*01/27/17 Ben Waxman/Whitney Reynolds - American Roots, Made in America

Ben Waxman is a Portland native, third-generation textile worker, and co-founder of Portland, Maine based company American Roots (AR). Founded in 2015 and successfully launched in the fall of 2015, American Roots is a 100% American made textile and apparel company that specializes in direct retail and business to business sales.

Ben left a 16-year career in American politics and organized labor with the national AFL-CIO in 2013 to begin the process of launching a company that would create good paying jobs in his home town. Ben, along with his fiance, Whitney Reynolds, had the idea to provide good jobs and to make a high-quality clothing product made with 100% American-made materials and to keep it at an affordable price.

With an extensive national network of business, labor, and political organizations, Ben has been able to create a significant sales base. With a focus on sales, workforce development, and significant public relations background, Ben along with the American Roots team, has worked tirelessly to expand the American Roots name in its first year.

Ben is a Portland, Maine native, who attended Portland High School and some college time. Ben was inspired by his mother, Dory Waxman of Old Port Wool and his father Dan to pursue building American Roots and continuing a family tradition of textiles. He is an avid fly fisherman, Red Sox fan and family man.

Whitney left a twenty-year career in the hospitality industry in the spring of 2015 to join Ben in the launching of AR. With a background in finance, customer service and management, Whitney made the adjustment to manufacturing with a set of solid workforce skills. She has a primary focus as the Chief Financial Officer, as well as oversight on production, R&D, product line, vendor relations, and staff development. Whitney is originally from Rochester, New York, and graduated from Fordham University. She is an outdoors enthusiast and used to ski competitively.

American Roots had over 10,000 individual units sold in year one with estimated sales in 2017 of 25,000 units to customers across the country. Ben continues to work to broaden the AR brand and network through his personal connections and targeted marketing tactics along with some affinity marketing models.

Ben and Whitney reside in Westbrook, Maine and are expecting their first child in March.