New York – Orthodox Jewish Entrepreneur Manufactures a Haitian Recovery

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    Mr. Gelman an Orthodox Jew from Lakewood NJ Touring factories in the industrial park outside Port-au-Prince.New York – Mesh Gelman, a scarily enthusiastic, in-your-face entrepreneur, is standing in a Port-au-Prince factory whose machines are idled as he examines a newly printed T-shirt. The slogan is supposed to read “Choose Haiti,” but the letters e and H are piled on top of each other. To Gelman, a textile whiz in New York City whose main business is importing home linens for retail chains, the goof is not surprising. “I can’t tell you how many times something comes in on a box from Asia and I have to ship it back and start over again,” he says. He fiddles with fonts on a laptop, and the 15 or so Haitian workers who have been waiting around are soon given the go-ahead to resume production.

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    Gelman believes that commerce, not charity, is the most sustainable way to fight poverty. That’s why in mid-April, three months after the earthquake in Haiti, he and his business partner, branding expert Elizabeth Brown, started a Facebook page to promote a fledgling made-in-Haiti movement; within a week, the Choose Haiti group attracted more than 22,000 fans. He and Brown are producing 50,000 T-shirts in Port-au-Prince, which they plan to sell at $9.99 a pop. The initial order is creating more than 200 jobs, and by May, Gelman and Brown will hire an additional 240 people when they shift production from China to Haiti for their linen brand, Blanket America.

    Jobs will ultimately determine Haiti’s long-term fate. The country’s once thriving textile industry had been losing work to Asia since long before the Jan. 12 quake. To help reverse that trend, in 2006, U.S. trade law started giving duty-free treatment to garments made in Haiti, where the textile sector currently employs some 25,000 people. Port-au-Prince wants to up that total to 150,000. “I wish Bill Clinton would come down here with the CEO of Walmart, the CEO of Target,” says John Park, a factory owner in Haiti. “We need work.”

    According to Haitian officials, Blanket America will be the first U.S. textile business to move its factories to Haiti since the quake. Apparel brands Beverly Hills Polo and Pony are also scoping out the country. And Gelman and Brown are pitching other retailers to join their cause. As we ride through the rubble of Port-au-Prince, Gelman e-mails longtime friend Howard Schultz, the Starbucks CEO, to see if he’ll start selling Haitian coffee in his shops. (Schultz has yet to make a commitment, but his company is working with Haiti to improve the country’s beans.)

    Apart from Gelman’s efforts, Gap is planning to roll out its own made-in-Haiti line. The company, which owns Old Navy and is already responsible for more than 4,000 Haitian textile jobs, may even set up special Haiti sections in some stores. “Customers generally don’t care about country of origin,” says Art Peck, a senior Gap executive. “We think they will with Haiti.”

    With the spacing issue corrected on Gelman’s “Choose Haiti” shirts and the first consumer-worthy items starting to roll off the assembly line, we witness an event all too rare since the devastating quake: a group of Haitians smile.


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    29 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Its all about the buck peoples soft spot is being used to make a Buck.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Nice idea but the Haitians do not have the intellect or work ethic of the Chinese. Communist china makes manufacturing easier and cheaper than a 3rd world lawless country.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Meshulem Gelman?? Wow – I sit near you in Central Court shul and never knew! Hatzlocha!

    Eli
    Eli
    13 years ago

    While I applaud VIN for adding ” Orthodox Jewish” to the headline you will not find this title in the media. While the same news outlet will add the title Rabbi to none Rabbi’s if it involves a sex scandal.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Very nice. But in the original Times edition there is no indication that the entrepreneur is Orthodox, or even Jewish.

    ur big fan
    ur big fan
    13 years ago

    go mesh go! you always had that great sincere heart .thank you for trying to make the world a better place .much hatzlacha in all that u do!! may your company prosper to greater heights

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Yasher Koach Reb Meshulem

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    A yiddishe cup

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    very nice bit all he means is his pocket & why not

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Proud to be mishpooocheh!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    #1 of course not..eisav sonei es yaakov. The same way the NY Times did not write much on the Jewish/Israeli hospital

    Shlomo
    Shlomo
    13 years ago

    Meshulam is definitely orthodox and Jewish. A great guy. Glad to see he made the news and may you go m’chayil el chayil. Go Meshulam Go!!! Your family is rooting for you!!

    chicago
    chicago
    13 years ago

    great job mesh .much hatzlacha keep it up we’re all proud of u its a little warm there but maybe u can still get rid of some blankets

    mayim
    mayim
    13 years ago

    i do biz with meshulam, he’s for real

    ShatzMatz
    ShatzMatz
    13 years ago

    Years ago I tried doing a similar thing in the Dominican Republic with leather goods. Not a good idea. Good luck in getting raw materials, qualified workers, reliable shipping etc…. Not to mention power outages, hurricanes etc…

    A very altruistic notion but bad business sense.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Great idea, meshilam u have great connections, howard schultz from starbucks,, wow
    Can u hook me up with him??

    who cares about the ny times
    who cares about the ny times
    13 years ago

    how is it that so many people know what the times writes, or does not? i don’t know, because i never read it. and furthermore, does it really matter to any Jew about the lies that the islamo nazis report, or don’t?

    who cares if they mentioned orthodox or not; it really doesn’t matter. all that matters is their demise!!!!

    anonymous
    anonymous
    13 years ago

    hes my brother in law he doesnt run after koved youre making us all proud meshulem

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    now you understand when chazal speak about אשפה

    yay!
    yay!
    13 years ago

    yay less jobs for americans!!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    I say: Rebuild US Industry with Industrial Free Trade “NO TAX” Zones. We have the infrastructure and power plants. US Free Trade Zones would cause an UNBELIEVABLE renewal of American Industry. Oh, I forgot, our politicians are all owned by Union Bosses and Democrat Party Global Warming MORONS who want poor drugged out American Citizens that are totally demoralized, bankrupt and unemployed.

    the herring
    the herring
    13 years ago

    mesh, i always knew you could “think out of the box”!! This is brilliant! (and although we all can’t stand Obama, you at least figured out how to make a buck off of him)!!