Globalization and Buena Vista, VA

With a population around 6,650, it may come as a surprise that within the small town of Buena Vista there is a company turning out millions of tactical accessories and gear to the United States military that is shipped around the world.

In 1987, Scott and Mary Sayre started Sayre Enterprises in their garage with one product–an ankle blousing strap. This strap provides a more comfortable fit for military officers who had to “blouse” their pants. As a result, the Sayres sold over one million blousing strap within the first year of business.

Today, total annual sales top ten million dollars and the company employes around 115 individuals. When examining the total annual sales, 65 to 70 percent of sales are military, 25 percent of sales are promotional and commercial sales claim the remaining percent of sales.  Since creating the blousing straps, Sayre Enterprises has branched out to promotional products, collegiate items–such as creating the T-shirts for Washington and Lee University Mock Convention, and additional uniform accessories. Sayre is the number one provider of reflective gear to the military.

Of interest to many Washington and Lee students, Sayre Enterprises is responsible for the embroidery and monogramming of Jcrew’s products. But how does Sayre have a global impact or deal with globalization?

When discussing foreign competition, Mary Sayre, CEO, says it is difficult to compete with labor costs in China because of minimum wage and benefit requirements in the United States. Therefore, Sayre is extremely reliant on its number one client–The United States Military.

However, the US military has many requirements and standard codes that Sayre must meet in order to be certified to work with the military. One of the requirements is that all materials used in military gear must be made in the United States. This creates a small problem for Sayre since they do have China products such as vinyl used in reflective gear.

In order to solve this problem, the company does not keep the China products in its 30,000 square foot Buena Vista manufacturing plant. Instead, they keep the China products in an offsite location and will only bring in the products as needed. This allows Sayre Enterprises to remain consistent with the wishes and codes of the US military.

I find it extremely interesting and surprising that within such a small community like Buena Vista, there is a company with global ties that must deal with the benefits and the obstacles of an increasingly interconnected world.

- Harlyn Croland