"Re-Shoring" refers to companies bringing their manufacturing operations back to the United States (in this case the Midwest) due to the rising costs of transportation, labor in China, logistics and quality control concerns. This trend is sure to continue and strengthen. Once the entire world has been brought into the "Global Market Place" we can expect a leveling off of the competitive advantage of low wages. At that point it's possible that companies will locate were it makes sense logistically.
Based on natural resources, infrastructure and geographic location, there are few places in the world where it makes more sense to live and work than the Great Lakes. The question, of course, is that if a leveling off of wages and working conditions occurs, will American's be forced by competition to endure the same in-human treatment of workers that we now see in China and Mexico? Let us not forget that these are the same working conditions that Americans suffered during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Vocational trades and factory jobs only became a path to the Middle Class through a long fought battle for fair treatment and compensation. A battle that largely took place in Midwestern industrial cities and who's legacy has painted a perception of these places as "unfriendly business environments."
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