Thursday, March 28, 2024

In Chronicle article 6 years ago, Telescope CEO Kathy Juckett warned: ‘Self-sufficiency is power & we are giving that away’

As the U.S. and much of the rest of the world desperately try to obtain medical masks by the millions from China — and as the Netherlands recalls as defective 600,000 N95 masks from China — there’s emerging sentiment that the United States needs more control of its destiny.

Kathy Juckett, amid Telescope furniture.

Kathy Juckett, the CEO of Telescope Casual Furniture in Granville — a manufacturer founded in 1903 — already knew it. She told The Chronicle in 2014:

“We have always been hellbent on keeping our jobs and our manufacturing facility here. And we have been successful. I guess we’re just really stubborn and resilient, and we’re here to prove that it can be done….

“This country has always been self-sufficient, but we have given away so much of our manufacturing base that we have lost some of that self-sufficiency. And it’s crazy that our elected officials don’t see that. We are very vulnerable…Self-sufficiency is power, and we are giving that away.

“Self-sufficiency is your strength, and because we have always done everything for ourselves, we had the flexibility to change rapidly because we are so vertically integrated.”

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