FTZ Board Grants Port of Houston Expansion of FTZ #84

The Foreign-Trade Zones Board has published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the result of its consideration of an application, filed Sept.10, 2008, submitted by the Port of Houston Authority, to expand its zone to include six additional sites in the Houston, Texas area. The board therefore is granting authority to expand FTZ #84 as described in the application and Federal Register notice. The grant is subject to the FTZ Act and the board's regulations of a 2,000-acre activation limit for the overall general-purpose zone project and further subject to a sunset provision that would terminate authority on May 31, 2014 for Sites 17 - 22, where no activity has occurred under FTZ procedures before that date.

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Strategic Plan and Location for Famous Footwear Provider

Brown Shoe Company, Inc. recently marked the completion of its 350,000-square foot Famous Footwear Distribution Center, adding time savings and cost efficiencies to the process of shipping footwear to the chain's stores and consumers on the West Coast.

The Famous Footwear DC is located within Tejon Industrial Complex (TIC), a 1,450-acre master-planned business park anchoring California's central trade corridor at the junction of Interstate 5 and Highway 99 in Central California. TIC is part of the 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch, the largest contiguous expanse of private land in California. This strategic location, approximately 90 minutes north of the Los Angeles ports and four hours south of Oakland, gives warehouse operators efficient access to the state's two major port complexes and the ability to serve consumers from San Francisco to San Diego and east to Las Vegas in a one-day truck turn.

The Famous Footwear DC currently employs about 75 people, and is expected to create approximately 40 additional jobs in upcoming months. TIC provides access to the qualified workforce of the Bakersfield area, a 24-hour operating environment critical to warehouse operators, Foreign Trade Zone designation, efficient access to all the transit corridors of the 11 Western States, and has ample room for future expansion and customization.

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