Cabot Hosiery Mills, a Vermont, New England based family business,  has landed a contract said to be worth US$ 3 million to supply the United States Marine Corps with nearly half a million pairs of socks over the course of the next 12 months.

"We make really good socks," beamed Ric Cabot owner of Cabot Hosiery Mills, when asked why his company had been awarded the contract.

Cabot, a third-generation sock maker, says: "marines will get four pairs of the stretchy, brown merino wool socks that are designed to be thick and strong."

Talking to NECN.COM this week, marine Sgt. Joshua Changinman said of proper footwear: "It's extremely important. " Changinman served in Iraq in 2007 and is now finishing his education at Vermont's Norwich University.

According to Changinman, fighting men and women easily put ten miles a day or more on their feet and can't always change their socks as often as civilians do. He's glad the Vermont gear promises to wick sweat off his fellow Marines' feet. "A good sock is very key to blister prevention and keeping the feet dry," Changinman explained to NECN.com.

The military contracts are a growing part of Cabot's business. The biggest part is manufacturing its proprietary line of colourful performance socks called Darn Tough Vermont. Cabot Hosiery Mills also makes socks that retailers put their own labels on, including Brooks Brothers, J.Crew, and L.L. Bean. "Everything's made right here," Cabot said.

American manufacturers are constantly waging their own war against much cheaper offshore labour, but the businessman is grateful for a military rule mandating big contracts be filled by U.S. workers using domestic materials. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has helped Cabot Hosiery Mills secure other contracts and this new marine deal will keep 120 employees here busy.

"We're ordering more equipment, investing in the infrastructure, we're hiring people," Cabot explained. "It's all about jobs." And at Cabot Hosiery Mills, it's also all about the pride of staying American-made.

Over 30 years ago our family opened a mill and began making socks in Northfield, Vermont and to date; Darn Tough Vermont is the culmination of those efforts.

"It's a brand uniquely created around a single, fine gauge needle, which means all our socks, from our Mesh running sock, to our over-the-calf Full Cushion ski sock is crafted with the same high quality raw material and high density knitting techniques that make our product unique. Its custom counts of Merino wool and an exclusive blend of Coolmax which makes our socks incredibly strong and comfortable. And it's all about the knitting. Three generations of knitting know-how means, well, we know how," the company says on its website.

Source: NECM.COM