Did you know I play World of Warcraft in my down time? It’s got nothing to do with product safety compliance, but it’s part of my world and I wanted to share it with you today. I hope that’s okay. In fact, just last week, it was community night in the guild I’m in and we went through an old raid for an achievement run. It was a blast doing a 10/25 person raid with barely 8 people (one of the achievements requires at least 8)!

Speaking of things you didn’t know…I was thinking about all the things I don’t know about product safety (yeah, I know!). So I spent some time on Google and found some really interesting stuff that I thought you might find fascinating, too.

Care to read?

#1– The CPSC was formed in 1972 and began officially operating in 1973. Why? In 1967, it was reported that around 20 million Americans were injured every year, particularly among children, due to consumer products. Congress put their foot down to create a set of standards to reduce the harm. AND IT WORKED. The CPSC has seen a decline of about 30%!

#2– The CPSC has 3 offices. I knew about the one in Bethesda, MD, but there is also one in Rockville, MD and… Beijing, China!! I mean, it makes sense because so much of the manufacturing takes place in China, but I had no idea they had an actual office! I suppose that saves a ton of time and gas on those visits to China to help factories.

#3– We brought in about $23.6 billion in revenue in 2023! I recently learned of a new term: Nonemployer Business - “no paid employees, are subject to federal income tax, and have receipts of $1,000 or more” (census.gov). That’s us! We outnumber employer businesses 4 to 1 and, as of 2022, make up around 6.8% of the U.S. economy!

When looking at the kind of manufacturing that we tend to do, the 2023 data from the Census Bureau shows we’ve made $23.6 billion… that’s with a B! To give context here, “manufacturing” is, by and large, dominated by larger employer businesses; they come in at around $7 trillion. But that $23.6 billion? That’s literally all us, baby. Home-based/studio-based businesses.

Oh, and of that $23.6 billion? Approximately $4.8 billion was "Miscellaneous Manufacturing". Jewelry, candles, craft goods, novelties, art... That's YOU.

Hit reply and tell me: Which of these surprised you the most? I'm genuinely curious. And if you've got a fun industry face, send it my way!