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February 2003

Phelps Dunbar LLP Counsel Selected as President and Chairman of the Tampa Foreign Trade Zone Board

Phelps Dunbar LLP is pleased to announce that Timothy P. Shusta, counsel in the regional admiralty and tort litigation group and resident in the Tampa office, has recently been selected as President and Chairman of the Tampa Foreign Trade Zone Board, Inc.

The Tampa Foreign Trade Zone Board is a non-profit corporation set up to administer Tampa Foreign Trade Zone No. 79 on behalf of the city of Tampa. The foreign-trade zone is a secured area located within the United States, but technically considered to be outside the territory of U.S. Customs. Therefore, the foreign-trade zone offers the ability to defer, reduce or even eliminate Customs duties on products. Other members include representatives from the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, Tampa Port Authority, Hillsborough County Aviation Authority and the Tampa Chamber of Commerce. Gene Gray, Director of the Hillsborough County Economic Development Department, was selected as Vice President, and Charlotte Starfire, Director of International Trade and Investment for the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, was selected as Secretary/Treasurer.

Mr. Shusta practices in the areas of admiralty and maritime law, insurance, business and finance, environmental law, and tort litigation. Mr. Shusta received his B.A. from the University of Maine in 1974 and his J.D. from Stetson University in 1984. He is the Southeast regional secretary of the Propeller Club of the United States and Chairman of the Board of the Tampa Propeller Club. Mr. Shusta is also a member of the Maritime Law Association (Cruise Line Committee), the International Transportation Task Force, the Tampa Bay Cargo Association (Treasurer), and the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute.