The CHOICE of Manufacturing in the States.
We CHOOSE to manufacture here, but before you go patting us on the back, we want our readers to realize that manufacturing in the US actually makes a lot of BUSINESS sense, especially for small businesses.
Most critics will suggest manufacturing in China or India nowadays, but there's a few problems with this if you're not on the scale of say, McDonald's producing Happy Meal toys in the millions.
Smaller quantities aren't significantly cheaper, especially not anymore. The time is GREATLY increased to have your product shipped back by boat (unless you pay extra for air freight) and is anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks (then you get to wait on customs). Lastly, unless you're flying over there, you can't have direct control over what you're producing, which can lead to misrepresentations of labor, materials used to produce, etc. (Not to scare you, as most Chinese manufacturers are now legit, but those are the ones who aren't any cheaper than producing domestically, so why not make it here?)

Manufactured in Wilmington, OH
You've heard of Wilmington in the news a few years ago. Sounds familiar, right? Well the town was one of the first of too many poster children for the recession (a recognition the town would gladly forego).
In 2009, DHL closed their regional distribution hub and airport. The news was devastating for the town, as approximately 7,000 jobs both at the hub and in related businesses were lost.
A positive point to the cup holder, and one we didn't even realize at the time, was that the company that manufactures the product, Custom Molded Products, is now one of the largest employers in Wilmington. Although not able to hire on all 7,000 individuals, the company has benefited from increased auto contracts.
On top of this, Custom Molded makes sense for our production needs, both in cost (which is LOWER than our previous Canadian producer) and for flexibility of smaller runs. (They even package our product for us, and cheaper than companies that actually specialize in assembly.)
We recommend checking them out if you have anything to do with plastic injection:
Custom Molded Products 92 Grant St. Suite A Wilmington, OH 45177 (937)382-1070

Straps from FASTENation.
The hook and loop straps are made in New Jersey by a company called FASTENation. Here's where we're doing our part helping the economy. Due to the fact that we require a custom strap, conveniently for the manufacturer (LOL), it can't be automated. So we're employing people to make the straps, apply the rubber strip, and then fold them for retail packaging. That's a lot of repetitive labor when you consider making thousands of straps! (Also our longest lead time due to the labor involved.)


A GRIP on the Queen City.
Lastly the foam pads (used for gripping the armrest) are produced by a Cincinnati company called Ohio Valley Gaskets. Usually making foam rings or seals for plumbing uses and such, this company takes a HUGE roll of foam, and using a custom tool cuts hundreds of pieces at a time. Not a lot of labor, except for the folks who get the job of stacking them neatly into boxes of a thousand or more.

Boxed in by Boxes of Boxes.
Okay, the boxes. We've got a large stock of retail packaging that was printed in Canada. HOWEVER (as I can imagine fingers wagging in our direction), we've found a local Cincinnati printer who will be taking over the task once this current stock is depleted. (Printers usually offer huge discounts when you get like 20,000 boxes or more, so we've got a few left.) The company who will be taking over is Bramkamp, and they did a GREAT job on some marketing materials for the cup holder which were recently produced.