On Mar. 8, 2021, Richard Clinch, executive director of the Jacob France Institute at The University of Baltimore was quoted in a Baltimore Sun article titled “‘A major, major loss’: Closing of Lockheed Martin plant is end of an era for eastern Baltimore County,” written by Taylor Deville and Alison Knezevich.

Dr. Clinch’s quote

“From 2010 to 2019, the number of total private-sector jobs in Baltimore County grew by 14%, while the number manufacturing jobs declined by 6%, according to Richard Clinch, executive director of the University of Baltimore’s Jacob France Institute.

“There aren’t a lot of jobs for these people to find comparable work” Clinch said. “Maryland is really no longer a manufacturing state, despite Baltimore’s history.”

But the county’s loss hasn’t happened in isolation, given the national decline in manufacturing, he said.

Clinch said that “manufacturing in Maryland has many struggles,” including the high cost of real estate and labor. However, as the state lost traditional manufacturing, it did well in more high-tech manufacturing, such as medical devices.”