BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – Tucked away in a back corner of Tri-Cities Regional Airport are three entities airport officials say could make a difference in the region’s economic development.
The airport’s cargo terminal, foreign trade zone and customs port work together to help local businesses trade with foreign countries.
TCRA Executive Director Patrick Wilson said activity at all three facilities has been on the rise.
"Each of these things is just a piece of the whole economic development puzzle," said Wilson, who expected the cargo terminal to have processed 14 million pounds of shipments by the end of 2007.
His prediction is up almost 40 percent from the 10 million pounds of cargo the airport processed in 2006.
DHL transport company runs two scheduled air freight flights from the airport’s cargo terminal – which was moved across the runway from passenger terminals in July 2005 – but Wilson said local businesses can also send items on unscheduled flights.
DHL’s operation is located next to the airport’s U.S. Customs Station, which houses two customs officers who can clear international shipments on-site, rather than requiring the goods be processed as soon as they enter U.S. airspace.
Wilson said the local processing makes it easier for businesses to ship materials in and out of the country because the shipments are not caught in log-jams at major ports.
He said customs officials clear more than 300 entries each month, and they can also process international visitors who come directly to the airport on a private plane.
The final piece of the puzzle – the airport’s foreign trade zone – operates at the airport and at seven other sites in the Tri-Cities area.
FTZ Director Mark Canty said the program helps businesses streamline their customs services.
He said manufacturing companies operating in the zone can save money because they either pay customs fees based on the value of the raw materials they ship into the country or on the value of the products they produce. Distributors can also benefit from the program because it allows them to pay reduced customs fees and merchandise processing fees on goods they bring in from other countries.
Canty said a company operating in the zone does not need to pay customs fees if it simply imports merchandise from one foreign county and exports it to another. Only a few companies, including Bristol Tennessee’s Leitner Pharmaceuticals, use the FTZ as a part of its regular operations, but Canty said he expects the number will grow as more small- and medium-sized businesses begin working with foreign countries.
"It’s going to grow because most things are manufactured overseas and imported into this country," Canty said, adding a number of companies have recently expressed an interest in working with the zone.
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
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