In 2014, a former banker bought a 475,000-square-foot Connecticut wool mill that had lost 85 jobs; 12 years later, Jacob Long’s revived factory employs about 50 people and makes fabric for the US military.

Trading nearly two decades of finance work in Europe for the gritty challenges of American industrial manufacturing, Jacob Harrison Long took a bold gamble. He acquired the American Woolen Company name and set his sights on the idle Warren Mills complex in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. The historic site had shut down in 2013, plunging 85 workers into unemployment and halting decades of luxury textile production.

Instead of outsourcing, Long chose to restart production on-site, securing legacy machinery and rehiring seasoned talent. By September 2014, former employees with decades of experience returned to the looms. That commitment to domestic quality paid off enormously. By 2019, the American Woolen Company successfully broke into defense supply chains, landing major contracts to manufacture service dress uniforms for the US Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

We have sheep and we have consumers. We don’t have manufacturing.

While the broader American textile industry still faces stiff headwinds—with the American Apparel & Footwear Association reporting that 96.7% of clothing purchased in the United States in 2024 was imported—Long continues forging ahead. His operation now collaborates with regional partners like the Dow Cover Company and New England Shirt Company, championing local craftsmanship and proving that industrial revival is entirely possible.