Mauks visit White House

Representing Washington state manufacturers
Brewster's Mauk Fishing Stuff visits White House

By Mike Maltais
BREWSTER – Mike and Ernie Mauk, of Mauk Fishing Stuff, enjoyed an experience of a lifetime while representing Washington state manufacturers at the second annual Made in America gathering at the White House last Monday, July 23. In a series of events that could plausibly be labelled “The Little Company That Could,” founder Mike Mauk, and his mother, Anna Marie, began designing his tackle protector/organizer covers and sleeves in 2005.
Mauk said he was looking for a way to keep his own lures and tackle organized and protected and came up with the idea for vinyl covers edged with Velcro to wrap around loose lures and flashers and secure them to fishing rods. He got helpful tips from other fishermen and guides regarding specific materials and sizes they could use and by the time President Trump’s assistant called last July 1, Mauk had some 80 styles and sizes of sleeves to handle most tackle.
With the slogan, “We Have Your Tackle Covered,” Mauk Fishing Stuff had found a niche market. Still, with a mostly one-man, home-based operation since his mother passed away in 2015, Mauk wasn’t expecting to receive an invitation to be Washington state’s only representative to the Made in America Product Showcase.
Ernie, three years Mike’s senior, helps out his brother at product shows as does sister Melinda Farmer in Ephrata.
President Trump initiated the Made in American Product Showcase and Made in America Week in 2017. The first Washington state manufacturer invited to participate last year was Liberty Bottleworks, a water bottle maker from Union Gap.
The trip back to the nation’s capital went off without a hitch, said Mauk. The two brothers flew to the East coast Sunday evening, July 22, landed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, grabbed a cab to the three-star Hyatt Centric Hotel in Arlington, VA, and were ready for the show the following morning.
Following the mandatory security searches, the pair was issued badges and assigned an escort that provided a guided tour of the White House. The Showcase ran from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. and included a box lunch – “a very nice box lunch,” said Mauk - eaten in the south formal dining room.
The brothers found kindred spirts ad adjacent tables in their assigned showcase location.
There was a hat guy (Serratelli Hat Company) from New Jersey on one side of us,” said Mike “and a woman whose small company of 14 employees made jeans and coveralls (Round House Jeans, Oklahoma) on the other side.”
Other manufacturers from the four Northwest states included Kuma Stoves from Idaho, FLIR Systems of Oregon, and Montana Instruments from Montana.
“We’re here today to celebrate the greatest products in the world; products made with American heart, American sweat and American pride,” said President Trump to the state representatives. “We’re thrilled to showcase incredible American made goods from all 50 states…We’re in the midst of a great economic revival in the United States.
It was Ernie’s first trip to Washington.
“It was an honor,” said Ernie. “The history, the White House; it was unreal. I went back to support Mike’s products, network, and have fun, and we did all three.”
Ernie said Mauk Fishing Stuff “fit right in with the rest of those companies there.” Among those companies were heavy hitters like NASA, that brought a space capsule, and Lockheed-Martin that showed off its F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet
 “The companies I saw and talked to were very proud to say they were Made in America,” said Mike. “Lots of pride in knowing that and that was the one thing we all had in common: small one-man companies like myself to the huge companies like Nasa and Lockheed, we were proud to show off our Made in the USA  products.”
Mauk added, “I never heard one negative word about the Trump administration nor did I see one protester the whole trip.”