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and heading northbound on I-19 to area warehouses.”
FPAA estimates the road improvement should speed round-trip delivery from the port of entry to some warehouses by 20 minutes or more per truck. “This gives companies a valuable incentive to locate their operations in Nogales,” said Lance Jungmeyer, FPAA president. “It is the culmination of many years of hard work in unifying support from groups across Arizona about this important roadway. We are always looking for ways to speed up the produce superhighway that is Nogales, and this funding is an important step in our continued success.”
The project, fast-tracked to begin in 2019, will fund important enhancements to the entire length of SR 189 and will also construct a flyover ramp connecting SR 189 to I-19. “This will eliminate stop- lights and left-hand turns that currently hamper movement of heavy trucks onto the interstate,” says Jungmeyer. “The project is also designed as a crucial safety measure by separating the ingress and egress of local high school traffic from
Pedro Batiz, vice president of sales for Divine Flavor, says there is a need for broader improve- ments to roadways and facilities in getting produce in and out of Nogales. “Infrastructure is always an issue when it comes to dealing with high volumes of produce coming in every day.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF CIRULI BROTHERS
FACING DOWN TOUGH OBSTACLES e Nogales industry gears up to continue confronting rising di culties in costs, regulations and politicking.
BY JODEAN ROBBINS
Despite the signi cant achievements the Nogales community has logged in recent years, challenges remain. e rst of those includes adequate sta ng of newly improved facilities. Allison Moore, vice president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) in Nogales, AZ, reports the association continues to work with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on a federal leveltoimprovehiringandrecruitment processes to fully sta their ports of entry across the United States. “We do a lot here through collaboration and inno- vation in Nogales, but that doesn’t take away the need for adequate CBP o cers at our ports of entry,” she says.
Having adequate and well-trained sta throughout all levels of the industry remains a major goal. Chris Ciruli, chief operating o cer for Ciruli Brothers in Rio Rico, AZ, explains one of the challenges facing the Nogales area is bringing and retaining trained and technical labor. “We hope joint e orts with local colleges and universities will enable access to education for the local community, creating more opportunity for residents and employers alike,” he says.
ough the Nogales community continues to work on improvements in roadways and facilities in the U.S., addi- tional broader initiatives remain crucial, as well. “Infrastructure is always an issue when it comes to dealing with high volumes of produce coming in every day,” says Pedro Batiz, vice president of sales for Divine Flavor in Nogales. “We need the infrastructure on both sides to be consid- ered equally e cient.”
Lance Jungmeyer, FPAA president, points to the increasing importance of trade facilitation. “We want to shrink the border process to make things more e - cient,” he says. “Initiatives such as uni ed cargo processing agreements help augment ground transport e ciencies. Inspectors from both countries might be working from the same facility to create e ciencies and reduce waiting times.”
Overshadowing these challenges looms the political climate in both coun- tries, adding layers to an already complex environment. “Perhaps the greatest chal- lenge for the Nogales area has been the administration changes over the past 18 months, both in the U.S. and Mexico,” says Ciruli. “In Nogales, we are stuck somewhere in the middle, advocating for open trade,” he says.
Another big hurdle facing Nogales, and the produce industry as a whole, is that of increased regulations driving up costs states Matt Mandel, vice president of operations for SunFed in Rio Rico. “Speci cally, freight is a real challenge,” he says. “Increasing freight costs limit product competitiveness and freshness to the end consumer. We are also in a period of de ationary pricing with increased cost inputs; something has to give.”
Seemingly innocuous regulations such as the E-log trucking requirements result in signi cant complications. “Before the truck-driver-limited-hours law, a truck was able to reach Los Angeles in one day with checking and loading times included,” says Batiz. “Now, with that new law, it takes about two days to get to Los Angeles.” pb
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