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Nordic Cold Storage, which opened the first phase of its state-of-the-art storage and blast facility in Pooler last year, announced Tuesday the beginning of Phase Two, which will double capacity and add 135 new jobs to the 135 now in place.
Work is already underway, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2015, said Ross Maple, director of business strategy for Atlanta-based Nordic, the second largest cold-storage operator in the Southeast and the eighth largest in North America.
“We made a commitment in 2012 that Nordic was going to be in Savannah and grow here,” Maple told the board of the Savannah Economic Development Authority Tuesday. “We opened our facility a year ago this week, and now work on our second phase has begun, which will include — per Georgia Ports’ request — 75,000 square feet of cooler storage.
“We’re hoping to start getting perishables here in the port.”
SEDA president and CEO Trip Tollison said Nordic has more than delivered on their promises.
“In our business, to have a project announce two phases is great,” Tollison said. “But to have a project announce two phases, complete the first phase and begin work on the second — all in the span of 18 months — you just don’t see that.
“This is truly remarkable, and we are so grateful for Nordic’s partnership and investment in Savannah.”
The second phase of Nordic’s operation here will replicate the first, which has more than 200,000 square feet of convertible, temperature-controlled storage space and is capable of blasting — or flash freezing — more than 10 million pounds of product, ranging from fresh poultry to produce, per week.
Blasting brings the temperature of foods down rapidly, freezing them in a matter of seconds and helping preserve their nutritional properties.
In its first year of operation, Nordic’s Savannah facility received 350 million pounds of poultry, exporting 300 million pounds of frozen product, Maple said.
“We couldn’t have done any of this without SEDA, the cities of Savannah and Pooler, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Georgia QuickStart. All the organizations working for economic development in Georgia really do work,” he said.
As it did in Phase One, Nordic will work closely with the Georgia Ports Authority, Maple said.
“They have been an unbelievable partner in helping us do the things we needed to do,” he said.
“We are excited about the continued growth in the refrigerated cargo market through our ports and appreciate the commitment Nordic continues to demonstrate as a strong partner of ours,” GPA executive director Curtis Foltz said Tuesday.
“This trade is dominated today by exports and thus further strengthens our role as a gateway for commerce through the Southeast.”
The completion of Phase Two will represent a total investment by Nordic of just under $50 million.
Ramping up for jobs
In other SEDA business, the board also heard a presentation by Savannah Technical College President Kathy Love on workforce development and the role Savannah Tech can play in addressing many of the issues pinpointed by the recently completed countywide workforce study.
That study, commissioned by SEDA, the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of the Coastal Empire, was conducted by Armstrong Atlantic State University economist Mike Toma and SEDA economic research manager Leia Dedic.
They determined that 83 percent of new jobs in Chatham County require a high school diploma or less and, while 61 organizations in Chatham County offer 221 workforce programs, one organization — Savannah Tech — delivers 63 percent of them.
“Of the 1,525 graduates in 2012, the latest group tracked, we’re especially proud of the fact that we placed 85 percent directly in their field of study,” she said.
“Because everything we do is workforce development related, it’s vital we stay in touch with community leaders to know what programs we need to offer, to add and to ramp up to meet your needs.”
The results of the workforce study have given Savannah Tech a very clear path, Love said. According to the study, while Savannah Tech offers courses in eleven specific skills the HR directors said they needed, 45 percent said they have trouble finding the skills they need and only 28 percent said they reach out to a workforce development agency when they’re hiring.
“That tells me that we at Savannah Tech need to do a better job of reaching out and letting those HR directors know that we have a job placement office and they can call us when they have positions to fill.”
World Trade Center adds partners
World Trade Center Savannah took another big step toward its goal of becoming a true regional organization Tuesday, announcing three new development authority partners at its board meeting.
The Development Authority of Bryan County, the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority and the six-county Southeast Georgia Joint Development Authority have become founding investor partners, said WTC Savannah board chairman Eric Johnson.
Regional partnerships are an essential part of World Trade Center Savannah’s mission to help the region create jobs and attract investment on an international level, Johnson said.
Tuesday’s announcement brings the WTC’s number of development authority partners to six.
“WTC Savannah will work with these organizations to help their established businesses grow internationally and provide them access and opportunities for identifying new foreign direct investment projects,” he said.
Effingham County Industrial Development Authority CEO John Henry said, “Effingham County is no stranger to international trade development. Being a part of World Trade Center Savannah will provide our community a new doorway to the world.
“We have long been proponents of having a unified front as we welcome international interests to our region. We believe that World Trade Center Savannah will allow all interests in our region access to the world and at the same time allow the world access to our great region.”
Anna Chafin, of the Development Authority of Byan County, agreed.
“We look forward to leveraging World Trade Center Savannah to help our existing industries in Bryan County develop and expand opportunities globally, as well as utilizing the organization to generate leads from companies headquartered abroad interested in locating operations in our region.”
Trip Tollison, president and CEO of World Trade Center Savannah, said the partnership offers exciting opportunities for the region.
“Partnerships such as the ones we now hold with regional development authorities enable us to work together to achieve the ultimate goal of creating jobs and attracting investment for the region,” he said.
-Mary Carr Mayle