Broward College Partners For Seaport Training Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Broward College Partners with Greater Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and City of Lauderdale Lakes for Launch of Seaport Training Project

Lauderdale Lakes, Fla (September 19, 2016) – Broward College joined forces with the Greater Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and the City of Lauderdale Lakes for the official launch of the Seaport Training Project. The roll-out event was held at the Lauderdale Lakes Industrial Estates on September 8.

This state-funded venture is designed to help struggling businesses in two of the import/export foreign trade/enterprise zones become more successful. Funding for the project was made possible through the efforts of Rep. Hazelle Rogers.

"My commitment to my community and the City of Lauderdale Lakes, District 95 and Broward County is unwavering and the community's economic and social health is critical for the success of Broward County,” Rogers said. “It is my hope that this program will grow to serve the entire county and the significant number of small businesses engaged in economic activity through the foreign trade/enterprise zones."

This project is starting with 10 local businesses, providing owners with training, equipment and business networking opportunities. Their Continuing Education unit, a department within Workforce Education and Economic Development at Broward College, will also provide workshops, other educational opportunities, and resources to participating businesses.

“What we found was that some businesses were finding it hard to stay above water, and a business plan was not something many of them had,” said Glenn Joseph, Seaport Training Project program manager. “We’re here to give them some direction like record keeping, documentation, accounting and other concepts.”

There are currently seven foreign trade zones from West Palm Beach to Miami with two in Fort Lauderdale, and the objective of the Seaport Training Project is to bring awareness to the benefits of being in a foreign trade/enterprise zone. This includes reduced or eliminated duties, logistical flexibility, lower taxes and supply chain security.

Overall Foreign Trade Zones have shown continued growth with exports increasing to 24.8 percent in 2014, equating to a record-high $99.2 billion in merchandize exported, according to figures released by the most recent U.S. Foreign-Trade Zone Board Annual Report to Congress. Foreign Trade Zones also showed record employment in 2014 with 420,000 jobs reported, a 7.7 increase over the year before.