Foreign trade zone established in Alachua

ALACHUA – A foreign trade zone has been established at Progress Park and other surrounding business complexes.

The foreign trade zone would allow cheaper tariffs for businesses in the Progress Park area that ship goods outside of the country. While some companies in the Progress Park area are taking advantage of the opportunity, not all have joined in, mainly due to the lack of foreign trade that exists for some companies, said Sid Martin Incubator director, Patti Breedlove.

The Jacksonville Port Authority, most commonly known as Jaxport, is in charge of the areas in which the foreign trade zone exists. Typically, foreign trade zones are near port of entries, which is a major reason why certain areas in Alachua have been given the option to participate in it.

Nanosonic Products is one of the companies looking to benefit from the foreign trade zone. The company, which specializes in producing and shipping the chemical cyclodextrin to other countries like Asia and Europe, would only have to pay one tariff as opposed to two or three, said Jeff Tate, the president and director of Nanosonic.

“It allows us to operate with more efficiency with a lower tariff burden and that makes us more competitive worldwide,” Tate said.

Tate traveled to Jaxport to discuss the limitations of the foreign trade zone and the qualifications. Currently, Nanosonic is not participating in it, but is looking to fill out the required paper work to begin the process of joining the foreign trade zone, he said.

Assistant vice president and branch manager at PNC Bank in Alachua, Connie Rollburg, also made a trip to Jaxport to discuss the foreign trade zone, but was unavailable to comment.

With the recent growth in RTI Biologics and Banyon Biomarker's recent Department of Defense grant, Alachua has become a target on the map for a city that deals in innovation, Tate said. With those innovations in mind, the foreign trade zone is another asset that Alachua will soon be known for.

“The foreign trade zone really is icing on the cake,” Tate said.

With only so many areas that can be deemed a foreign trade zone by the Jaxport board, he said that the areas in which the foreign trade zone were placed were strategically planned to incorporate as many companies as possible.

With the growth of Progress Park and the addition of the foreign trade zone, the City of Alachua is working to take a step forward as a city known for its support of technological growth and advancement, Tate said.

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