Kentucky family business reinvents “Made in America” with high-tech shoe factory

In the heart of Kentucky, a family-owned shoe company is quietly redefining what it means to “Make in America.” 

In a small town near Louisville, Kentucky, family-owned footwear company Keen is set to open a new factory this month—a move that fits neatly with the “America First” economic vision promoted by the Trump administration. The launch is seen as a hopeful sign for a revival in US manufacturing, Caliber.Az reports via BBC.

However, Keen’s new facility tells a more complicated story. With only 24 employees on site, the factory relies heavily on advanced automation, including robots that attach soles and trim materials, reflecting how modern manufacturing has evolved into a capital-intensive, high-tech industry.

“The labour rates here in the US are very expensive,” says Keen’s COO, Hari Perumal, noting US staffing costs are roughly 10 to 12 times higher than in Asia. This economic reality prompted Keen to begin producing domestically in 2010 when rising Chinese costs pressured the company—a move now offering some protection from tariffs.

Despite these efforts, shoemaking remains tightly tied to complex global supply chains, with 99 per cent of shoes sold in the US still imported from Asia. Keen assembles only about 9 per cent of its shoes in America.

Pepper Harward, CEO of Oka Brands, another rare US-based shoemaker, echoes these challenges, citing difficulty sourcing affordable parts domestically. “It’s not a self-sustained ecosystem,” he says. “You kind of have to build your own.”

Interest in reshoring has grown due to tariffs and pandemic-related supply disruptions, but Harward doubts tariffs alone will reverse globalization. “It would probably take 10 years of pretty high tariffs to give people incentives to do it,” he says.

For Keen, patience and family ownership allow a long-term vision. “We’re able to do these types of decisions without having to worry about quarter after quarter results,” Perumal explains.

By Naila Huseynova