Late last night I returned from a business trip to Houston where I spoke at the Global Plastics Summit on the advantages for manufacturing in the Shale Crescent USA region. I was part of a panel discussing The Changing International Dynamics of the Industry. Plastics are an increasing part of our lives, especially as we move to more electrification. An EV is now close to 90% plastic.

It is ironic, four years ago this week, Lynnda and I were in Houston at a conference. We had a great business meeting and dinner with a company from Asia who is interested in coming to the Shale Crescent USA. It was my last in person business meeting for over a year. The company is now back on track expanding to the Shale Crescent USA.

The pandemic disrupted all of our lives. For Lynnda and me the first two weeks were like a staycation. We didn’t go anywhere. There wasn’t much work to do. We stayed up late working puzzles or watching movies and waking up when we felt like it. Living where we do it was easy to social distance. I could go out for a run in my neighborhood. If a neighbor was out we could visit from a distance. When the lockdown was extended our lives changed. We couldn’t see family and friends. Church services were cancelled when we needed them most. People were dying. It was serious. We saw all the body bags in places like New York City. It was scary because this was new disease. Could it be like the Black Plague in Europe?

Stores were having shortages because of deliveries and panic buying. Toilet paper became a valuable commodity. Travel got restrictive because of various state restrictions. If we traveled could we had to worry about finding food and fuel. Restaurants shut down or went to carry out only. Then we suddenly realized how many products were no longer made in the USA. COVID victims had to wait on ventilators from China. Health care workers had to wait for PPE to be shipped from China. Nurses wore garbage bags because they couldn’t get gowns and PPE. U.S. consumers discovered the USA didn’t make things like hand sanitizer and rubber gloves. Masks were required, unavailable and made overseas. Lynnda and her friends started sewing masks. As nurses they realized cloth alone wasn’t sufficient. Their masks had a protective layer of polypropylene and two other layers.

Sadly, people died alone from COVID or with family members watching helplessly on their phones via Zoom. Nursing home residents who were used to family visits and hugs had to see family members through windows or do video chat on a cell phone. We missed the human touch we all need. Doctor visits were cancelled or done via video. We don’t how many lives this cost. All of our doctor friends said when in-person visits resumed they saw a lot of stage-4 cancers that would have normally been seen in the early stages when they were easily treated.

It is an ill wind that doesn’t blow some good. The pandemic taught us how to use video calls like Zoom and Teams. These work well for long distance communication for business and with loved ones. For a few hundred dollars I set up a studio with a background, professional lights and quality microphones. SCUSA had Zoom calls to India last week. This morning we had three video calls to organizations in Europe. We can talk to people around the world face to face that we never could before. This doesn’t replace in-person meetings. That is why we are traveling to Germany later this month.

SCUSA put out a pitch to the media in April of 2020. Did the pandemic show us why made in America is now essential? That pitch got us on over 70 radio shows from New York to Los Angeles, Seattle to Miami including Chicago and Houston. Many of these were nationally syndicated shows on networks like Westwood One. We hear that America is divided. That is a perception. I’m not convinced it is reality. We only need a leader to unite us. 100% of show hosts and callers were upset with China and

demanded this critical manufacturing be brought back to the USA. Perry Small of WVON in Chicago represents the black community. She asked, Mr. Kozera, we have a lot of vacant buildings in Chicago. If we can bring back manufacturing we can give our young people jobs and hope and end the gun violence in this city.

States, companies and consumers responded. The are now factories in Ohio making toilet paper and rubber gloves. Dow in Charleston added a line during the pandemic to make hand sanitizer. Reshoring is real and happening.

How have you been changed? We make a point to see our children and grandchildren more frequently. We visit our friends when they are in the hospital. We don’t put off until tomorrow what we can do today. Lynnda and I travel together and spend time just taking in the evening at our fire pit in the yard. We make a point to go to church. Americans will never allow themselves to be locked down again. They are less willing to trust the government and the medical community. Maybe they are thinking more instead of just listening to a talking head on TV. A gentleman I met on the flight back from Houston said, “I won’t ever be afraid again just because someone says I should be. We chose to travel during the pandemic.”

Hopefully we won’t forget pandemic lessons learned and support American manufacturing and jobs. Lynnda won’t wear any clothing made in China. The pandemic was hard. We can use the lessons learned to make positive changes to create a brighter future for everyone especially those we love.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA, www.shalecrescentusa.com. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy induastry. He is a professional speaker and author of four books and numerous published articles.