Informative article about "re-shoring" -- a new business trend that is bringing jobs back to the United States. This article is factual, well-researched, and cites a variety of viewpoints to provide useful context on this under-reported phenomenon. The local focus on Zentech brings this global issue closer to home and makes it more relevant for readers. Highly recommended.

A well-researched and enterprising look at "re-shoring" and the companies that have chosen to move their manufacturing back to the States.

...positive news from The Baltimore Sun indicating the trade deficit could be bottoming out. The article emphasizes that domestic production is more attractive to companies that specialize in "highly technical electronics or biomedical equipment" that need more quality control and "engineering collaboration", recognizing that companies that produce products on a large scale are still more likely to favor production in Asian factories.

This article is extremely relevant to citizens on many levels - the state of the US economy, potential available jobs in the region, the tension between offshoring and keeping goods Made in the USA... The piece seems well-balanced and is timely.

Well-written, good use of facts and one company's experience to illustrate the possibility of a "re-shoring" trend, which I'd not read about anywhere else. The only downside here is that the focus on one company makes this feel like it may have been driven by a good PR agency more than a good journalist. But that's the world we live in, and the collaboration can still produce some very newsworthy articles – including this one.

I gave this story 'green' across the board, and it wasn't out of laziness. This is good, old-fashioned newspaper journalism in its purest form. Gus starts with local 'characters' (NovaSom & Zentech) and dives into the central focus of the story: 're-shoring' in an improving economy. Gus helps readers care about the story right away. This article is a testament to good storytelling.

Considering the economic climate, this is a relevant and important story. The writer researches it well and provides an incredible honest portrait of the domestic manufacturing situation. Although niche companies like Zentech provide hope, it's important to make sure readers stay pragmatic, especially in times of massive political shifts seemingly daily.

This story focuses on what you could call a trend story - manufacturing coming back to the US from overseas. That translates into jobs - something of keen interest to Americans still suffering from the current recession. It focuses on a Maryland company - one in the Baltimore area so there's a good local focus as well.

This story is timely and something that is significant to a lot of people right now. Sentementes has created a connection to a larger movement by providing a local example.

This story is long and feels a bit rambling -- it could use a bit of editing. Reading through it a 2nd time, I can see why it is structured the way it is, but I wouldn't have made it all the way through the first time if I wasn't reviewing it for this project. The subhead talks about the effect of re-shoring being "debated" in the U.S., but I don't get a clear sense from the article about exactly what is that debate. The photo also could use a clearer caption, perhaps mentioning how the circuit boards will be used -- the subhead already mentions Woodlawn, so that info does not need to be repeated. The links in the first paragraph go out to other Sun articles that mention those topics, taking me away from the current article ... More »

This is a good article and good journalism. I thought the author did a great job getting sources from all sides of this issue- from interviews with the people directly involved and making decisions to factual data. The publication was local and the author did well incorporating local areas in Maryland and even the close areas in Virginia that have been affected by this issue. This topic may not seem relevant to the audience but reading through, one should realize how this is impacting them and those they know who hold jobs at these companies. This article is one of few that is real information but does shed positive light on companies' and thier attempts to help thier employees.

There are plenty of businesses who are not coming back to America and I feel that they do not have a say in this article. I also think there could have been a government source in the article. However, I can understand the position of why they weren't included, so I did give this article a good review. I thought it had a good local slant to it - which is not always preferable, but when the story is local-specific in a local newspaper, then it can be nice to read.

This story could have been improved by getting additional experts to weigh in. The business perspective is skewed because they have a vested interest in favorable coverage. Further, I would have liked to see a deeper analysis of what the state is doing to ensure that the business is coming to or staying in Maryland, versus other nearby states that would still be cheaper for businesses

Well written and informative, presents the facts in an unbiased way. While there was a good use of sources, it might benefit the story to add some additional sources who could provide a different perspective

The story was informational and included a lot of data to support its arguments.

Yes, I think this certainly is good journalism. It's a bit long for an online article, but the reporter interviewed a variety of sources. The reporter also also provided more than ample context to fully understand the issue. While all of the sources were in support of finding ways to bring jobs back to America, I do not think that represents a bias in the story, because during an economic crisis it is difficult to find anyone who is not in support of bringing jobs into our country and away from outsourcing to other countries.

This is a good story because it does a great job of providing evidence to provide background a to what has been going on in regards to manufacturing in America. It is a very relevant topic that shows that a lot of work went into the piece, yet it is somewhat of a dull topic.

This article was well sourced and offered balanced information on a very relevant issue. Good journalism.

This is good journalism because it's a good topic. Outsourcing has been a talking point for politicians, businesspeople and consumers for years now, and it would be interesting if the trend to produce overseas is being reversed. That said, I think the story is a bit overly optimistic. GM's and NovaSom's actions do not indicate a national trend. That said, I did not particularly enjoy this story, nor would I recommend it. See my comments.

Failed to quote sourced who prefer to keep production abroad, but contained a lot of good info on "re-shoring".

The reporter uses good examples to exemplify the situation and brings in key companies as examples. While it is clearly a good thing for many of these jobs to be brought back to America, the reporter does not convey his opinion strongly, if at all. There are a lot of helpful numbers included with further explains how it benefits both companies and Americans by bringing these jobs back to the U.S. It is well written and well sourced.

This was overall a good story. One thing I will nitpick at, and the reason I marked that it lacks context, is because they labeled the weak dollar as a reason to start manufacturing in the states. I want to know if it would still hold true if the dollar was stronger, seeing as these things seem to fluctuate. Other than that I thought the piece was well-sourced and had some very informative numbers.

This story made a potentially complex subject clear and accessible to the reader. The points flowed rationally and led to a logical final conclusion.

This is a great, local story with more national appeal given the topic. I think the author did a great job of providing an overview of where we were nationally with "re-shoring," but also how it's affecting those locally in Maryland. Because the topic is a bit dry, unless you are really in tune with business trends, I think a bit of multimedia would have added significantly to the piece. Maybe a clip of a local worker who has a job because of "re-shoring" or something along those lines. I would have also liked to hear from at least one more local company participating in this trend. As someone who is in PR, I would love all this placement of my company as Zentech has, but it would probably be better journalistically with at ... More »

Interesting subject matter that all citizens would appreciate knowing.

This is a textbook enterprise daily -- an interesting trend, put in proper context, and illustrated with a local example.

I think this is an example of good journalism because the issue and supporting facts are present in a clear, unbiased manner. There are multiple sources quoted that respond to both sides of the issue. The article gives readers a well-rounded perspective on the topic.

This article was an example of good journalism because it used a lot of different sources and helped to explain business concepts that the average person may not understand.

This story includes a lot of sources with varied observations. Five sources are used in this article: company execs, manufacturing analysts/observers. Two different points of view are presented with plenty of data and a good mix of varying opinions on the outlook of domestic manufacturing. The only problem is that the writing gets a little bogged down in figures that slow the flow of the story.

I like how the author was unbias while reporting this and didn't really exaggerate his pride for America. This clearly would be a great thing to happen in America, but the author steers clear of perhaps offending non-American readers. He highlighted a lot of company names to show what they are doing and gave a lot of facts and figures to prove his point.

This was a really good story. However, it needs to be restructured so like information is grouped together. It was hard to follow. The story bounced all over the place. For instance, it would go from talking about Maryland, to a survey conducted in Richmond. And the subhead was a bit misleading. I thought the story would be all about tWoodlawn electronics, but it was not.

This was a really interesting story. I'd like to know more about how the company keeps its expenses down; did they trim pay or benefits since the recession or are they offering employees all the perks they used to? And I'd like to hear a little more from global economic experts about the overall numbers and trends. I also was curious about whether this company is getting a boost from federal spending on war or stimulus. But these are all extras. I thought it was a good job overall.

I think it's good journalism because they had a good writing tone and cited evidence.

Lots of seemingly legitimate statistics and evidence and facts, but this was just a really dry read for me. It almost felt like just a pure recitation of the writer's research.

The article offers good insight into a complicated economic issue by backing it up with specific examples, following a few major companies that readers would recognize, and by drawing from sources that are esteemed and varied to different degrees.

This story is okay journalism. It is much better than many pieces on economic issues that I have read. That being said, there are many issues with this story. For one thing, the article focuses on the issue of "re-shoring". The article also talks extensively of a local company called Zentech. Zentech manufactures products that people "want manufactured in the United States for security reasons". From the article, it certainly sounds like military and many medical products have always been produced in the U.S., rather than being part of the "re-shoring" trend. This would seem to make Zentech a poor company to choose as an example of re-shoring. The lack of meaningful statistics also makes it difficult to gauge the significance ... More »

The article presented a great number of facts in a manner that was easy to follow and understand. It gave the viewpoints of various people and companies. I would recommend this article to others because it does an excellent job at explaining something that not many people know about in a manner that is easy to understand.

Wow

Lots of data and a good mix of sources with varying opinions on the outlook of domestic manufacturing, but becomes a little bogged down in figures slowing down the flow of the story.

This article is an example of very good journalism. It features a catchy and informative lead despite the dry nature of the topic. The author provides the key reasons immediately in the nut graph, and follows them up with solid facts in the following graphs. He includes local production as an example, which draws in readers from the Baltimore area. He has multiple reliable sources and is very thorough.