Yesterday the
front page of the paper announced that our neighbor across the road, the largest free trade zone in
Nicaragua, is closing its doors and putting
800 people in Ciudad Sandino out of work.
This in a community that already suffers from
80% under- and unemployment, so in our city of 150,000 people, the loss of 800 jobs is huge.
At an investment of $100 million, Cone Denim set up in
Nicaragua -- they put in the four lane concrete highway that goes right past our center -- and operated (in their building the size of 16 football fields) for less than one year.
The paper claimed Cone Denim to be the “first foreign business in
Nicaragua to fall victim to the world economic crisis” – even though in the past six months
20,000 Nicaraguans have lost their jobs due to free trade zone closures.
The paper also warned that there would be more free trade zone closures to come…of that, we can be sure.
In light of Cone Denim closing down, the 35 jobs that the Genesis Spinning Cooperative is creating become even more important. But how can we be sure that Genesis will succeed where super giants like Cone Denim have failed?
To succeed, the industry has to be sustainable. How? One way is by keeping it local – in most factories now, materials and parts come from all over the globe. A typical t-shirt might be made with Turkish cotton spun into yarn in Pakistan, knit in China, sewn with Costa Rican thread in Nicaragua to be screen printed in Canada and sold in the United States. As the world begins to come back to reality after the free trade zone “boom” of the past 15 years, it’s pretty clear that all that carting pieces of products around the world to make a t-shirt that sells for $6.99 just doesn’t make sense. The Genesis co-op is part of our fair trade organic cotton production chain that depends on Nicaraguan farmers, Nicaraguan ginners, Nicaraguan spinners, Costa Rican knitters, Nicaraguan and Costa Rican sewers and will be sold in North America and Europe. The raw materials travel less, which means less cost and less risk. As Nicaraguan economist Carlos Pacheco reiterated to our delegation yesterday, every process a raw material goes through means it can be sold for more money -- each process adds value to a product -- and each time value is added in one single country, more money is generated for the local economy, making that product line more sustainable. So when cotton becomes yarn, then cloth, then clothing all locally, the potential for that local economy is huge.
Now with Cone Denim closing and 800 people losing their jobs, it’s more important than ever that Genesis get to work! Perhaps in the long run their 35 steady, well paid jobs for Genesis co-op members will do more for the economy of Ciudad Sandino than 800 jobs that lasted less than one year.
Help us finish the spinning plant building! We’ve already raised $1,012 with our Stone Soup Fund! Just $98,988 left to go! Donate just $10, and ask 10 other people to give just $10 each and also ask 10 other people.
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Send checks to: CDCA - Stone Soup, 352 Carly Lane, Rock Hill, SC 29732
To invest in the Shared Risk Investment Fund click here
-- Becca
Yesterday the front page of the paper announced that our neighbor across the road, the largest free trade zone in 
In light of Cone Denim closing down, the 35 jobs that the Genesis Spinning Cooperative is creating become even more important. But how can we be sure that Genesis will succeed where super giants like Cone Denim have failed?
