World Trade - September 2008 - (Page 18) SUPPLY CHAIN SITE SELECTION >> Logistic Features in the Midwest Experience the Nebraska Advantage Nebraska is business-friendly and ready to grow your business in the state. Nebraska’s central location along key transportation routes provides businesses unmatched speed to all major markets regardless of direction. Goods shipped one day by truck reach 26% of the U.S. population and households. Add a second day and the percentage sky-rockets to 91 percent of the population, or 90 percent of all households. Nearly 18 percent of all U.S. manufacturers and 20 percent of the nation’s population is located within a 500-mile radius of Omaha making Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 19 in Omaha a strategic stronghold for the growing clientele it supports. Located on 17 acres of land with 250,000 square feet of warehouse space, FTZ No. 19 supports international commerce for a growing list of businesses including manufacturers and processors, assemblers and repackagers, all importers, including retailers, domestic exporting distributors handling both domestic and foreign merchandise, and distributors and wholesalers. Located on 372 acres in Lincoln’s northwest quadrant –adjacent to the Lincoln Municipal Airport and near Interstate 80—is FTZ No. 59, available for general purpose, including manufacturers, processors, and others similarly listed for FTZ No. 19. As far back as 1980, FTZ Subzone 59A has exclusively housed parts involved in the production of many Kawasaki vehicles, including motorcycles, personal watercraft, all-terrain vehicles, utility work trucks and industrial robots. Add to this, Nebraska’s 100 percent public power system, integrated system of interstates, mainline railroads and airports, large industrial tracts and buildings ready for immediate occupancy, and it’s easily understandable why companies of all sizes, including Fortune 1000 companies— Berkshire Hathaway, Cabela’s, ConAgra Foods, Mutual of Omaha Ins., Nelnet, Peter Kiewit Sons’, TD Ameritrade, Werner, West, and Union Pacific Railroad continue to call Nebraska home. In addition companies are finding “Top Tier” rankings in Nebraska, a state in the center of all the action. The Milken Institute named Nebraska Third in “Lowest Cost of Doing Business” as part of its 2007 Cost-of-Doing Business Index. Forbes magazine ranked Nebraska in their 2008 Top 10 “Best States for Business”. Nebraska Department of Economic Development Cheryl Brandenburgh, Business Recruitment Manager 301 Centennial Mall South P.O. Box 94666 Lincoln, NE 68509-4666 800.426.6505, 402.471.3111 Fax: 402.471.3778 cheryl.brandenburgh@nebraska.gov www.NebraskaAdvantage.biz The Newell Rubbermaid corporate distribution facility at Southern California Logistics Centre warehouses imported goods from Asia, from which it redistributes the products throughout the United States. The facility is also used to operate the company’s Graco unit, which manufactures infant and juvenile products. Global Access last year. Other companies with a presence at the hub include Goodyear Tire, Wal-Mart, FedEx, and UPS. According to Dan Smith, principal, The Tioga Group, developments such as Global Access that were developed from a former military airport have a distinct advantage in the aircraft industry. With two runways capable of handling the world’s largest aircraft, Global Access and its Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA), can also offer an array of services to the industry, including full-service maintenance, painting, flight testing, and overhaul capabilities for military and commercial aircraft. The SCLA also provides 24/7 control tower operations and U.S. Customs clearances, bonded cargo and refrigerated storage facilities, and a Foreign Trade Zone. Smith says that intermodal rail is another “key ingredient” to the success of transportation hubs similar to Global Access, and plans are underway to make that a reality, responds Agan. In January 2007, officials from the city of Victorville officials executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) to explore the development of a major intermodal logistics facility at Global Access. Meanwhile, work is also taking place on the proposed High Desert Corridor, explains Agan, which has been identified as a Los Angeles-Las Vegas High Priority Corridor of the National Highway System under SAFETEA-LU. The project is designed to provide new transportation options, particularly for trucks, between northern Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Agan and others are hopeful that funds can also be secured to construct a four-mile long highway linking the Southern California Logistics Airport to the I-15 freeway, which is a vital part of the corridor. Despite the dip in import volumes this year, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are projecting volumes to triple over the next 25 years, and the High Desert is the only area in Southern California that can accommodate the estimated 1.5 billion square-feet of new warehouse and manufacturing space that would be needed. As that occurs, the once ‘remote’ paths to hubs such as Global Access will certainly become more familiar. WT For reprints of this article, please contact Cindy Williams at williamsc@bnpmedia.com or 610-436-4220 ext. 8516. 18 WORLD TRADE SEPTEMBER 2008 http://www.NebraskaAdvantage.biz
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