According to co-owner Craig Pool, Foreign-Trade Zone Corp. (FTZC) is very proud of its inaugural selection as “Best Local Company to Work For” in the 2016 Nappie Awards.
Located near the corner of Old Shell Road and Upham Street, the innocuous, ivy-covered brick building sits adjacent to Paragon Cleaners and across the street from Thames Batre Insurance.
“We are very proud of the FTZC team and feel that without our great group of employees we would not have been as successful as we have. We also want to thank our current employees for all their hard work and for supporting FTZC. The only way we would have achieved such an award is by our team members getting the word out,” Pool said.
FTZC has three primary business units. Its enterprise FTZ Compliance Software, SmartZone, is the fastest growing. The other two focus on consulting services and providing contract operations for clients.
Pool said FTZC was formed in response to demand for hands-on experience and expertise. More than 25 years ago, founders Pool and Greg Jones each operated the company on a day-to-day basis.
Because of the success and subsequent notoriety of their projects, the two began receiving more requests for assistance across the United States. Today the company provides consulting and software services to hundreds of clients in more than 48 states and Puerto Rico.
In 1996, following many completed compliance reviews on behalf of clients, the company recognized the need for a compliant, easy-to-use foreign-trade zone inventory control and recordkeeping system. Slightly more than a year later, FTZC released its first version of SmartZone software.
Today, the latest version of SmartZone Compliance Software is used by hundreds of companies on a “Software as a Service” platform. The software uses proprietary technology with its Intelligent Web Client that allows its users better functionality without the security risks of traditional web browsers. This technology was designed and produced locally by FTZC’s development team, led by Joshua Guy, vice president of software solutions
Per Pool, FTZC strives to provide an environment that helps employees feel like part of a team.
“Many people mistakenly feel that large companies are always the best place to work. However, since FTZC is a growing company with only 15 people on payroll, we value our employees and employee retention above all else,” Pool said. “This is why we have a goal of zero turnover, which means working to make our team members feel they have the best overall work environment and compensation package. We want to make sure our workers are happy every day they come to work.”