COLUMBIA TEAM IN LIEGE

[BIZ: Liège, December 4]
The Columbia Team from South Carolina came to Liège recently, first, to visit with FN Herstal, a company with almost 30 years manufacturing experience in Columbia too, to discuss with them opportunities for expansion of their U.S. operations including Columbia. They met with the CEO of FN Herstal and the CEO of the FN Group. The Columbia-based CEO, also, traveled all the way from Columbia to join the group.

Second, the team wanted to meet with several company prospects for investment in Columbia and with the Mayor of Liège and economic developers. These latter two groups could discuss how the two cities and regions could work together for the benefit of both, particularly on a business-to-business basis.

In both cases, Columbia’s Mayor Robert D. Coble, Councilman Daniel J. Rickenmann and Economic Development Director James B. Gambrell were delighted with the reception, the quality of the prospects whom they visited and the prospects for future cooperation in with the worlds of business culture and the university.

There was interest on the airport front too. Mike Flack, the Executive Director of the Columbia Metropolitan Airport recalls that when he visited Liège a few years ago, he toured the airport and their considerable cargo operations. The TNT Cargo hub was of special interest. In size and operation, it was very similar to the UPS hub in Columbia. At that time, TNT was just beginning to talk about expansion into the United States. They started a move into the New York area and then those activities stalled.
However, Mike Flack thinks the potential is still there. If TNT or any other cargo airline wants to expand into the United States, there are several reasons for service into an airport outside of the New York area. Weather is one big reason and there are others.
UPS came to Columbia in order to maintain continuous operations when Louisville is adversely impacted or closed due to weather, primarily snow and ice, commodities in short supply here. An airline operating from Liège to New York would probably look for an alternative site for the same reason. Also, there are considerations of distribution, service areas, etc. In short, Columbia would provide an excellent year-round location for cargo operations between Europe and the South-eastern United States. Of course, there are many other reasons in addition to those cited above. Clearly the US remains a land of opportunity and US/Liège relations remain in the news.
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