Group pitches BNAS foreign trade zone
The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority is hoping to establish a foreign trade zone at the redeveloped Brunswick Naval Air Station.
MRRA's board of trustees unanimously approved submitting an application to designate 393 acres of the base as a federal Foreign Trade Zone, according to reports from The Times Record and The Forecaster. Companies in the FTZ would be allowed to store, repair, assemble and test imported goods without paying federal trade tariffs, as long as they are sold or distributed in the United States. Importers would be able to defer paying tariffs until they were able to generate revenues to offset them.
MRRA officials said the BNAS trade zone would not compete with the state's existing trade zone in Auburn, established six years ago. But since Brunswick's trade zone would be within 60 miles of the Auburn zone, the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council could appeal MRRA's application, according to The Forecaster. George Dycio, an economic development specialist with LAEGC, told the paper the group needed to find out more about what kinds of companies MRRA intended to attract with the FTZ before deciding to appeal. It could take up to a year before MRRA's application is approved or denied, according to The Times Record.
MRRA officials on Tuesday also announced the group is seeking a $1.3 million line of credit from the Maine Department of Transportation to help subsidize running a civilian airport at the former Navy airfield, which officials hope to take ownership of this fall, according to The Times Record. The group would pull as much as $300,000 annually from the loan fund to offset the costs of running the airport before it's fully occupied. The money would come from the DOT's State Transit, Aviation and Rail account.
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