Ryan Parsons Featured on Labor Considerations for U.S. Manufacturing Operations

Foley & Lardner LLP of counsel Ryan Parsons is featured for his insights on U.S. manufacturing in the Milwaukee Business Journal article, “Wisconsin a ‘mixed bag’ location for reshoring: Foley & Lardner.”

Milwaukee Business Journal cited Parsons’ recent article, part of Foley’s Made in the USA: End-to End Guide to Developing Your U.S. Manufacturing Footprint series, highlighting its reshoring scorecard and assessing what the market environment means for Wisconsin manufacturers.

Parsons explained that in part due to slower population growth, Wisconsin’s labor pool has tightened over the last five years, which has consequences for employers. “That’s the biggest barrier for Wisconsin,” he said, noting that in states with tighter labor markets, employers typically need to pay higher wages to recruit and retain talent. “The low unemployment rate is great for the people of Wisconsin, but an employer needs to consider that,” he commented.

Parsons shared that Foley is seeing greater interest from manufacturing clients assessing the prospects of onshoring and reshoring given supply chain and tariff risks. He said that while manufacturers see labor considerations as important, other factors like supply chain centralization, customer proximity, and government subsidies for development sites are weighed.

“A decision like this needs to look out over decades including demographic trends, even within a state,” he added.

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