OGDENSBURG — The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority is hosting a seminar to entice Canadian companies to set up shop on this side of the border.

The May 22 seminar will focus on entry strategies for U.S. and Canadian exporters, along with providing information for Canadian manufacturing companies to increase productivity through relocating and outsourcing in Ogdensburg.

"We're targeting companies in the United States and Canada that are interested in cross-border trading," OBPA Commercial and Industrial Development Director John A. Rishe said. "We want to show them how easy it is to trade across the border."

The seminar will cover several topics such as utilizing a foreign trade zone, working with Homeland Security and customs agents and documentation needed to move items across the border.

Nearly 60 people already have registered for the seminar. The conference was scheduled for the OBPA's administration building, but a larger space is needed and an alternate location hasn't been finalized.

The seminar will include a tour of OBPA's facilities, including the Port of Ogdensburg and Commerce Park, and offer lunch.

"We have an opportunity to present what the authority, the county and the city have to offer in terms of economic development programs and developable sites," Mr. Rishe said.

The speakers include officials from the city of Ogdensburg, OBPA, U.S. Commercial Service, Canada Border Services Agency, FedEx Solutions, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Miller & Company and St. Lawrence County's economic development office.

The seminar begins with registration at 8 a.m.

For more information, contact Luz E. Betancur at 1 (613) 688-5216 or e-mail luz.betancur@

mail.doc.gov. Registration is $40 per person and available at www.

buyusa.gov/canada/en/border.

html.