Smarter Efforts for a Gateway to Asia

{Rendering of North Air Cargo Ramp at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport}

It had been relatively quiet with regards to the region’s efforts to establish an international cargo hub at Lambert and MidAmerica Airports but recently Tim Nowak, the executive director of the World Trade Center gave an update about the latest developments at a WTC business breakfast in Clayton.

Let’s start with a recap: last year, an attempt by the Midwest China Hub Commission - spearheaded by the World Trade Center, The RCGA and Lambert Airport - to get a tax incentives bill called “Aerotropolis” enacted by the Missouri General Assembly, failed.

Initially, the incentives asked for were $480 million over 15 years, consisting of tax breaks on the cost of building warehousing, interest on construction loans and incentives for freight forwarders. After it became clear this bill was not going to pass (for many reasons, mostly political) just a section of the bill consisting of $60 million in freight forwarders incentives remained. This bill was inserted into an omnibus bill, which included the (completely unrelated) sunsets of Historic Tax Credits and programs for building low-income housing and died with it.