Georgia’s deepwater ports in Savannnah and Brunswick are critical to keeping the state globally competitive, Chris Carr, Georgia’s Commissioner of Economic Development, told a standing-room-only crowd gathered in the Ballroom of The Cloister on Sea Island Monday for the opening of the 46th Georgia Foreign Trade Conference.
“One in five Georgia manufacturers relies on global exports for job creation,” Carr said, adding that his organization, in cooperation with its partners, last year helped 3,000 international companies that collectively created more than 5,000 jobs in the state.
He cited Global Fortune 150 company, Misubishi Power Systems, an international leader in the design and supply of energy systems, whose state-of-the-art manufacturing plant is located on the megasite at the juncture of Interstates 95 and 16; leading heavy equipment manufacturer JCB, whose North American headquarters and manufacturing facility is located in Pooler; and Nordic Cold Storage, a recent project that involved extending Port of Savannah’s cold storage capabilities to more than 200,000 square feet.
“Each of these companies relies heavily on our ports to reach its international customers,” he said.
“But it’s not enough to work within the state,” Carr said. “That’s why we have representatives in 11 strategic markets — from Canada and Brazil to Japan, Israel and Europe — to provide economic development support on a global level.
“For small and mid-sized Georgia-based companies seeking to expand around the globe, our international trade team provides introductions and connections that encourage these partnerships.
“In fiscal 2013, our team assisted more than 1,300 companies, a 21–percent increase over fiscal 2012,” Carr said. “In fact, we now have companies in 147 of Georgia’s 159 counties — 92 percent — that are involved in some sort of importing, exporting or both.”
Deepening close to reality
But for Georgia’s ports to remain viable, they must be deep enough to accommodate the ships moving those imports and exports.
To that end, Col. Thomas J. Tickner, commander of the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, told conference attendees that the Brunswick inner harbor, which is authorized to a depth of 36 feet, is currently at 31 feet, due to shoaling and the lack of federal funds to maintain it.
“This year, we were able to get $5 million from the federal government — which is not enough to maintain the channel,” Tickner said. “However, combining that with $3 million donated by Georgia Ports, we will be able to take the inner harbor channel from 31 to 35 feet — which is still not enough.”
As for the Savannah Harbor, the Corps has no problems maintaining its current depth, Tickner said, adding his primary charge is the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, which will deepen the channel from 42 to 47 feet.
That deepening, authorized by Congress in 1999, is finally on the brink of becoming reality, he said, thanks to Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston, who inserted language in the recently passed omnibus spending bill that allows the project to begin moving forward.
That language, Kingston told the group, moves the project from a planning status to a construction status, making it eligible for federal funding.
That’s important, as the Water Resources Development Act, which also contains language that OK’s the project to move forward, is still being hashed out by the House and Senate.
“We had hoped to have this bill done in November,” Kingston said, adding that the two legislative bodies are currently negotiating spending levels.
“The deepening is in there; we’re going to get that bill done, but now we have an insurance policy in the form of the omnibus bill — in case the water resources bill takes longer than we think it will,” he said.
“I’m very optimistic that even the government lawyers will say ‘Yes, let’s go ahead and start dredging.’
“We are,” I would say, “between third base and home plate.”
The conference wraps up today.