Description

The NAFTZ Grantee Status Achieved: Now What? in response to event attendee surveys requesting to cover this topic in more detail. 

Featured Speaker(s): Patty Cannon, David Sikkink and Denise Yanez will review protocols and best practices. A Q&A session will follow the presentation. By registering one agrees to be compliance with NAFTZ policy/guidelines and emailed up to once per sponsor (if applicable).

This session will cover the latest developments and resources. One will be able to:

• Review role responsibilities, how to do your job, growth opportunities

Speakers

Patricia Cannon, Director of Special Projects at State of Delaware’s Department of State

Patricia A Cannon, MSM, AZS: Patty is the Director of Special Projects and FTZ #99 Grantee Administrator within the State of Delaware’s Department of State. She graduated with honors with a BS in Business Management and earned a Master of Science in Management from Wilmington University. Previously, Patty served as the Executive Director of Delaware’s Workforce Investment Board and the Director of Advocacy for the American Heart Association, serving the State of Delaware and Southeastern, Pennsylvania.

David Sikkink currently serves as the Administrator of the Hawaii Foreign-Trade Zone No. 9 (FTZ9), a division of the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.  FTZ #9 is the Grantee for the state of Hawaii and is one of the oldest and most diverse FTZ projects in the nation, overseeing the state’s general-purpose zones and subzones, which services over 300 clients. FTZ9 also operates a general-purpose zone warehouse and oversees a trade campus of 75 offices at Pier 2, Honolulu Harbor, for the State of Hawaii, which facilitates and supports businesses engaged in international trade.

Mr. Sikkink has been involved with the Foreign-Trade Zone program for since 2008 and has served as FTZ9’s Administrator since 2011 and is a Certified and Accredited Zone Specialist.

Prior to being involved with the Foreign-Trade Zone program, Mr. Sikkink led new media development teams in the creation of digital and interactive media, websites, and software development in Hawaii and on the mainland. He has also owned two New Media and Video Production companies and was instrumental in the development of one of the first commercially available multimedia software programs produced for the consumer market.

Mr. Sikkink is originally from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Denise Yanez is an Economic Development Program Manager in the Community and Economic Development Department focusing on business attraction and is the Foreign-Trade Zone Administrator for the City of Phoenix FTZ No. 75, which services three large counties. Denise has worked with the FTZ program for more than 15 years and currently manages contracts for 26 FTZ operators.

Denise has worked for the City of Phoenix for over 25 years in various departments with experience in economic development, redevelopment, residential real estate, property management, property maintenance and zoning enforcement, and small business development. She has a B.S. in General Business from Arizona State University, is an Accredited Zone Specialist by the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), serves on the NAFTZ Board of Directors, and is a member of the NAFTZ Grantee and Membership Committees.

Educational CREDIT

Learn more about AZS and CZS credit eligibility for webinar attendance on their applicable websites.