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WASHINGTON, March 10, 2025 – The United States Footwear Manufacturers Association is pleased to welcome as its newest member Toray Performance Materials Corporation, a leading producer of thermoplastic composites for athletic footwear, recreation, and the medical and industrial sectors.

Headquartered in Camarillo, California, and employing skilled workers in the United States, the company has been manufacturing components for superior footwear products, from orthotics to athletic shoes, for more than four decades. Its trademarks CFRT® (Continuous Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics) and “THE MATERIAL EDGE ® ’  are an industry model.

“Toray Performance Materials will help USFMA marshal more political power from new and legacy manufacturers alike that are working together to return our industry to its rightful place as a global leader,” said USFMA Executive Director Bill McCann. “They are at the forefront of revitalizing a domestic footwear supply chain that is critical to a host of industries and will ensure that ‘Made in America’ is not just a slogan but a reality. Their addition to our growing network couldn’t come at more impactful time.”

“We see this strong desire across the industry to bring manufacturing back, and we couldn't be more excited to join forces with USFMA and its industry partners,” said Laurie Calligaris, President and CEO of Toray Performance Materials. “We have always kept a core team in the U.S. for development and medical manufacturing and we learned how important that was during Covid, when we pivoted to move more manufacturing back to the United States.” 

The company recently installed automated equipment that can produce components for four million pairs of shoes annually in the United States, according to Ryan Jordan, Toray Performance Materials’ Director of Sales.

“We are taking our experience from 30-plus years plus of footwear manufacturing and reshoring more and more production,” he said. “We have the proven, repeatable technology to produce at high volume. We have customers who produce in the U.S. now, and we are looking to be an asset for other companies that want to do the same.”

The United States Footwear Manufacturers Association (USFMA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) association founded in 1986 to grow, protect and enhance the footwear industry’s manufacturing base in the United States.