BCSO and Sherif Heroux prioritizing goods made in Massachusetts, USA over foreign goods

“As a government agency, we should support locally owned businesses. This is something that I filed legislation on when I was a State Representative. In 2013, I was given a MA House of Representatives lapel pin and on the back, it read ‘Made in China.’ For a State Rep who was representing Attleboro, which was the one time jewelry production capital of the world, and still had companies that made lapel pins, this was disappointing. Later I found that a mug sold in the gift shop at the State House was also ‘Made in China.’

“I filed legislation that prioritized purchasing from Massachusetts and the USA over foreign products. It was well received by Democrat and Republican members of the joint committee the bill was heard in, but never made it to a floor vote by the entire body.

“As Sheriff, I am now in a position to implement this as a policy. The BCSO policy effectively states that when purchasing goods, first we will purchase from a Bristol County company. If not available, then from a Massachusetts company. Then if not available from a USA company, and then finally, when not available, from a foreign manufacturer.

As a matter of practice, the BCSO may also purchase goods from the next level if the good at the most local level is unreasonably expensive.

“The first implementation of this policy was during the recent Employee Appreciation Week here at the BCSO. As a show of appreciation, we purchased T-shirts for all employees. But for the first time, we made sure the T-shirts were ‘Made in the USA.’ I told a gathering of employees that “Something doesn’t feel right about giving government employees a gift that was made overseas. So we spent a bit more money and got something that was Made in the USA.” When announcing this at the employee appreciation week, it was received with a round of applause by the dozens of present employees.”