Local entrepreneur participates in forum at White House

Dave Ollila invited to share ideas on insourcing American jobs

Marquette, Mich – With pre-election rhetoric already focused boosting employment in the United States, President Barack Obama hosted a forum, “Insourcing American Jobs,” today at the White House. Marquette entrepreneur David Ollila was among a select group of business leaders who were invited to participate and share their ideas. Obama discussed with the forum why it’s competitive to locate in the United States and what more can be done to work with companies to take steps to insource American jobs.

Ollila is CEO and founder of Snapperhead Inventions, LLC, makers of the Marquette Backcountry Ski. Ollila was able to launch the company in less than one year, with minimal capital investment, while still being able to keep manufacturing not only within the United States, but right here Michigan.

Ollila brought the message to Washington that an individual player can participate in U.S. manufacturing, earn a family sustaining income and bring innovative products to the market with lower overall risk and greater reward than can be accomplished overseas.

“It's my hope that this forum leads to increased dialogue and action that will support average Americans who are willing to wake up every morning, take charge of their lives and produce something of value,” Ollila said.

According to Ollila, an aggregate of independent innovators can have a stabilizing and lasting impact on the nation’s financial stability by tapping into existing but underutilized manufacturing resources. For example, Ollila’s contract manufacturer also produces products for the automotive industry and operations were 40 percent below capacity as a result of the challenges faced by automakers. When manufacturers are able to expand the range of products they are capable of producing they are better positioned to handle the challenges that occur when an industry has a downturn.

Ollila hopes Washington will be able to help small businesses in America by providing states with the resources necessary to support the development and growth of individual ventures.

“In order for our country to be successful, we need to take the blinders off. We need to look at all the factors that play into the economy – the big as well as the small, the traditional as well as the progressive – and determine what roadblocks to advancement need to be removed,” Ollila said.

The forum comes on the heels of the government reporting Friday that the unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in December. Obama noted that the jobs report showed the economy added more than 200,000 private sector jobs last month and that more than 3 million private sector jobs had been added during the past 22 months.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to be invited to participate in the forum,” Ollila said. “The fact that the Obama Administration is interested in how our small company is leveraging existing supply chains is a genuine signal that regular people can, and should, pursue the American dream.”

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Links:

Marquette Backcountry Website: http://www.marquette-backcountry.com/

MarquetteBackcountryFacebookpage: http://www.facebook.com/marquette.backcountry

About Marquette Backcountry

Marquette Backcountry is a Snapperhead Inventions brand, established in November of 2009 to create high quality, easy-to-use consumer goods and services for outdoor and action sports enthusiasts.