We can cultivate inventors, renew contract manufacturing and re-invent  “Made in USA”. The only thing holding back innovation and manufacturing in America today is connectivity and trust. Garage Inventor Live is what's missing." — Mary Kaye Denning

photograph   Barney Taxel

By Ken Robertson

In today’s global economy, some might be tempted to argue that American manufacturing and innovation have withered on the vine. But Mary Kaye Denning would be the first to say you’re wrong.  

From her position as a product design and marketing consultant in Manhattan, Denning saw opportunity where others saw only foreign competition overtaking American ingenuity. So she moved to Northeast Ohio where she could be on the front lines of a manufacturing economy looking for new orders. 

What’s missing, she says, is a way for contract manufacturing to be more in touch with consumer demands. Denning says inventors are in touch with those demands and can provide contract manufacturers with new orders. Her fix is GarageInventorLive.org, a non-profit online community, she’s creating to help inventors get organized and connect them with manufacturers.   

“Every industry in America began with a single bright idea”, Denning points out. “But in today’s world, new idea resources are available to big business, but are often outside the reach of the independent inventor."  

“If we can link an inventor with the people who can test an idea, engineer it, certify it, run it through the gauntlet of legal and marketing hurdles and finally bring a viable product to our existing contract manufacturing sector, we can re-invent Made in USA and put a new foundation under our transitioning economy—that’s GarageInventorLive.org.”   

Denning wants inventors to learn better business skills and find resources easier. This will in turn help contract manufacturers find new orders. GarageInventorLive.org will be designed to help them do that.   

In her vision of Garage Inventor Live Denning sees inventors building a process, the Garage Inventor Supply Chain™, a turnkey solution to new product development. 

Users will find business experts who can validate their ideas and make recommendations for going forward—a reality check that can save them money. Manufacturers will search for new product ideas and help inventors fine tune them. The site will also include searchable lists of new product concepts, supply chain vendors and manufacturers.    

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