Created in the summer of 2006 with great fanfare and expectations, the Southeast Iowa Regional Economic and Port Authority has been the class underachiever in the Lee County school of economic development.
One of the first actions of the port authority upon its creation was to pursue a foreign trade zone designation.
Foreign trade zones serve as places where foreign and domestic merchandise is considered to be outside the United States, according to a Web site for the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones.
Zones encourage local business and manufacturing by removing disincentives to manufacturing in the United States such as duties and tariffs.
The next closest FTZ is in the Quad Cities area.
For the southeast Iowa port authority, officials applied to have four areas declared general-purpose foreign trade zones: Mount Pleasant, Burlington, Louisa County and Lee County.
Unfortunately, that FTZ application has been waylaid by miles of bureaucratic red tape.
To view the full article, visit The Hawk Eye at http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Prg-port-authority-031509
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