Sunday, January 27, 2008

Group Contacts for the Inland Port

Contacts for the Inland Port:

1. Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities

120 N. Stone Avenue
Suite 200 Tucson, Arizona 85701 Tel: (520) 243-1900 Fax: (520) 243-1910
http://www.treoaz.org/

Lee J. Smith Sr. Vice President, Business Development,. 520.243.1909

Al Altuna al.altuna@treoaz.org
Freight Planner – Pima Association of Governments
Tel: 520-243-1929 Fax: 520-243-1910

2. Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
465 West St. Mary’s Road
Tucson, AZ 85701
Tel: 520-792-2250 Ext 133 Fax: 520-882-5704
http://www.tucsonchamber.org/

John Brown
Manager Business Development
jbrown@tucsonchamber.org

More later.
January 27, 2008

An update on planned Mexican Ports
Source: AMERICAN SHIPPER – CALIFORNIA PACIFIC CONNECTION

SCT- The Transportation and Communications Ministry of the Mexican federal Government has released a study that outlines plans to spend over $1.5 Billion USD on two ports that will impact Southern Arizona.

Punta Colonet, (PC) 150 miles south of Tijuana will receive over $1 Billion USD to create a port capable of handling 5 million TEU’s (20 foot equivalents, making a 40 foot container 2 TEU’s). It is expected that virtually all of these ocean containers will be moved from PC via rail to the U.S. entering near the California/Arizona border area. The Calderón Administration hopes that construction will start by the end of 2008.

Manzanillo II (M2) IN Colima, Mexico will receive over $500 Million to expand the port.

These two projects are part of President Calderón’s National Infrastructure Program to improve Mexico’s road, rail, airport and port transportation infrastructure.

For more information:
See the San Diego Union Tribune article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050814/news_1n14port.html
See Bajainsider.com:
http://www.bajainsider.com/environment/port-punta-colonet.htm
See Portworld.com:
http://www.portworld.com/news/2008/01/70468?gsid=aa18b29eb518e6a6e5c62b5acf7d6c12&asi=1

More later.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Links for Myspace and Facebook

MySpace URL:
http://www.myspace.com/azinlandport

Facebook URL:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1034866735

Arizona's Inland Port

This is the first of a series of posts regarding the Inland Port efforts in Southern Arizona. We welcome everyone's imput provided it is positive in nature, constructive criticism is welcome.

A number of groups/organizations are working together to make this a reality including the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO), the City of Tucson, Pima Association of Governments (PAG) and the Port of Tucson ( the provately owned Union Pacific Railroad (UP) ramp. I will post websites for all these groups and contacts in my next post.

The Inland Port is not one spot on the map but a number of locations in the region. The first thing that comes into most peoples mind when they hear the word port is water. An inland port is a convergence of road, rail and air. Tucson is ideally situated for an inland port with highway access via Interstates 10 and 19, rail access on the Union Pacific line running from Los Angeles to Dallas/Forth Worth and Houston. Tucson also is on the rail line running south to Nogales where it connects to Ferromex's line along the west cost of Mexico. Tucson International Airport is close to both I10 and I19 for moving airfreight.

Currently there are companies moving goods that arrived from offshore via ocean container at the Port of LA and are moved to Laredo, TX; south into Mexico and back west to the Mexican West coast. Obviously using Tucson to handle this traffic will save both time and money which are commodities the business community is seeking.

Tucson is the gateway to the west coast of Mexico, 60 miles north of the border. The future for Tucson is looking bright. Target has recently made Tucson the home of it's second U.S. Internet fulfillment center. With the increase in jobs and growth in the economy, Tucson will be recognized for it's big business attitude. This expansion will lead to a larger international market.

We are seeking developments that enhance the infrastructure in Southern Arizona.

Please let us know your thoughts and information about your inland ports