World Trade - November 2008 - (Page 50)

LOGISTICS First Solar, Inc. First Solar’s state-of-theart manufacturing plant in Perrysburg, Ohio date expansion as trafﬁc volumes grow. At the same time, ofﬁcials at the Columbus Regional Airport Authority are optimistic that the Rickenbacker International Airport (www.rickenbacker.org), a former military airport that boasts some of the longest runways in the country, will ﬁgure more prominently for air cargo shippers. One big draw is the relatively short taxi times and very low landing fees, along with easy entry to the cargo apron with direct plane-to-truck access so cargo can be off-loaded and ready for transport within an hour of arrival. The airport is currently under-utilized, say ofﬁcials. Although the airport can handle up to 1 million metric tons of cargo, only about 100,000 metric tons are coming in now. In addition, there’s no regularly scheduled air cargo service at the moment, just charters. Nonetheless, airport ofﬁcials say they’ll continue to aggressively pursue more business, which may come about sooner than expected should DHL’s hub in Wilmington, Ohio close down. Another rail project that will bring more capacity to central Ohio is CSX’s National Gateway. Similar to the Heartland Corridor, the rail project will also link MidAtlantic ports to the Midwest with double-stack routes, which will transit through Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The railroad plans to expand an existing intermodal terminal near Columbus and build a new terminal at Marion, Ohio. The total cost of the public-private partnership is estimated at $700 million. In the meantime, the formation of the Columbus Region Logistics Council is a further example of how members of the business community, government, and academia are taking action to develop logistics throughout the region. Battelle, the huge consulting, research and development organization, was tapped to put together a longrange strategic plan, a ‘logistics roadmap,’ that was NOVEMBER 2008 delivered in 2007, explains Ben Ritchey, vice president, transportation market sector, Battelle. “One of the results was the Columbus Region Logistics Council,” he says. It’s a volunteer organization comprised of shippers, freight forwarders, developers, and transportation companies. Some of the members include ODW Logistics, Honda of America, Exel, Limited Brands, Ohio State University, CSX, and Norfolk Southern. Part of the logistics roadmap calls for: fostering a logistics-friendly business environment; continuing to develop and enhance advanced logistics infrastructure; infusing world-class logistics technology into regional industry; and building a high-skill workforce for competitive advantage. “The benefit of this four-pronged strategy lies in focusing appropriate investments and activities that will most readily achieve job and business growth, build infrastructure, develop a talented workforce, and enable technology adoption that sets our regional logistics industry apart from competing markets,” notes Ritchey. However, lack of capital is still a concern, he acknowledges. Yet, the promise of public-private partnerships, especially for “last mile” projects, is a reason to stay enthusiastic, says Ritchey. Transitioning to emerging industries While the logistics industry is a key part of the broader economic development activity in Ohio, several other emerging industries are taking root there and in surrounding Rust Belt states, namely solar. The U.S. is poised to become the manufacturing mecca for the $18 billion solar industry and nearly all of the current solar manufacturing capacity is in the Midwest. In fact, with the exception of Nanosolar’s thin ﬁlm facility in San Jose, California and Ausra’s plant in Las Vegas, all solar panels manufactured in the U.S. are made in the Rust Belt. First Solar, a $22 billion solar panel manufacturer based in Perrysburg, Ohio, announced in August that it 50 WORLD TRADE http://www.rickenbacker.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Trade - November 2008

World Trade - November 2008 Contents Unexpected Responses to Unanticipated Change Reading the States of Risk in Today’s Global Economy Supply Chain Watch Tradewinds Failed Promise: Mexico and NAFTA, 15 Years Later The Short Tale Marrying Trade Finance and Transportation into a Single Transaction Trucking Gets a Double Whammy Are We Safe Yet? Logistics Resurrects the Rust Belt Keep on Compressing

World Trade - November 2008

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