You may recall that we opted to make the 2023 Annual Catherine Durda award voting available to the entire membership by taking the vote virtual vs the on-site voting at our annual conference.  We thank the many members who took the time to review the nominees’ submissions and vote for their favorite.

It’s my great pleasure to announce the recipient of this year’s award!

Before we dive into who won the vote, it’s important that we take a moment to talk about Catherine Durda.  This award is named in her honor as Catherine Durda was the first female chair of the NAFTZ Board of Directors, and was an innovative marketer and promoter of FTZs in the New York area. During her involvement with NAFTZ, she dedicated much of her time to advancing the importance of FTZs for trade and job creation.  Each year, Grantee members are asked to submit their best marketing (video, ad, website, etc.) and fellow members vote for the marketing piece that best promotes the advantages of using foreign-trade zones.

This year, we had seven wonderful submissions, and you can see all the submissions on our website at https://www.naftz.org/2023-catherine-durda-award. 

Congratulations to the team at CODEZOL C.D. in Ponce, PR for their Zona Libre Del Sur video!  You can view the winning video here:  https://youtu.be/czvOBPz5Nec?si=rKbNHXpkQpdt8YkO.  I asked Johnny Fernandez, Executive Director of CODEZOL about the video and the effort behind the video which delves into key aspects of the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones program and its impact on their zone.  Mr. Fernández expressed optimism, stating, "The video has been seen by more than 2,000 people, and the comments have been good. We hope to attract more clients who, after watching it, will understand the FTZ program's benefits and how they work in order to reduce their operational costs, which is something any good manager looks for their company.”

Mr. Fernández also extended his gratitude to the NAFTZ community, saying, "The mere fact that we won this award by the votes of our colleagues at the NAFTZ is of great appreciation from us. It represents that we have made a great number of good friends throughout the years that we have been members of such a great organization. I would like to thank each and every one of you, my fellow members, but mostly friends that voted for our video. It's a sign that we did a good job on it and a wonderful investment in this venture. Again, thank you all, and we wish you Happy Holidays and a great 2024."

The 2024 Catherine Durda award will have a new schedule with the nominations period and vote in the weeks prior to our 2024 Annual Conference in New Orleans where we will announce the 2024 recipient.

As 2023 comes to a close, I’d like to wish each and every one of you the happiest of holidays and wonderful and prosperous new year.

By:

Jeffrey Tafel
NAFTZ President