Wednesday, August 13, 2003
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Wednesday, August 13, 2003 |
Hipage a part of Foreign Trade ZoneBy CAROLYN
CARY
About five years ago, two local industries approached the Development Authority of Peachtree City and the Peachtree City Council about their desire to have a Foreign Trade Zone. A Foreign Trade Zone allows companies to import certain goods to either defer or delay applied reduced import duties. "For a company involved in international trade," said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Fayette Development Authority, "this could cause significant savings." These special zones must be approved by Congress and through the hard work of former mayor Bob Lenox and the DAPC, Peachtree City, as a whole, was expended that privilege. They worked through the State Foreign Trade Zone and its representative, Julie Brown, to find a warehouse/logistics operation to build in Peachtree City. A 27-year-old company, The Hipage Company, Inc., opened an facility in Peachtree City. The company is a customs broker and international freight forwarders based in Norfolk, Virginia. It has 12 other offices throughout the Southeast. Hipage can provide booking, arranging for or confirming cargo space on vessels, coordinate delivery of cargo to port/vessel from origin, clear shipments in accordance with United States export regulations, arrange for warehouse storage, arrange cargo insurance, and provide expert advice to exporters concerning letters of credit, documentation, licenses, inspections, or issue related to the shipment of product. These are just a few of the services it can provide. The company held an open house to allow local citizens to visit its warehouse before its first customer moved in. Once foreign goods are placed in its warehouse, the goods are considered as not yet entering the United States. Consequently, when standing in the warehouse during the open house, one was neither standing in the United States nor in a foreign country. Once goods were placed inside, security was extremely tight, and if you tried to enter, you would be fined a minimum of $1,000. Aventure Aviation Services became the first customer to take advantage of the Hipage facility and relocated its facility to Peachtree City. Said Zaheer Faruqi, president of Aventure, "Even in these tough times that the aviation industry is facing, Aventure Aviation has carved a niche by providing professional services to its customers around the globe. We are pleased to be associated with our friends in the Peachtree City area and look forward to continued success in the times to come as we align ourselves with market demands." The Hipage contact in Peachtree City is Sandra Cartledge, 770-632-9820 and the contact for Aventure is Melissa Coleman, 678-860-6903.
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