between profitability and sustainability? Here's what I've come up with so far: Long Term Sustainability = Profitability + Workplace Satisfaction.

In the short term, workplace satisfaction does indeed lower profits. In the long term, workplace satisfaction creates sustainable profits. Garment workers rewarded with union wages and benefits have a stake in the long term success of a business and its enduring customer relationships. A living wage can buy the gifted hands of a veteran seamstress. Low employee turnover means knowhow and resourcefulness on the factory floor. High morale means high productivity, lowering costs and speeding up deliveries. Company loyalty translates into pride in workmanship, which increases revenues. Sharing gains with workers results in a culture of continuous improvement. Product development, process innovation, and creative compensation ideas can all come from the factory floor. A thriving factory creates value in the community by creating jobs, supporting families, and recycling dollars as businesses sprout up all around it. The local living economy has a vested interest in the success of its manufacturers and reinvests some its tax dollars in public / private partnerships in order to ...

Well, I could go on and on, because that's what sustainability is all about. And, trust me, I will--that's what this blog is all about: mathematical proof that happy workers are good for business.