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.