While most of the firms covered in this blog are involved in traditional manufacturing, the next company to be featured is not.
Admit Insights is a web-based college admissions consulting company that provides high quality, customized and actionable advice to high school students exploring their options for college via - www.AdmitInsights.com
Who created Admit Insights?
The founders of Admit Insights are some very bright and dedicated people; they include graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Harvard MBA, a Stanford MBA, executives at Fortune 500 companies and seasoned educational professionals.
The founders came together with a single goal "To advance the pursuit of post secondary school education by providing high quality, low cost, targeted college admissions advice to all". The founders felt strongly that high school students shouldn't need to pay thousands of dollars for a private admissions "consultant" in order to receive quality advice.
How does Admit Insights work?
- Students log in and create an account.
- Students populate their profile with their grades, standardized test scores as well as a host of other data that colleges look for in strong candidates.
- Students select their top 5 schools.
- Admit Insight's Admission Engine™ goes to work and starts analyzing the data the student has entered and comparing it with their target colleges. And in short order, the report is created and the student can immediately download it.
Students get a 14+ page report specific to their situation with personalized actionable advice on how to strengthen their profile and thereby increase their odds of getting into their "dream school" - and they have unlimited access through graduation.
Students can do "what-if" scenarios for upcoming grades and standardized test, thereby allowing them to forecast and plan their strategy.
All that for less than the price of an average video game and a 100% money back guarantee. Wow!
What makes Admit Insights so unique?
1. Its Admission Engine™. Admit Insights developed its own proprietary algorithms, databases and engines. These proprietary algorithms and engines have been calibrated by those intimately familiar with colleges' admission standards. Admit Insights constantly tunes its models and college databases to ensure the advice is accurate and relevant.
2. No software to purchase or upgrade. Just go to the website using any web-browser. A student's profile and data are password protected and encrypted on Admit Insights server. Students (and parents) never need worry about data loss should their computer crash, get lost or stolen.
3. Nationwide access 24/7. No matter where a student is located in the United States, they can easily access Admit Insights. This is advantageous for students in rural areas where resources and access to college admission advice and planning are limited.
4. Students can continually update their data/profile as they progress through high school. New grades, new SAT/ACT scores, new classes – enter the new data to your profile and the Admission Engine™ recalibrate his or her score and profile.
5. Students can forecast how they may do in future semesters by running "what-if" scenarios.
I wish this had been around when I was trying to figure out where to go to college; it would have saved time, stress and money. But then again, when I was in high school the Internet as we know it didn't exist, telephones had cords, a laptop was the size of a small suitcase, a cell phone was the size of a 10lb dumbbell, music had just come out on CDs….and dinosaurs walked the earth………how technology is changing the world.
A while ago I received a marketing mailer from the good ole' United States Postal Service (USPS). The mailer targeted marketers and covered various capabilities that the USPS had in direct marketing that were also environmentally friendly. The USPS also had a short survey they asked recipients to compete. As an incentive/reward for completing the survey, I would get an organic cotton tee shirt.
Nice. But it's no iPad/iPod/iTouch/iPhone. As all good marketers know, you can get people to do just about anything by offering the chance to win any product with an "i" in front of its name from that little tech company in California that's named after the pomaceous fruit of the Malus domestica. Complete a survey, walk 10 yards through molten lava, swim across a river full of starved piranha with an exceptionally bad disposition, skydive without a parachute, climb Everest without oxygen, slather themselves with Stubb's BBQ sauce and enter a lion's den or the lair of the rainbow speckled north-eastern Mexican chupacabra…….you get the picture. But that is the topic for another post – perhaps.
Fast forward a week or two and the tee shirt arrived. It had the name of the USPS campaign emblazoned on the front as well as the USPS logo - nothing surprising there. What was surprising was when I went to check the shirt size the label said Made in USA!!!! I couldn't believe it! From my unscientific observation, every t-shirt that I have purchased over the past 5 years has come from all corners of the world except the USA. Moreover, this t-shirt was very well made and comfortable to boot. I immediately flipped the label to get the name of the company.........A.S. Tees.
I immediately started searching the Internet to find out more about A.S. Tees and to see if they had website. And it was pretty neat what I found on their website.
"A.S. Tees was formed in 1997 as a private label t-shirts manufacturer. Over the years, we have expanded our scope of operations to include distribution of our own line of products under the A.S. Tees label and manufacturing custom designs. Our primary goal, however, still remains the same- to make fantastic products at great prices, domestically. A.S. Tees strives to keep the manufacturing in the U.S. while staying competitive. Our garments are made in the Southeastern United States. Much of our production is achieved at A.S. Tees Manufacturing, our production facility in Salley, South Carolina."
A.S. Tees' employees are provided with a healthy work environment. Employees are provided with benefits such as retirement plans, paid vacations, and health and dental coverages. We feel that our satisfied employees help us deliver a quality and competitive product to our customers.
As a response for the need to better our earth, we are proud to introduce our new eco-friendly line. Make a difference for your future with what you wear today. Less pesticides, minimal water consumption, resilient bamboo plants, replace man-made fertilizers; these all come down to one factor, a healthier planet. You can help make a difference, too."
While A.S. Tees is a private label manufacturer, if your company or organization is in need of lots of t-shirts for a company event, trade show, product launch, employee give-a-ways, etc., you should give A.S. Tees serious consideration.
Below are just a fraction of the styles and colors they offer.
Wow! A.S. Tees actively attempts to make all of its products in the U.S.A., provides its employees with meaningful benefits and produce shirts made with minimal impact to the environment. Oh yeah, all that and the quality is great. What more could a patriotic shopper ask for? Nothing! So go buy some Tees from A.S. Tees now.
Over the past 30 years, the US has seen its consumer electronics manufacturing capabilities all but disappear. Some of the most venerated American brands have been relegated to the dustbin and other once iconic names live on only through 3rd party licensing deals. And while there are numerous reasons for the near extinction of this sector of manufacturing; from foreign nations dumping products in the US below market cost, labor/management issues and a lack of political will, the company I'm about to profile has weathered trends and economic cycles for over 60 years and they are still going strong! Nestled in Binghamton, N.Y., meet McIntosh – and no, they are not part of, or affiliated with, Apple/Jobs et al.
“McIntosh makes the finest amplifier there is.” - Les Paul.
How many products are revolutionary, then remain essentially unchanged and then become a standard in their realm? So you don’t listen to that loud rock n’ roll music? Well consider that literally every single recorded song in the last 50+ years has benefitted from Les’ innovations in multi-track recordings. So now you know about Les Paul - and why an endorsement coming from him carries the weight that it does.
So What Makes McIntosh Special – Other Than Being Made in The USA and Earning Les Paul’s Ringing Endorsement?
Well, think of McIntosh as the Buggati or Ferrari of audio - performance, innovation, endurance and a rich history. In fact, McIntosh has 35 U.S. Patents. Moreover, McIntosh is considered the "Holy Grail" of sound reproduction by audiophiles around the world. A large part of McIntosh’s legendary quality and performance comes from the fact that they do their own research and development. In addition to great R&D, all of their products are still made by hand in their Binghamton, N.Y., facility. McIntosh is the last remaining audio and home theater electronics company in the USA that maintains in-house product development/R&D and manufacturing right here in the USA without the use of subcontractors or outsourcing.
McIntosh makes a complete line of audio and video products that include video displays, source units, power amps, pre-amps, loudspeakers and car audio. Below are some photos of their products. But I would suggest going to one of their dealers, so that you can HEAR their products.
While McIntosh does not make a product for every market segment, there may not be a better company in the world making high-end audio and home theater systems. If you are a music and tone fanatic then you must check them out. And like most high-end manufactures they do not sell their products at “box stores”, rather they market their legendary products through a network of independent dealers.
If you are looking for proof that America can still design and BUILD world class audio and video products, look no further than McIntosh. The gold standard in audio electronics around the world – made right here in the USA.
