Nation's oldest hat company says American-made matters

In its heyday, the Bollman Hat Co. had more than 1,000 employees who were capable of churning out nearly half a million hats every month. Today, the nation’s oldest hat manufacturer — founded in 1868 by George Bollman and celebrating its 145th anniversary this year — has about 275 workers spread across four continents. Its headquarters are in Adamstown, a borough that straddles Berks and Lancaster counties. Like many American manufacturers, the company has struggled to compete against cheaper products made overseas and to keep up with increasing costs at home. Workers in the Adamstown plant now make a tenth of the hats they once turned out. But CEO Don Rongione...