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NEOTEC's Ron DeBarr Named Chair of NAFTZ Grantee Committee

KENT, OHIO, February 12, 2008 – Ron DeBarr, president and CEO of the Northeast Ohio Trade & Economic Consortium (NEOTEC), was recently named chairman of the Grantee Committee of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ). NEOTEC, an economic development partnership of 10 Northeast Ohio counties, is the grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 181 in Northeast Ohio, which covers multiple locations throughout the region. The NAFTZ is a nonprofit trade association that works to promote and improve foreign-trade zones and their use, respond to the competitive needs of zone users, and connect global businesses with local communities through the FTZ program.

“The NAFTZ is pleased that someone as qualified and as dynamic as Ron DeBarr has agreed to lead this committee,” said Will Berry, Executive Director of the NAFTZ. “Already Ron has a couple of important new committee initiatives underway which will serve Grantees and advance the benefits of the FTZ program. We’re glad to have Ron involved in the leadership of the NAFTZ,” Berry said.

According to Berry, the Grantee community is the “lynch-pin” of the FTZ program, because grantees connect all zone activities directly with the public purpose that the program serves. Berry said that the Grantee Committee is important for a number of reasons: it works to reach out to Grantees across the country, engages Grantees in the work of the NAFTZ, undertakes projects which help Grantees remain informed of new program developments, and supports their work.

“I value the opportunity of chairing the Grantee Committee because of the direct involvement it affords me with other Grantees throughout the country,” DeBarr said. “Through the initiatives the committee is undertaking, I am able to address the needs of the entire grantee community and help make a direct impact on the continued success of the FTZ program,” said DeBarr.

In Ohio, DeBarr demonstrated the same level of leadership, having initiated the creation of the Ohio Foreign-Trade Zones Council (OFTZC) in 2005. The OFTZC unites the state’s 10 FTZ grantees in a forum of discussion and action to address issues and promote the success of Ohio’s FTZ program.

The Foreign-Trade Zone program was created in 1934 by Congress to facilitate international trade and increase the global competitiveness of U.S.-based companies. The program, designed as an incentive to encourage companies to keep investment and jobs in the U.S. and not move production offshore, removes certain costs and barriers that do not exist in foreign locations.

NEOTEC is a regional economic development partnership of 10 Northeast Ohio counties. FTZ 181 covers more than 6,000 acres at 35 sites throughout the 10-county NEOTEC region. In addition to FTZ 181, NEOTEC is administrator of the International Trade Assistance Center of Northeast Ohio, a program that provides export counseling to area manufacturers looking to grow their business through exports, and the Northeast Ohio Logistics Network, an organization of logistics and management professionals working to help improve regional market access.

For more information, visit NEOTEC’s Web site at www.neotec.org or contact Ron DeBarr, president and CEO of NEOTEC, at 330-672-4080 or via e-mail at rdebarr@neotec.org.

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