Live Blogging the Jamboree – This is Wrong Redux
Starting two Jamborees ago, Jere Ratcliff as Chief Scout Executive (CSE), maybe it was Roy Williams, began handing out a patch to Scouts attending the Jamboree that he met. This year Bob Mazucca continued the new tradition with his own CSE patch:
Chief Scout Executive Jambo 2010 patch - front
Handing these patches out to Scouts is a nice touch by the Chief.
Until I turned it over…:
Boy Scouts of America CSE - Made in China
Now I posted last spring about the BSA being at best being insensitive, at worst being out right dumb, by having certain patches relating to the American labor movement made in China. Somehow I’m feeling that this is worse because it indicates our leadership does not get it. The comments are the same; he’s either being insensitive at best or dumb at worst. Now I hope our Chief is too busy to be designing and ordering patches but it means he is not being served well either by the Supply Division or by his assistant (who gets his own badge). But neither did he catch it. He could at least have had his staff take the sticker off to make it less obvious. But no… they couldn’t even do that much. What message are they sending to our Scouts? What message are they Sending to our volunteers? Has he not looked at unemployment levels by age group (it is much worse for those under 30)?
The number I am hearing is that the Scouts need to raise $175 million to build the new jamboree site, more on that in another blog. How much are they asking for from China? Why should any American employee support Scouting? This patch is bad for our brand. It is bad for our leadership. Same conclusion as before – some heads must roll.
on August 4th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
We spoke briefly about this last Saturday evening at the TOR, but it’s ridiculous that the BSA buys any of their patches from overseas sources when there are perfectly fine domestic patch manufacturers and embroiderers. Both of your blog posts on this are spot on. BSA really needs to be proactive, set the example and make a point to get everything domestically, even if it means that we all have to pay a few more cents on the dollar for patches.
on August 8th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Regrettably, it seems that virtually all patches are now made overseas. We purchased our council’s JSPs from a very well known and reputable company and they were made overseas. The companies we all order from are here in the US, but I daresay that most, if not all, of them have the embroidery done in Asia these days. If we want to order from a company based in the US that actually does all of its own embroidery here in the USA, these companies need to step forward and tell us who they are. Otherwise we have no way of knowing who to order from….
on August 9th, 2010 at 7:05 am
Lyon Brothers still makes items in the US but they have cut back their BSA business because they were always getting jobbed by BSA national. Krelman can make patches here in the US. Basically we have to spec US made. It is a cost difference. On some patches, IMHO, it doesn’t matter. On some I believe it does. Welsh Industries still has operating looms in the US but due to bad business decisions by the owner they have been shut out of BSA business. Part of the problem with BSA items, in general, is that they are low production runs and can be a pain to get payment.