A year ago I wrote in this publication about how SOCMAmembers were being buffeted by the turbulent winds of theglobal economic recession, but were weathering that stormand preparing to emerge stronger and more competitive.With the recovery seemingly underway, SOCMA membershave indeed not only survived, but positioned themselves forgrowth as demand for their products and services rises. Mostinterestingly, part of that demand derives from the shift ofprojects from emerging regions back to North America.While this shift might be surprising to some, there are indeedseveral key reasons for this movement, including regulatorycompliance concerns, supply chain continuity issues, shrinkingprice differentials, just-in-time inventory maintenance considerationsand growing consumer awareness of and expectations forenvironmental, safety and quality performance.Regulatory drivers pertain not only to the increasing scope(breadth and depth) of environmental, health and safetycompliance requirements, but also the requirements forvalidation of compliance, including operating systems,equipment and manufacturing plants in terms of qualityinitiatives and particularly with regard to inspections andsupply ...