Something big is happening in eastern Colorado, says Colorado State University. The first Rural Colorado Apparel Manufacturing—or RCAM—center has been established in the town of Wray. RCAM is one of several grassroots apparel and lifestyle business manufacturing efforts underway around Colorado. The program hopes to revive a US cut-and-sew workforce decimated by decades of jobs moving overseas.
Set among a group of office buildings along Highway 34, the facility is becoming a light apparel manufacturing center. The space was formerly a Farm Bureau Insurance office. Then it sat vacant for five years. Now, the building hums with the activity of teams collaborating on sewing projects.
Carol Engel- Enright, one of RCAM’s organizers, explains: “The products produced at RCAM could range from backpacks to tents or women’s fishing and . . . camping gear.”