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"Success comes to the underdog who doesn't let sleeping dogs lie...
Workforce Development: Stitching Together Sewn Goods For A Brighter Future
Empowering Communities through Sewing and Workforce Development
Did you know that our crown jewel the Dayton Emerging Fashion Incubator (DE-FI) LLC played a key roll in developing Dayton’s only sewing workforce development program as well as building their audience at the Goodwill? Now we are set to relaunch our workforce development program not only for the fashion industry but the over 700 sewing jobs in Dayton for companies like Lions and Honeywell. While they do not specialize in “fashion”, some of the sewing work being done does help save and protect the lives of our first responders…which is always in fashion.
The fashion industry is a Top 5 employer in the U.S. and is a $900 Billion dollar a year industry, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland have all benefited from the fashion industry from Hugo Boss being manufactured in Cleveland to The L Brands, Abercrombie & Fitch, Zulily, and Victoria's Secret having their headquarters in Columbus, and Macy's had headquarters in Cincinnati. Why not Dayton?
Despite a 60% decline in fashion manufacturing jobs since 2001, the fashion industry still contributes over $1.5 trillion to the U.S. economy with billions of dollars in taxable wages. As more fashion designers and brands move towards local production, there will be a significant increase in the demand for workers with specialized skills. New approaches are needed to enable retired workers to share their expertise with others.
According to the 2020 census, the median household income in Dayton was $32,540 for Cincinnati it's $45,235; 30% of Dayton's residents live in poverty, for Cincinnati it's 24.7%; and out of 248 cities in Ohio, Dayton ranks 12th for childhood poverty, Cincinnati is ranked 28th; Montgomery County ranks 19th out of 88 counties for childhood poverty, Hamilton County was in the top 1/3. Our communities could really use better paying jobs and a more diverse economy.
While producing world class talent has been the pinnacle of our success, growing Dayton's market to benefit from the economic powerhouse that is the Fashion Industry has been met with challenges. Most notably the lack of support from our local government and government agencies. The governments of Midwest cities like Columbus and St. Louis are actively working to retain their fashion based talent; the St. Louis government is paying $50,000 for designers to move to St. Louis; Columbus has invested over a half a million dollars to retain fashion designers in their city since 2020.
The fashion industry presents immense opportunities for investing in garment manufacturing; one of (DE-FI) Global INC's longest held goals has been and still is to bring garment manufacturing to the Dayton and Miami Valley areas. Did you know that garment manufacturing requires less capital intensive with high investment to turnover ratio? The output of U.S. textile manufacturing (measured by value added) totaled $18.79 billion in 2019.
According to U.S. Joint Economic Committee, the U.S. apparel manufacturing industry employs more than 144,000 people. While occupations such as sewing machine operators, tailors, and textile machine operators still earn lower wages; higher paying garment manufacturing occupations such as market research analysts and marketing specialists earn an average of $59,750 annually, garment manufacturing computer based professionals earn $67,110/yr., and other production stages such as fabric and apparel pattern-makers earn an average of $53,800 annually.
Our Workforce Development program bridges the skills gap in the fashion industry by connecting individuals with decent employment opportunities that offer fair compensation packages, ethical working environments, and a pathway for professional advancement.
Get trained to become an industrial sewing professional in a manufacturing environment for both fashion and non-fashion related sewing opportunities.
To receive your Certificate of Completion, students must prove they have the necessary sewing skills required by local industry standards through successful completion of an in-depth examination.
Achieve financial independence, combat poverty and promote positive change in the fashion industry.