Prompted by statistics showing the importance of foreign trade to Florida, the Panama City – Bay County International Airport Authority directed Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis to evaluate the options for establishing a Foreign Trade Zone at the new international airport currently under construction in West Bay and scheduled to open in 2010.

“The airport board believes it is important to establish a Foreign Trade Zone at the new airport in order to maximize its economic development potential,” said Airport Authority Chair Joe Tannehill. “Having a foreign trade status at the new airport will put us in another category altogether and be an important differentiator in competing for new jobs and business expansions.”

During a recent survey of the emerging airport, Regional Aviation News learned of the airport’s central location to international trade from Asia and South America. Panama City is the closest eastern port to the Pacific, and, therefore, China, given the fact it is due north of the Panama Canal. It became a refuge for Mississippi-bound cargo after Hurricane Katrina and retains some of that traffic today. It is 800 miles closer to Chicago than Miami. It has mature rail and barge connections that make it a transportation hub that lacks only a world class airport. Related Story

Airport board members noted that establishing a Foreign Trade Zone at the new Panama City - Bay County airport would make the new facility one of 10 such airports in Florida. They agreed that Foreign Trade Zone in West Bay would benefit the community and the region by facilitating and expediting international trade, providing special customs procedures as a public service to help firms conduct business, encouraging and facilitating exports, attracting offshore activity, assisting state/local economic development efforts and creating employment opportunities.

The action taken directs Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis to begin preliminary work to create a Foreign Trade Zone at the new international airport in WestBay. Specifically, the board asked Curtis to develop options for the airport board to consider concerning the size and boundaries of the trade zone, including a discussion of the costs and benefits associated with each option presented. Further, the board asked Curtis to investigate public/private partnerships to stimulate intermodal infrastructure development.

The board noted that the U.S. is the world’s largest trading nation, exporting nearly $1.3 trillion in goods and services and, more than one-fifth of the growth in U.S. GDP, depends on exports. Manufacturing exports support an estimated 5.2 million jobs, including 1 in 5 manufacturing jobs, and jobs supported by goods exports pay 13-18 percent higher than the average wage. More than 30,000 companies export from Florida locations, including more than 28,000 small and medium-sized businesses. Florida's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $45 billion, up 80 percent from $25 billion in 2003, ranking sixth among the states in terms of total exports in 2007, and exporting to 222 foreign destinations.