Foreign Trade Zone created

SHAWNEE -- The Port Authority of Greater Oklahoma City has approved an application request to designate the Iron Horse Industrial Park (IHIP), owned by the Citizen Potawatomi Nation (CPN), as a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Magnet Site. Designating the IHIP as a FTZ Magnet Site will create jobs and bring more international business to Oklahoma, bolstering the CPN’s economic status.

The IHIP is a 400-acre commercial and industrial business park located on Native American trust land near Shawnee, Okla. The strategically placed industrial park offers tenants easy access to national shipping lines, including I-40, I-35 and the U.S. rail system.

“The Iron Horse Industrial Park will stand as one of the important economic development tools for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation,” said Cathy O’Connor, Port Authority Zone Administrator. “Approving this site as a Foreign Trade Zone site will prove to be a momentous incentive for attracting new manufacturing and distribution development in the area.”

When the IHIP becomes a designated FTZ Magnet Site, potentially beginning mid-March, it will allow any organization that builds within its boundaries to potentially forgo import and other associated international trade taxes and fees for components while they are held within the territory. These tax breaks will incentivize manufacturers and distributors to build or relocate to Iron Horse, which in turn will create jobs and encourage economic growth in the greater Oklahoma City area.

“The Citizen Potawatomi Nation has been increasingly proactive on working to make the industrial park a Foreign Trade Zone, based off the understanding that it will become a major marketing tool for bringing business to the tribe,” said Craig Knutson, Chairman of the Port Authority of Greater Oklahoma City. “This not only strengthens the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, but will provide millions in economic growth in the area.”