WASHINGTON DC- Upper Peninsula Michigan entrepreneur David Ollila Wednesday was among more than a dozen business leaders who were invited to participate in and share their ideas at a forum hosted by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
The forum, called ?Insourcing American Jobs,? brought together business owners who shifted work back to the United States. The forum focused on why insourcing is needed to help create jobs and attract investing dollars from companies looking to establish or grow U.S. subsidiaries.
?My message to Washington is 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,? Ollila said. ?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 is CEO and founder of Snapperhead Inventions, makers of the Marquette Backcountry Ski. Ollila was able to launch the company in less than a year, with minimal capital investment, with manufacturing in Michigan. Ollila hopes the federal government 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,? Ollila said. ?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.
?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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