1987
Foreign-Trade Zone No. 138 was approved by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board in March, with the Rickenbacker Port Authority (RPA) as the Grantee. The new General Purpose Zone included 1,642 acres of RPA land at the Airport.

1991
Subzone 138A was approved by the FTZ Board for Wascator Manufacturing Company in Richmond, Ohio. Wascastor is a subsidiary of AB Electrolux of Stockholm, Sweden and manufactures and assembles commercial clothes washing machines to be sold to coin and on-premises laundry facilities.

1992
The first reportable activity occurred in the FTZ when Wascator Manufacturing Company activated.

1994
Impex Logistics became an Operator in the General Purpose Zone. Impex activated Dorcy International, which became the first user of the General Purpose Zone. Wascator, in Subzone 138A, continued to use the FTZ.

In March, the General Purpose Zone was expanded by 286 acres northeast of the airport to service the Spiegel site and some surrounding parcels.

1995
The FTZ served six activated business firms.

In May, an additional 509 acres of land northwest of the airport, where Kraft Foods is now located, was approved for inclusion in the General Purpose FTZ.

1996
The FTZ served five activated business firms.

Subzone 138B for Pier One Imports was approved in January. The facility was used to distribute a range of consumer products such as home furnishings, housewares, and gift products. The subzone was intended to serve as the distribution facility for Pier One's Canada stores.

U.S. Customs office relocated to Rickenbacker, improving accessibility for FTZ users.

1997
The FTZ served five activated business firms.

Impex Logistics, the only operator of the General Purpose Zone, announced they were going to stop serving as an Operator at the end of the year.

Subzone 138C for Abbott Manufacturing was approved in December. The plant produces milk and sugar-based formula and adult nutritional products and employs 560 people.

1998
The RPA began serving as an Operator of the FTZ on January 1.

The first full-time marketer for the FTZ was hired in March.

Wascator closed its U.S. operation in early 1998 and deactivated its Subzone.

Subzone 138D for Globe Metallurgical was approved in July. The facility produces ferroalloys and silicon metals and employs 153 people.

Subzone 138E for Lucent Technologies was approved in October. This facility is used for the manufacturing of telecommunications equipment and employs 5,000 people.

1999
The FTZ served five activated business firms.

In November, the General Purpose Zone was expanded to a total of 4,713 acres at Site 1 at Rickenbacker International Airport and 135 acres at Site 2 in Lima.

A FTZ seminar was held in Lima as well as Columbus.

PPG Industries built a $15 million facility in the Lima site.

2000
Since the Port Authority took over as operator of FTZ No. 138 in 1998, activity within the General Purpose Zone has increased by 190%.

2001
The FTZ served seven activated business firms.

A request to expand the General Purpose Zone to include 4 additional sites is approved by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board. These sites include:

• Site 3 - 42 acres in Chillicothe
• Site 4 - 44 acres in Lancaster
• Site 5 - 133 acres in Cambridge
• Site 6 - 74 acres in London

2002
Pier One's subzone lapsed in January, as they never were able to activate and use the zone.

Subzone 138F for DuPont was approved in April. This special-purpose subzone at the DuPont plant in Circleville will help reduce tariff payments on chemicals used to produce Kapton Polyimide film, a product used for flexible circuitry in the electronics, automotive and aircraft manufacturing industries.

2003
On January 1, with the merger of Rickenbacker Port Authority and Columbus Municipal Airport Authority, the grant of the authority was transferred to CRAA, which is now grantee of FTZ No. 138.

In July, a minor boundary modification of the General Purpose Zone to 31 acres in Marion County was approved on a temporary basis.

In November, a minor boundary modification of the General Purpose Zone was approved on a temporary basis, which moved 29 acres of the FTZ land in Fairfield County to a site at the Anchor Hocking Distribution Center.

In December, the expansion application submitted as a reorganization of FTZ No. 138 was approved. This reorganization removed 977 acres of aeronautical use land and added acreage at the following sites:

• Site 1d - 100 acres in Rickenbacker West, Columbus, Franklin County
• Site 1e - 100 acres in Groveport Commerce Center, Groveport, Franklin County
• Site 1f - 95 acres in Opus Business Center, Groveport, Franklin County
• Site 1g - 98 acres in Creekside Industrial Center, Obetz/Columbus, Franklin County
• Site 7 - 43 acres in Canal Winchester, Fairfield County
• Site 8 - 99 acres in Grove City, Franklin County
• Site 9 - 100 acres in Etna Township, Licking County
• Site 10 - 49 acres in Heath, Licking County
• Site 11 - 49 acres in Logan, Hocking County

2006
In August a minor boundary modification request was approved to include a 14 acre, 629,200 sq.ft. warehouse in Southpointe Industrial Park, Grove City, Ohio. This minor boundary modification application was filed at the request of Dugan Realty on behalf of a client who has activated the FTZ at this site.

A minor boundary modification request was approved in November to include an 8 acre, 346,216 sq.ft. warehouse in Groveport Commerce Center, Groveport, Ohio. This minor boundary modification application was filed at the request of Duke Realty on behalf of a client who intends to activate and use the FTZ at this site.

In December a minor boundary modification request was approved to include a 45 acre, approximately 4,000,000 sq.ft. warehouse, in Columbus, Ohio. This minor boundary modification application was filed at the request of PPG IRG Columbus, LLC on behalf of a client who intends to activate and use the FTZ at this site.

2007
A minor boundary modification request was approved in January to include a 23 acre site and a 241,000 sq.ft. warehouse in Canal Winchester, Ohio. This minor boundary modification application was filed at the request of ProLogis on behalf of a client who intends to activate and use the FTZ at this site.

In November, the Expansion/Reorganization Application filed in February was approved by the FTZ Board.  All sites are now permanent with the exception of Temporary Site 3.  FTZ No. 138 now consists of 5,195.5 acres and is made up of 22 sites in 10 counties.