Offshoring has, quite simply, gutted the American middle class. But it took more than the presence of several hundred million unemployed Chinese to make offshoring feasible. Some are technological, some are cultural.

RENO, NV—EE Technologies has added a third shift at its electronics assembly plant here. The contract manufacturer is also installing a new assembly line.

PALO ALTO, CA—A man who bought an HP laptop found an unexpected file on the machine’s hard drive: a video showing life on the Chinese assembly line where the computer was made.

MALTA, NY—Global Foundries is investing $2.3 billion to expand its computer chip manufacturing plant here.

WEST CALDWELL, NJ—MaxLite, a manufacturer of LED-based lighting, has opened a new assembly plant here, hiring 36 workers.

BOSTON—ZeeVee Inc., a developer of high-definition video products, has moved its overseas contract manufacturing operations to Massachusetts from China.

ROSEVILLE, CA—PRIDE Industries has ordered six modular assembly systems from Juki Automation Systems. The order included four KE-2070 high-speed flexible mounters and two KE-2080 mounters.

ROSEVILLE, CA—One surefire way to prompt a chuckle at PRIDE Industries is to suggest that the nonprofit oversees primarily rudimentary services performed by people with disabilities. In fact, PRIDE’s new $3 million electronics assembly plant is stuffed with sophisticated equipment to make high-tech products for HP, Blackboard Inc. and other OEMs.

WASHINGTON—A 14-month Congressional investigation uncovered 1,800 cases of counterfeit electronic components for American military equipment, including missiles, targeting systems and instrument panels. All totaled, the cases involved more than 1 million bogus parts.