Newsletter: Medina County Economic Development Corporation - Four Industrial Parks become Foreign Trade Zones

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Four Industrial Parks become Foreign Trade Zones

By DENISE SULLIVAN
Staff Writer - Gazette October 31, 2006

MEDINA — Because of four newly approved foreign-trade zone sites, Medina County has earned an "important business development tool to attract new investment," James Doutt, executive director of the Medina County Economic Development Corp., said Monday.

The trade zones, which are the first in the county, were approved by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board in Washington, D.C., a press release states.

The industrial park sites — Beacon Transportation Park in Seville, Brunswick Commerce Center in Brunswick, Portside Corporate Park in Sharon Township and Wadsworth Corporate Park in Wadsworth — will allow companies involved in international commerce to receive tax breaks and cost savings on imported goods, Doutt said.

"The benefits offered by the (FTZ) program can mean tremendous cost savings for companies who do business internationally," he said. "That's why the availability of foreign-trade zone sites is crucial to Medina County's economic development efforts in today's global economy."

The zones, which are essentially outside the stream of U.S. commerce, serve to encourage imports and create local jobs by making products here rather than overseas, Doutt said.

The application for the four sites was submitted in June 2005 under a program administered by the Northeast Ohio Trade and Economic Consortium, an organization that applies for the zones on behalf of its members.

"The approval process took 18 or 19 months, which is par for the course," Doutt said. "This has been one of the core initiatives of the Economic Development Corp. that we wanted to get into place."

He noted there have been discussions with three different companies that will be or already are located in two of the zones.

Also approved was the first site in Wayne County, as well as additional sites in Richland, Stark and Summit counties, the release states.

Sullivan may be reached at 330-721-4064 or dsullivan@ohio.net.