Advocacy Committee

Background

The Advocacy Committee was created in 2019 after the Advocacy Working Group (AWG) officially released the results of the NAFTZ’s inaugural Economic Impact Study during the NAFTZ Legislative Summit in February 2019.

Purpose

The NAFTZ Board of Directors created the NAFTZ Advocacy Committee in an effort to bridge the gap between the number of companies/individuals needed to execute an effective advocacy program and the historical low rate of participation. As an example of FTZ activity, the 80th Annual Report of the FTZB to the U.S. Congress presented the following statistics:

195 actives FTZ projects
330 active production operations
440,000+ persons employed
3,300 firms with an FTZ operation

Unfortunately, both the historical and present rate of participation in the NAFTZ advocacy efforts has not reflected the number of firms/employees within the FTZ industry. As a result, the Advocacy Committee has a two-fold responsibility:

1.Develop, manage, and define goals of the overarching advocacy strategy of the NAFTZ
2. Establish a grassroots initiative that supports the overarching strategy and executes the individual projects to attain the defined goals

Official Launch Date

September 10, 2019 at the 2019 NAFTZ Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois

Meeting Frequency

Timing: Every third Thursday of every month at 4 pm (EST)
Meeting method: Conference call