Response From Commerce Department Expected By End Of 2009

The Salina Airport Authority announced Monday it has applied for Foreign Trade Zone status to assist businesses at the Salina Airport and Airport Industrial Center in becoming more competitive. The application has been forwarded to the US Department of Commerce and a response is expected in about nine months.

The Airport Authority has partnered with Sedgwick County in seeking an expansion of that county's established Foreign Trade Zone for greater overall economic competitiveness in the region.

Many government and business partners have signed onto the application, as a way of helping to make the Kansas economy stronger in the long run -- including Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius; US Senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts; US Representatives Jerry Moran, Todd Tiahrt, Dennis Moore, and Nancy Boyda; and various state, city and local officials and business enterprises.

"A Foreign Trade Zone at the Salina Municipal Airport and Airport Industrial Center will greatly facilitate the international competitiveness of our area companies," said Tim Rogers, AAE, executive director of the Salina Airport Authority. "Our effort owes a debt of gratitude to the many government agencies and elected officials involved in preparing the application."

"Sedgwick County is extremely excited about the launching of the application to have Foreign Trade Zone number 161 expanded into the Salina community at the Salina Airport," said Sherdeill H. Breathett, Sr., Sedgwick County's economic developer and FTZ administrator. "This is a significant effort and sign of regionalism in our area," he added.

The advantages of a regional approach to a Foreign Trade Zone are intended to provide a multiplier effect to each individual project, and to create as powerful an enabling environment for economic and trade development as possible through the coordination of several, simultaneous initiatives.

This trade zone will serve the useful dual purpose of addressing the immediate foreign trade zone requirements of a major aircraft manufacturer and the global trade community while acting as a regional international trade catalyst for future use by area corporations.

FMI: www.salinaairport.com/home/ftzapplication.htm