By Maria Bermudez Pizano
Built for the purpose of becoming an industrial city, Lawrence, Massachusetts has a long tradition of producing cotton and woolen textiles. The historic Lawrence mills propelled Lowell to its status as a leader in the production of textiles, but not without thousands of workers who came from all over the world looking to work in the manufacturing industry. Over time, the city became a truly multicultural center that was influenced by the immigrants who came to work in this industry and helped it become a successful industrial center.
Today, Lawrence is home to 99 Degrees, a Massachusetts-based apparel manufacturer based in the Everett Mill complex – an icon in the history of industrial development in the United States. Following the tradition of cotton and woolen textiles production, 99 Degrees specializes in producing textiles for sports and activewear manufacturing; the company has already formed various partnerships with several brands across the United States. Unlike other traditional textile manufacturer, however, the company has found an innovative way to cater to the latest trends and fulfill the rising demand for personalization of products by focusing precisely on that: supplying textiles for apparel that is custom-designed and made-to-order.
But cutting-edge technology and fast turnover and production are only some of the aspects of the innovation present in the organization. There is also an ethical component that is fully embedded into the business model. 99 Degrees’ business model does not only intend to provide an alternative to outsourcing manufacturing and create more manufacturing jobs in the United States, it was also founded with the goal of creating higher-paying jobs and providing opportunities for employees to attain valuable skills and expertise in lean manufacturing and other innovative production principles (EforAll, 2016).
In a way, the company defies some of the principles of human resource management regarding employee turnover. In courses of such nature, we are told that a high turnover of employees is something that should be avoided. Training new employees often involves high costs, and the time that managers and other co-workers invest is usually seen as an opportunity cost that, if managed incorrectly, counts against the overall productivity of the enterprise. At 99 Degrees however, the vision of employee longevity and training is different. The “up and out” model takes into account the idea that the employees will acquire valuable skills in the industry that can be easily transferred to other higher-paying jobs; it is the hope of 99 Degrees that they are able to have access to these higher-paying manufacturing jobs through the knowledge they have acquired there. Although the company is too young to note long-term costs and benefits of this model, the entrepreneurial community of the surrounding area seems to believe more in its benefits.
Since its foundation, 99 Degrees has won multiple grants and awards including the diamond award in the 2013 MassChallenge, the Lowell & Lawrence Accelerator of Winter 2013, the EforAll Accelerator Top Prize of 2012, and the MIT Inclusive Innovation Competition of 2016 in the Humans and Machines category (Boston Magazine, 2016). It has been featured in multiple publications, including the Boston Globe and Boston Magazine. While the long-term sustainability of this model is still to be seen in the years to come, it is certain that 99 Degrees has identified an opportunity in the market to be a provider of not only products that are rising in demand, but of transferrable skills that will lead their employees towards a successful career in the industry.
