Our story 

In Detroit, manufacturing is what we do best, it’s ingrained in us.

Commonwealth was founded by two Metro Detroit natives, Andrew Scott and Max Schmidt, who were inspired by Detroit’s rich manufacturing history.

Detroit is known as the Motor City, but most are unaware of the city’s growing involvement in the industrial sewing industry. With Max’s background in custom suit tailoring and extensive knowledge of the clothing industry paved the way for Commonwealth’s beginnings.   The two hit the ground running, putting everything they had on the line to start Commonwealth. 

Sticking to our roots, we set up shop in the former Lincoln assembly plant, located in New Center, Detroit.  

As we were preparing to begin our operations, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the country began to face PPE shortages. We recognized the low-quality masks being manufactured around the world. We wanted to change that. Equipped with all of the necessary equipment, we converted to mask manufacturing. .  

We began by doing extensive research on fabrics, protection and comfort before perfecting our reusable mask. We teamed up with a fellow Detroit manufacturer to produce over 15,000 reusable masks for healthcare systems. In addition, we have proudly provided masks to municipal systems and local businesses. 

As the pandemic progressed, there became a critical need for disposable masks. In June 2020, we took our biggest risk yet. We purchased a state of the art disposable mask manufacturing machine, with the purpose to ease America’s dependence on overseas mask suppliers.