The goal of
Port Lansing is to facilitate increased commerce through the foreign trade zone centered on the Capital Region Airport. The Capital Region Airport Authority Board has moved toward that goal with the announcement of a $3.5M, 50,000-sqaure foot cargo facility. The warehouse will serve as an export consolidation center as well as an import/export incubator.
“There is a lot of interest in companies utilizing our foreign trade zone,” says Brent Case, Vice President of International Business Services at the
Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce. “It’s been hard to say we can handle it all when we only have 4,000 square feet of space now.”
The decision to invest in a larger facility has been in the Airport Authority’s strategic plan for some time. The Authority planned to attract a private investor, but the economy made it a difficult sell. As the project is seen as a kick-starter for expanding commerce, they decided to move forward with the investment themselves.
“Equally important to the size is the functionality of the facility,” says Case. “We’ll have updated freight docks and other things companies take for granted.”
The new facility will be the first building in the new 120-acre commerce park right across the airfield. In addition to providing a consolidation point for imports and exports, it will also include incubator amenities for smaller companies to utilize space and move into the import and export markets. Plans are being developed now, and Case hopes to see the facility functional by late summer or early fall of 2012.
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