Business View Magazine | August 2020

173 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 DOUGLAS , AR I ZONA commercial operations, such as pedestrian, car, and bus traffic. Watson reports that the new commercial port has already been approved by the U.S. Congress and Douglas is hoping to get funding approved, this session, for the $170.5 million project that the General Services Administration (GSA) will build about four miles outside of the current city limits. “Our city council is getting ready to annex the area that will incorporate that land,” she says. “We own the land that the port will go into, but it sits right now on a county island until we get the annexation done. Then development will occur all along Highway 80, once we get the water and wastewater infrastructure in there. We know that developers and investors are ready to build light industrial warehousing and things that will serve the new Port of Entry.” In addition, Douglas is home to a few federal Opportunity Zones, and Watson says that interest is high, although the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down the momentum, somewhat. anywhere from an hour to an hour-and-a-half away and commute to work. Once we capture that group, that will allow further investment as they’ll see our average income increase and we’ll make ourselves much more marketable to the world of restaurants and night life and entertainment venues that we really can’t support one hundred percent, right now.” One major new development scheme that should help attract more skilled workers is Douglas’ new Port of Entry project. The city has been working with many stakeholder partners, including the Douglas Regional Economic Development Corporation, the Douglas International Port Authority, the Douglas Industrial Development Authority, and Cochise County to improve the border crossing experience for goods and people. Over the past two years, efforts have been focused on a Two Port Solution that will relocate commercial traffic to a new state-of-the-art facility, while the existing port will be dedicated to non-