CHICAGO — Zekelman Industries kicked-off an integrated marketing campaign to spotlight the issue of illegally imported steel products into the United States and to encourage the electrical industry to buy American-made products.
“Domestic manufacturing is important to our country because it supports American jobs, American communities, and American prosperity,” said Barry Zekelman, CEO of Zekelman Industries. “When we bring product from overseas, we’re supporting all of the things that this country stands against. We’re exploiting labor, we’re polluting the environment, and we’re robbing our own communities of the very jobs that they need to survive and prosper.”
The campaign, simply titled “Demand Domestic,” is designed to tap into the pride that electrical contractors have in the products they use and projects they complete, as well as the service and support distributors provide to contractors. The campaign leverages trade advertising, social media, video, direct marketing, and public relations. The campaign will also incorporate a host of activation and event marketing activities at the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) tradeshows.
“As pressure escalates on electrical contractors to deliver on time with exceptional quality, taking a chance on imports risks longer lead times, limited offerings, and real quality concerns adding to higher cost, contractor frustration, and customer dissatisfaction,” said Jim Hays, President of Electrical, Zekelman Industries. “At Zekelman, we will continue to invest in our plant, our equipment, our teammates, and ultimately, our customers so that they can deliver superior quality and meet time expectations.”
Rigorous product testing and regulatory code compliance is required of all conduit products in the United States and there are well-documented rusting and other issues with the quality of imported products. When the building and construction industry buys steel conduit not made in the USA, a significant amount of tax revenue is lost and not put back into the economy, including real estate taxes and corporate income taxes at the local, state, and federal levels. Dirty steel manufacturing practices from imports, and excessive shipping distances the product must travel, make imports a poor environmental choice.
“When you buy product from Zekelman Industries, you can be assured that you’re buying product that is sourced domestically, meets all regulatory thresholds, and is backed by our own technical and service support,” Zekelman said. “Demand domestic. It’s more important now than ever.”
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