Factory

News Roundup •••• EA is going to launch early copies of "Mass Effect 3" into space. When the other races from around the galaxy come to blow us up, you'll know where they got the idea. [ The Verge ] ••••Sales of video games and consoles are down 34% for January. What are you guys doing with all that extra money? Actually, I don't want to know. [ Los Angeles Times ] •••• Guy who took 12 years to make "Duke Nukem" sequel thinks the Playstation Vita is already out of fashion.

Lion Brothers is outsourcing again. Unpaid child laborers will design one of the Owings Mills company's newest embroidered emblems. That's a good thing, in this case. If the factory of the future is about fast turnarounds on custom orders produced close to the customer, Lion Brothers' new Girl Scout badge is a small but telling indicator that U.S. manufacturers might have a place in the global economy after all. President Barack Obama's blueprint for reviving American factories should help retain and perhaps create manufacturing jobs at the margins.

According to letter writer Mark L. Alexander, "millionaires became millionaires because they offered a good or service that other people wanted. They owe society nothing from these transactions. Their sole obligation was to the people with whom they entered into a contract to provide the good or service. " I think the writer ("Rich owe no debt to society," Dec. 7) is sadly mistaken. A quote from Elizabeth Warren says what I would like to say but she says it much better. Ms. Warren writes, "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. You built a factory out there - good for you. But I want to be clear.

Dennis Livingston, an urban activist who called for jobs creation and a clean environment and who was a pioneer in the Station North Arts District near Green Mount Cemetery, died of cancer Thursday at Gilchrist Hospice Care. He was 72 and lived on Guilford Avenue. "There were those who came out of the 1960s who lost their vision for social change, but Dennis was not one of them," said Joseph McNeely, director of the Central Baltimore Partnership. "He just stayed there and said we can do better.

More than 20 percent of my Baltimore factory's sales are exports, and we want more. We ship to 35 countries; however, that is not good enough. Developing new markets to sell our sheet metal fabrications, wire baskets, and wire forms to new markets will grow jobs in Baltimore and strengthen my company's base. That's why I accepted an invitation from Gov. Martin O'Malley to accompany him and other Maryland officials and business leaders to Asia in June. This trip was a startling eye opener for me. I came home shocked with how advanced our economic rivals are. My major observation is that we have some very tough, smart, aggressive competition.

If you go outlet shopping in Ocean City and things seem a little different it may be because it has a new owner. Baltimore's Cordish Co. has sold two of its retail centers, including Ocean City Factory Outlets and Atlantic City Outlets The Walk,  to Tanger Outlets for $199 million. If you shop in Rehoboth Beach then you're already familiar with Tanger and its bennies, including TangerStyle coupons offering 20 percent off (through Aug. 31), membership in the TangerClub and gift cards.

Baltimore-based email marketing firm Blue Sky Factory has been acquired by a competitor in Atlanta. WhatCounts announced Monday that the acquisition of Blue Sky will add more talent, technology and client experiences. Financial terms were not disclosed. With Blue Sky's 27 workers, WhatCounts will have a combined 100-person workforce, said Greg Cangialosi, Blue Sky's chief executive officer. Blue Sky's Federal Hill headquarters will become the mid-Atlantic office of WhatCounts in the next few months, Cangialosi said.

Satisfy your hunger for fun at York County's "Made in America" factory tours, a four-day celebration starting Wednesday that offers behind-the-scenes access to more than 40 local factories, including a few that open to the public only during this event. The tours range from food factories to soap and wallpaper manufacturers. Snack on Martin's Potato Chips, chocolate from Wolfgang Candy or hand-twisted pretzels from Smitties Soft Pretzels. If you're aiming to lower your calorie intake, you can get hands-on and artsy while making your own soaps, lotions, lip balms and bath scrubs at Sunrise Soap Co. You can even plan a romantic mini-getaway for you and your significant other by participating in wine tastings.

It took Under Armour 15 years to become a billion-dollar sports apparel company. It doesn't plan to take things so slowly anymore. President and CEO Kevin Plank told investors and analysts Thursday that the Baltimore-based company's goal is to double growth in the next three years to more than $2 billion. Plank said the increase would be driven by apparel sales and its direct-to-consumer business, which includes e-commerce and sales from company-owned retail stores. They will also raise prices on some items to offset the rising cost of materials used in their production.