Another year, another record recorded by the Georgia Ports Authority.

On Monday, Georgia Ports officials reported they moved 31.7 million tons of cargo in the fiscal year 2015 — a 7.8 percent increase from the previous year — and the first time they have handled more than 30 million tons in a single year.

Combined with the 3.66 million twenty-foot equivalent container units — or TEUs — and more than 710,00 auto and machinery units, the fiscal year, which wrapped up June 30, was nothing short of amazing, according to GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz.

“It was an incredible year for us,” Foltz said, adding that a number of things contributed to the successful year including West Coast cargo diversions, strengthening U.S. market and cargo diversions from crowded east coast ports.

“I think it kind of hit home how strong the year was... An incredible year for us on the container side of business.”

The 3.66 million TEUs that moved through Savannah’s ports in the 2015 fiscal year translated to a 17 percent increase compared to the previous fiscal year, which was the first year GPA moved more than 3 million TEUs.

Breakbulk and bulk cargo also grew last year. With bulk cargo hitting 2.95 million tons for an 8.1 percent increase and breakbulk commodities, which include paper, rubber and steel, reaching 2.83 million tons — a 7.6 percent increase.

“The deepwater ports of Savannah and Brunswick are cornerstones of Georgia’s success and major factors in creating new jobs and prosperity across the state,” Gov. Nathan Deal said in a statement released Monday. “The wave of economic impact created by our logistics network supports virtually every industry, from manufacturing and agriculture to mining, distribution, technology and transportation.”

Transportation was definitely represented during the year as the GPA moved more autos and machinery than ever before. Combined with the Port of Brunswick, 714,021 units of roll-on/roll-off cargo came through the ports, a 1.9 percent increase from last year.

The 2015 fiscal year also brought the highest-ever volume of intermodal rail moves. The Port of Savannah saw a 10.9 percent increase from the previous year, which brought the number of containers to 369,347.

“It’s been a real strong year across the board..,” he said adding that he expects growth in the coming fiscal year to remain strong but return to more normal long term patterns.

“We know there will be some cargo and accounts that will divert back a portion of their business to the West Coast gateways, but we don’t know how much and we don’t know when, but all in all in our fiscal year 2016 we should see more normal growth patterns, so it should still continue to be a very good year for us.”

BY THE NUMBERS

For fiscal 2015, which ended June 30, Georgia Ports moved:

• 3.66 million TEUs, up 16.9 percent over fiscal 2014.

• 31.7 million tons of cargo, up 7.8 percent over fiscal 2014.

• 714,021 auto and machinery units, up 1.9 percent over fiscal 2014.

• 2.8 million tons of breakbulk cargo, up 7.6 percent over fiscal 2014.

• 2.9 million tons of bulk cargo, up 8.1 percent over fiscal 2014.

Savannah State University has been approved for three grants worth $1,041,153 that will include student researchers and focus on STEM-related fields.

A grant from the National Science Foundation will allow SSU to develop and implement an undergraduate certificate program in the technical, logistical, policy, research and commerce-related issues of the transportation industry.

“The project will prepare students to think beyond current models and existing transportation infrastructure, to develop new paradigms and to conduct meaningful research to help meet the changing transportation needs of the 21st century,” according to Jonathan Lambright, dean of the College of Sciences and Technology.

The three-year grant totals $399,548.

Kai Shen, assistant professor in chemistry and forensic science, was awarded a grant of $326,633 from the U.S. Department of Defense. The three-year funding will allow Shen and students to research polymer chemistry.

Specifically, they want to develop a biodegradable polyester that doesn’t require reinforcement. Such a product could be used to make boat hulls, pipes and other hard plastic items. The polyester would have practical applications for both military and civilian life.

Pascal Binda, assistant professor in chemistry and forensic science, was awarded a three-year Defense Department grant for $314,972 to fund research on metavinculin, a chemical that appears in cardiac and skeletal muscles.

Little is known about this protein except that it is used in muscle reactions to mechanical changes. In addition to having military applications, it has recently been discovered that medical patients with certain heart issues have a lack of metavinculin, which may mean the cardiac muscle is not being regulated properly.

All three grants will include hands-on laboratory research, project management, scientific writing and presentation aspects for students. Additionally, students will be prepared for post-doctorate research and to have published work.

I trekked to Macon last weekend for the concert crawl at Bragg Jam.

The daylong, nonprofit festival was founded in honor of Brax and Tate Bragg, musicians and brothers who died in a car wreck in 1999.

For a number of years, I’ve been following the steady progress of Macon’s downtown redevelopment efforts, which are being spearheaded by groups like NewTown Macon and the College Hill Alliance, which are leveraging private and public support.

There are beautiful buildings and interesting sites throughout Macon’s historic neighborhoods and the city sits along two interstate highways, but Macon still seems a long way from being the type of destination that Savannah has become.

In a sense, the perceived lack of tourism potential might pay off for Macon in the long run.

Since Macon officials aren’t counting on tourism, they’re pushing some fairly ambitious apartment and condo projects that should boost downtown residential density. Planners have also been eager to get more retail downtown — like Savannah-based TailsSpin — but many of the historic storefronts are still empty.

There are a number of thriving restaurants, bars and venues too, including the Cox Capitol Theatre.

Savannah could use a music venue like the Cox, which has a capacity of 650, an open area in front of the stage and nearly 300 seats in the balcony.

We stayed at Macon’s downtown Marriott, which was repeatedly suggested to us as the only hotel worth booking for Bragg Jam. But it’s still about a mile walk — and not a pleasant walk — from Cherry Street.

Savannah has arguably allowed hotels to take up far too much of the available downtown acreage, but Macon hasn’t successfully lured any major hotels to the heart of downtown.

Of course, Macon once had hotels downtown. The Dempsey, which has a spectacular exterior, is now government housing.

Macon was also home to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame until the short-sighted decision to close it in 2011.

For Bragg Jam and for the monthly First Friday events, Macon allows to-go cups in much of the downtown area. That’s a straightforward economic development tool that Macon ought to make permanent. Despite Savannah’s obvious advantages, we could probably learn something from Macon’s intense focus on boosting residential density, and we could certainly learn something from the collaboration between Mercer University and economic development officials.

Savannah officials and the Savannah College of Art and Design could have more proactive collaboration, and local government also could work more closely with Armstrong State University and Savannah State University to improve connectivity, quality of life and economic activity around the campuses.

Anyway, I could ramble on all day about Macon. If you haven’t peeled off Interstate 16 to check out the city, I highly recommend it.

City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.

Gas prices down 5.1 cents in metro Savannah

Average retail gasoline prices in Savannah have fallen 5.1 cents a gallon in the past week to $2.53 a gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 262 gas outlets in Savannah.

The national average has fallen 3.0 cents a gallon in the last week to $2.73, according to gasoline price website

GasBuddy.com.

Prices Sunday in the Savannah area were 84.3 cents a gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 6.1 cents a gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 5.2 cents a gallon during the last month and stands 79.1 cents a gallon lower than a year ago.

“For now, it would appear that the latter half of the summer will bring cheaper gas prices than the first half while this autumn is shaping up to give this past winter a run for its money in terms of cheap gas prices,” said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst.

Child welfare advocates to hold town hall meetings

Bobby Cagle, director of Georgia’s Family and Children Services, and Stephanie Blank, chairwoman of Gov. Nathan Deal’s Child Welfare Reform Council, will hold two public meetings in Savannah this week to discuss the impact of child welfare reform in Georgia.

The tour, called the “Blueprint for Change” Roadshow, stops today and Wednesday in Savannah as they try to build partnerships designed to protect children from abuse, provide safe havens for children who have been abused and develop networks of support for local foster families.

A public meeting is set for 5:30-7:30 p.m. today at Eckburg Auditorium at Savannah Technical College, 5717 White Bluff Road. A meeting with the faith community is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Philip AME Church, 613 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

South Carolina’s annual sales tax holiday is Aug. 7-9

The popular sales tax holiday weekend in South Carolina will begin at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 7 and end at midnight Aug. 9.

During the tax holiday, shoppers will get an exemption from the 6 percent state sales tax and any applicable local taxes on the purchase of school supplies, an anticipated savings of about $3 million over the course of the weekend.

Sales tax will not be imposed on items such as clothing, shoes, school supplies, book bags, computers, printers, bedspreads and linens. Nonexempt items include the sale of jewelry, cosmetics, eyewear, furniture or items placed on layaway.

For more information, go to

https://dor.sc.gov/.

CHATSWORTH — Gov. Nathan Deal, the Georgia Ports Authority, Murray County and CSX Transportation signed a memorandum of agreement today to establish the Appalachian Regional Port in Chatsworth. Its service area will include north Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and parts of Kentucky.

“This new inland terminal will open the door for economic opportunity and job creation for northwest Georgia and the region,” Deal said. “By providing a direct link to the Port of Savannah, the Appalachian Regional Port will create and expand international markets for businesses, and further the economic success of the Southeastern U.S.”

Murray County Commissioner Brittany Pittman said the inland terminal is also a big win for economic development in her area.

“I am excited to see this project come to fruition,” Pittman said. “The inland port will provide important competitive advantages to our existing industries. This development will also bring new jobs to Murray County, not only in logistics, but in support industries and the broader community.”

Operated by the Georgia Ports Authority, the Appalachian Regional Port will deliver goods more efficiently to the GPA’s Garden City Terminal, the second busiest container port on the East Coast behind New York-New Jersey.

“The public-private partnership established today, which includes direct rail access to the new inland port, will expand access for domestic and international shippers, providing increased options for cost-effective, environmentally friendly transportation services,” said Clarence Gooden, executive vice president and chief commercial officer of CSX.

Port officials estimate the CSX rail route will reduce Atlanta truck traffic by 40,000 moves annually, creating a new intermodal option to and from the deepwater Port of Savannah. Each container moved by rail to the Appalachian Regional Port will offset 355 truck miles on Georgia highways.

The Appalachian Regional Port will open by 2018 with an annual capacity of 50,000 containers. A 10-year development plan will then double that capacity.

Savannah area sees fewer residential foreclosures

Foreclosure rates in Savannah decreased for May over the same period last year, according to data from CoreLogic, a real estate information reporting firm.

The CoreLogic data reveals that the rate of Savannah area foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans was 0.60 percent for May 2015, a decrease of 0.17 percentage points compared with May 2014, when the rate was 0.77 percent.

Foreclosure activity in Savannah was lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 1.29 percent for May 2015.

The mortgage delinquency rate also decreased in Savannah.

In May 2015, 3.64 percent of mortgage loans were 90 days or more delinquent compared with 4.17 percent for the same period last year, a decrease of 0.53 percentage points.

Pooler planners delay site plan OK

The Pooler Planning Commission this week deferred for a second time a request to clear and grade two lots in the Pooler Development Park on U.S. 80.

Planning and Zoning Director Kim Classen reported Tuesday that the petitioner, Development Associates Inc., will have to submit a site plan for approval before the clearing and grading permit can be issued. The planning commission had deferred the request to clear and grade lots 5 and 6 in the park at its July 13 meeting after a former city staffer pointed out that the request was out of sequence with requirements in city code.

In addition, the planning commission approved — pending changes — a landscape plan for The Oaks at Pooler, an assisted living community at 125 Junction Blvd.

The board also signed off on a site plan for an Applebee’s at 160 Tanger Blvd., contingent upon all engineering comments being addressed.

Georgia Tech hosts succession planning workshop

Leadership development expert Ned Ellington and former Southern Co. executive Anthony James will offer a session during Georgia Tech-Savannah’s Learning Series at 8 a.m. Aug. 12. They will examine how leaders can develop top talent, plan for succession and share tips on how to identify problem solvers and innovators.

James and Ellington will also discuss how much of the responsibility of professional development is shifting from companies to individuals and what companies and leaders can do to help their teams self-motivate.

The session, titled “Developing Talent and Planning for Succession,” will include about 30 minutes of remarks and 45 minutes of discussion. It will include breakfast and will take place on the Georgia Tech-Savannah campus at 210 Technology Circle. Cost is $15. To register, go to http://pe.gatech.edu/MNGTSS07 or call 912-966-7849.

CHATSWORTH, Ga. — Promising to remove 50,000 truckloads from Georgia highways, state officials signed an agreement Tuesday to develop a rail-truck terminal to serve shippers in North Georgia and neighboring states with a more convenient route to the port of Savannah 350 miles away.

The so-called inland port in this small, mountain community is the second in what is planned to be a statewide network of terminals designed to make rail more convenient to shippers. The first is in Cordele. Besides providing an alternative to existing freight, the network is also envisioned as a lure to manufacturers.

Gov. Nathan Deal said the Chatsworth terminal and the potential jobs it could bring is part of the payoff that legislators were promised when they voted to appropriate $266 million in bonds to fund the state’s share of deepening the shipping channel of the Savannah River.

“The message we delivered to legislators who really did not, perhaps, know what the port of Savannah did for our state was this: The port of Savannah is the key to prosperity for the entire state of Georgia,” he told the dignitaries assembled for the ceremony. “Today’s step is a further ratification of that vision and that goal.”

Chambers of commerce and other industry recruiters in the area have already been talking up the terminal as a way to entice manufacturers to bring jobs to the state. And executives from the Volkswagen assembly plant in nearby Chattanooga, Tenn., were interested enough to attend Tuesday’s ceremony.

State taxpayers will put $10 million into development of the Chatsworth project. The Georgia Ports Authority, which will operate it, is putting in another $7.5 million it has earned from port fees. Murray County is investing $1 million in the 42-acre site, and CSX Corporation is putting in $5.5 million.

Asked why Republicans and the legislative leaders would have the state develop the facility instead of private industry, the governor said it was a partnership.

“I think it is one of the better examples of a public-private partnership that benefits everybody,” he said.

Operating the facility will take perhaps a dozen or so workers. It isn’t a new endeavor for the Ports Authority, which already runs a larger train yard in Savannah that handled 360,000 containers last year and serves both CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads, said Curtis Foltz, the authority’s executive director.

He said Norfolk Southern was in discussions about the Chatsworth facility, but no site could be found that could serve both railroads in Northwest Georgia. CSX already runs through Chatsworth, but Norfolk Southern has a large terminal in Rome, about an hour away. The proximity is still close enough to stimulate competition that shippers in the region can benefit from, experts say.

“It’s important to recognize that this is about economic development in this region. It’s about better transportation solutions throughout the state of Georgia,” Foltz said. “…And it’s about keeping Georgia No. 1 in the country in terms of infrastructure solutions and transportation solutions.”

Named the Appalachian Regional Port, the facility is expected to begin operations in 2018. Officials did not offer a timetable on the development of the handful of other inland ports a state study recommended.

Follow Walter Jones on Twitter @MorrisNews and Facebook or contact him at walter.jones@morris.com.

WASHINGTON — Apartment rents are up. So are prices for restaurant meals, haircuts, gym memberships and a cup of coffee.

For American consumers who have become used to flat or even falling prices for several years, an unfamiliar sight has emerged in many corners of the economy: Inflation is ticking up.

The price increases remain modest. And in many cases, they’re canceled out by price declines for other items that are keeping overall inflation historically low.

Yet the stepped-up price tags for a range of consumer items are the largest since the Great Recession ended six years ago. They actually reflect a healthier economy: Many businesses have finally grown confident enough to pass their own higher costs on to consumers without fear of losing customers.

Employers have added nearly 5.6 million jobs the past two years, allowing more people to absorb higher prices.

Signs of emergent inflation are a key reason the Federal Reserve, which is meeting this week, will likely raise interest rates from record lows later this year. Inflation has long trailed the Fed’s 2 percent target rate but is on track to return to that level in coming months.

“That should give the Fed a little more confidence that ... they will meet their (inflation) objective,” said Laura Rosner, an economist at BNP Paribas.

In June, the price of haircuts jumped 1.6 percent, the biggest monthly jump in the 62 years that the government has tracked the data. Over the past year, they’ve surged 2.8 percent, the largest year-over-year gain since 2008.

That’s no surprise to Chrissie Crosby, a retired government worker in Alexandria, Virginia. She says her hair salon has started charging nearly $30 for a shampoo, blow dry and haircut, up from $22.

“It used to be a convenient place for a trim, because it was inexpensive, but it’s no longer very inexpensive,” she said.

Coffee prices jumped 6.1 percent in January from 12 months earlier, the most in nearly three years. Starbucks has responded by raising the price of a cup of coffee by between 5 cents and 20 cents.

And beef prices have soared nearly 11 percent in the past year, which has led Chipotle to raise prices for steak and its beef barbacoa by an average of about 30 cents per entree, the company says.

The biggest driver of inflation this year has been residential rents. They climbed 3.5 percent in June from a year earlier, the fifth straight month with an annual gain of that size.

Overall, consumers have yet to be hit by significant increases for everyday purchases. Inflation as measured by the consumer price index has barely risen in the past 12 months, mostly because cheaper gas has held down the index.

But prices are rising. If you exclude food and energy, which tend to fluctuate sharply, “core” inflation has risen 2.3 percent at an annual rate in the past three months. In April, the three-month annual pace was 2.6 percent, well above the Fed’s inflation target.

Economists expect the price increases to continue, in part because they’re occurring mostly in services, whose prices tend to be comparatively stable.

Economists call these “sticky” prices. They include rent, insurance, haircuts, restaurant meals and utility bills.

Sticky prices are slow to change. Utilities typically must ask regulators to approve price increases, for example, and most restaurants don’t want to frequently reprint menus. But once prices in those categories do rise, they’re usually slow to change course.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta maintains an index of sticky prices, which has risen 3 percent at an annual rate in the past three months, the most since the recession ended.

Labor costs for many service-sector companies are rising, lifted by minimum wages in an increasing number of states. Chipotle just raised prices 10 percent in San Francisco partly because of that city’s minimum wage increase. Jack Hartung, the company’s chief financial officer, said Chipotle has seen “no reaction whatsoever” from customers.

By contrast, prices for goods in some cases keep falling. Clothing, furniture, and many appliances are cheaper than they were a year ago, a result of global competition that’s held down the costs of factory goods.

And gasoline and natural gas is much cheaper than they were last year. Through the first half of 2015, the average retail gasoline price is down 30 percent to $2.47 a gallon. Residential natural gas prices are down 9 percent, according to the Energy Information Administration.

A big reason prices for services have risen is that they’re increasingly where Americans are spending money. Consumers spent just 32 cents of every dollar on goods in the first quarter of this year, down from nearly 34 cents two years ago. Over the same period, services spending rose to 67.6 cents from 66.

“People are finally getting back to the comforts they may have afforded prior to the recession, including splurging on haircuts and home cleaning services,” says Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation.

Still, for many families that remain squeezed by sluggish pay growth, even small price increases hurt. Average hourly earnings rose just 2 percent in June from a year earlier, well below the 3.5 percent pace typical of a healthy economy.

Jeremy Beck, a lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky, has noticed a jump in his water bill and said electricity costs were also rising. But he and his wife, Christine Ehrick, a professor at the University of Louisville, said the biggest problem has been flat wages.

“Neither of us have seen our pay increase much at all in the past few years,” Ehrick said.

DEARBORN, Michigan — Ford Motor Co.’s net income jumped 44 percent to $1.9 billion in the second quarter as global sales rose and customers paid more for new trucks and SUVs with premium features.

Ford pulled off a record quarterly profit of $2.6 billion in North America even though dealerships weren’t fully stocked with its best-selling vehicle, the F-150 pickup.

The results bode well for the second half of the year, when Ford’s two U.S. truck plants will be in full production and dealers will have more pickups to sell.

“We are now more confident than ever that we will deliver a breakthrough year,” Ford’s CEO Mark Fields said on a conference call with analysts. Fields said Ford still expects to achieve a pretax profit of $8.5 billion to $9.5 billion this year.

In North America, technology-rich versions of the Ford Explorer, Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX SUVs drew buyers to showrooms even as smaller, less-profitable cars like the Focus struggled.

U.S. buyers paid an average of $37,013 for the new Edge crossover in the second quarter, or $1,683 more per vehicle than they were paying for the outgoing model last year, according to Kelley Blue Book. Among the Edge’s pricey new features is a system that automatically parks the car in parallel or regular parking spaces.

Ford said F-150 buyers paid an average of $3,800 more per truck in the second quarter, loading them up with features like a 360-degree camera and adaptive cruise control.

Outside North America, new vehicles like the new S-Max wagon in Europe, the Ka small car in South America and the Mustang sports car in China commanded higher prices.

The results mirrored those at Ford’s crosstown rival, General Motors, which last week reported a record second-quarter profit of $2.8 billion in North America on the strength of its SUV and truck sales.

Ford’s profit of 47 cents per share compared with a profit of 40 cents per share a year ago. That beat Wall Street’s expectations of a 37-cent profit for the April-June period, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Ford’s global sales rose 2 percent during the quarter to nearly 1.7 million. Sales were up in North America and Europe but fell in South America, the Middle East and Asia.

Revenue fell slightly to $37.3 billion. Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said revenue took a $2 billion hit from the strong U.S. dollar, which hurt profits in Europe, South America and elsewhere. Ford’s revenue beat analysts’ expectations of $35.5 billion.

North American margins, which hit 11.1 percent in the second quarter, are expected to end the year in the upper end of the 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent range, Shanks said. Ford’s overall automotive operating margin was 7.2 percent.

The company lost money in Europe, South America and the Middle East but earned a record profit of $192 million in Asia despite a sales slowdown in China.

Ford said commercial vehicle sales have slowed in China, an indicator that buyers there aren’t confident about the economy. While Ford has dialed back its forecast for industry sales in China this year, it still thinks the country is on track to sell 30 million vehicles annually by 2020. That’s almost double the number sold in the U.S.

Fields also said new vehicles coming to China this fall, like the Taurus sedan and the Everest SUV, will boost sales.

“We’re still very bullish on China, but it’s going to go through its fluctuations. That’s what happens in emerging markets,” Fields said.

I recently wrote about passion and its important role in affecting practice and discipline.

Since then, a speaker at 1 Million Cups, a weekly presentation and discussion forum we host at the Creators’ Foundry at 415 W. Boundary St., gave an excellent example about how passion changed the direction of his life.

The speaker, Jeremy Shaw, is a trained lawyer and has a master’s degree in business administration. He spent decades in his legal career and as a telecommunications consultant. One day he looked up from his law practice and realized that he was racing through life working long hours so he could afford time and money for his true passion, traveling to Spain and Portugal to taste great wines.

Then he took the bold move and left a stable, yet unfulfilling career. He put every bit of his energy into finding unique vineyards in beautiful settings.

Jeremy’s passion didn’t just trigger the move to do something he loves. It guides him daily as well.

I am pretty sure plenty of people like wine and like to travel to beautiful places. What I don’t know is how many people would dedicate years without profit to research, document and memorize the history and character of locations to create unique and unforgettable experiences.

Often, building something great with a competitive advantage means turning down the low-hanging fruit and taking bigger risks. Jeremy did this by not catering to a mass audience and replicating a common model.

He built personal relationships with vintners by creating conversations and understanding the stories of those who create the wine.

“You can talk to the author, or you can talk to the publisher,” Jeremy says. “The publisher will sell your books; the author will tell you the story. When we travel, we don’t go to the tasting rooms, the equivalent of the bookstore, we get the story from our friend the vintner.”

Jeremy spends his time finding those stories.

My favorite story is that of Baron Bruemmer in Casal Santa Maria near Lisbon, whose family fled to Germany when Estonia was established in 1918. After an incredibly successful career with United Bank of Switzerland and a fulfilling retirement, the former executive at 96 years old had a choice: He could buy a vineyard or he could plant grapes with a minimum three-year investment period.

He chose to plant grapes explaining, “You’re never too old for a new project.”

He celebrates his 104th birthday this year and has an incredible vineyard.

I can’t promise you wine at 1 Million Cups, but we do serve up a cup of yummy PERC coffee. I can promise you, however, the opportunity to engage in incredible conversations with inspiring entrepreneurs from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. every Wednesday morning at the Creators’ Foundry.

Come join us for 1 Million Cups — and maybe you’ll find inspiration to pursue your dream, regardless of your age.

Bea Wray is the executive director of The Creative Coast, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the creative and entrepreneurial community within the region. Bea can be reached at 912-447-8457 or bea@thecreativecoast.org

ATLANTA — Southern Co. (SO) on Wednesday reported second-quarter net income of $643 million.

The Atlanta-based company said it had net income of 69 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 71 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 69 cents per share.

The power company posted revenue of $4.34 billion in the period.

Southern Co. shares have dropped 11 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has increased nearly 2 percent. The stock has fallen 4 percent in the last 12 months.

After years of separation, branches of the Strickland family, who own River Street Sweets and Savannah’s Candy Kitchen, are back together in the sweetest of reunions.

At the Savannah Morning News’ BiS Luncheon on Wednesday, father Stan Strickland and his children Tim and Jennifer shared their success story and discussed how their family has joined forces to create a new franchise.

The River Street Sweets-Savannah’s Candy Kitchen’s first franchise is set to open Friday at the Tanger Outlets in Pooler.

“What we did with this store was to combine the best practices of both companies,” Tim said. “We used these practices to create a stronger brand on a regional and national level and at the same time, to bring our family back together again.”

Rewinding nearly 40 years to 1972, Pam and Stan Strickland got their start in the candy business after opening a small gift shop with Pam’s mother on River Street. The gift shop eventually garnered the name River Street Sweets, but according to Stan, it struggled to find a specific identity.

Then, after the family attended the Atlanta Gift Show, they gained inspiration to try a variety of candy recipes.

“We started looking for different recipes of candies that we could make — Pam would read something, and I’d try to make it,” Stan said. “And one night we stumbled on something that worked.”

That something ended up being pralines, which has become one of the company’s best sellers.

After Pam and Stan divorced in 1990, Stan opened Savannah’s Candy Kitchen while Tim and Jennifer stayed with Pam at River Street Sweets.

“Pam, Jennifer and Tim grew River Street Sweets into something special,” Stan said. “They grew it to be very strong.”

River Street Sweets now has eight locations in Savannah, South Carolina and Atlanta while Savannah’s Candy Kitchen has four locations in Savannah, Atlanta, Charleston and Nashville. The companies also have established a global presence, shipping their products to countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and Russia.

Stan credited the quality people they’ve worked with as the reason for both companies’ success and cited their employees as their biggest asset.

Tim and Jennifer concluded the luncheon by discussing the impact their parents have made on their business skills as well as their goals for the franchise.

They agreed that their parents expected nothing but the best from them.

“They always expected hard work,” Tim said. “When we made a B on a paper, they’d ask us why we didn’t make an A. When we were on the athletic field and played OK, they’d ask why we didn’t do our best. They were always pushing us.”

Tim also described how his mother and father combined their attention to detail and organizational skills to instill a “no excuse attitude” in him and Jennifer.

Even when the business struggled, Tim and Jennifer said the lessons they learned from their parents enabled them to be persistent and to never give up.

While the Strickland family may have grown apart over the last 25 years, family members believe their franchise will allow them to come together, stronger than ever before.

“Savannah’s Candy Kitchen will always be a strong brand, and River Street Sweets is a really strong brand,” Jennifer said. “But as we move forward, we’re going to offer franchises together because we know that together, we’re stronger than we are individually.”

Kids Cafe gets grant from Food Lion foundation

The Food Lion Charitable Foundation presented a check for $2,500 to America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia on Wednesday to help support the organization’s Kids Cafe, a nationally recognized program that originated in Savannah.

It’s designed to help at-risk children achieve physically and academically, and participating children are served hot, balanced evening meals in safe, nurturing sites where they also receive tutoring and mentoring.

Food Lion’s foundation was established in 2001 to provide financial support to eliminate hunger through Feeding America and United Way member agencies in communities in the 11 states that Food Lion serves.

Mary Jane Crouch, executive director of America’s Second Harvest, said the foundation supports the nonprofit through various programs “making a difference for people in need in Coastal Georgia.”

Coral Sands recognized for fifth straight year

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Coral Sands Resort, one of four Hilton Head Island resorts collectively referred to as the Coral Resorts family of properties, has been recognized as a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Hall of Fame winner.

The “Hall of Fame” was created to recognize businesses that have earned the certificate of excellence for five consecutive years.

“Being recognized for the fifth time is a testament to our Coral Sands staff and their unwavering devotion to providing stellar service, and we are honored to be among the best of the best in TripAdvisor’s Hall of Fame,” said Dean Pierce, president of the Coral Resorts family of properties. The Coral Sands Resort features golf and tennis packages for timeshare owners and two- and three-bedroom villas.

UGA report says small business prospects good in 2015

ATHENS — A report produced by the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center shows that a faster pace of economic growth in 2015 will benefit small businesses across the state.

There are about 960,000 small businesses in Georgia, employing 1.5 million people, according to the SBDC. Georgia’s small businesses generated $40 billion in sales in 2013.

A recent study by the UGA Terry College of Business projected that the total non-farm employment for the state would increase by about 2.3 percent in 2015. The U.S. employment rate is expected to increase by 1.8 percent this year.

The fastest growth for small businesses is expected in construction, professional and business services, mining and logging and in health care.

For more information, go to www.georgiasbdc.org.

COLUMBIA — A proposal to build a Walmart in Bluffton is proceeding with the developer’s state-level permitting phase, which offers the public a chance to weigh in on the construction project. The deadline for members of the public to submit comments to state regulators is Tuesday, Aug. 4, and pertains to the Coastal Zone Consistency Certification.

The comment period began Monday.

The planners of Walmart at the Crossroads are required to secure the certification from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. It’s a routine requirement for any developer applying for state permits within the Coastal Zone of South Carolina, an eight-county section that includes Beaufort County. In this instance, the state permit is a Stormwater Permit administered by DHEC’s Bureau of Water, said agency spokesman Cassandra Harris.

Stormwater runoff from construction can be harmful to the environment, gathering sediment, debris and chemicals from a site before flowing into a storm sewer system or directly to a river or coastal waterway.

The polluted runoff kills fish and other wildlife. Stream banks suffer erosion when subjected to heavy volumes of runoff, and debris can clog waterways and reach the ocean where it can damage marine habitats.

Bluffton officials have been historically vigilant. In this case, officials for the town want more information from the developers about what happens to the future Walmart site’s stormwater, details about parking and access circulation, landscaping and buffers, and lighting. Some fire department review questions must also be answered.

“They also need to submit to the Town’s Planning Commission for approval of the architecture, landscape buffer and lighting under the Highway Corridor Overlay District,” said town spokeswoman Debbie Szpanka on Tuesday. “At this juncture, the timeline is dependent on the developer’s re-submittal of their plans.”

The Walmart is slated for the intersection of Highway 170 and Bluffton Parkway, 6,700 feet from the Okatie River. About 14 acres are expected to be disturbed by the construction, according to state records. Stoney Creek lies 12,755 feet from the site.

“There’s no question about it,” said developer Sal Biondo, according to a Bluffton Today article in January. “You’ve practically got 10,000 homes across the street in Sun City and all the other places, you’ve got homes being built off (S.C. 46), and there’s only going to be more homes popping up along that corridor.” The 42,000-square-foot supermarket will come with another 18,000 square feet of storefront space, according to Biondo of Buford, Ga.-based Coastal Retail Services.

Efforts to reach Biondo Tuesday were unsuccessful. Members of the engineering company listed on the DHEC application, Bergmann Associates of Rochester, N.Y., did not respond to an email and voicemail Tuesday.

HOW TO BE HEARD

Public comments may be emailed to koczerc@dhec.sc.gov and joynercm@dhec.sc.gov or mailed to:

SCDHEC

Attn: Christine Koczera

1362 McMillan Ave., Suite 400

Charleston, SC 29405

On July 6, the U.S. Department of Labor published proposed changes to Fair Labor Standards Act regulations, first announced June 30.

If these new rules become law, they could substantially increase the number of office workers, professionals and other white-collar employees entitled to receive federal minimum wage protection and overtime pay.

Many, but not all, white-collar workers cannot claim the federal minimum wage or overtime because they are exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements. The rationale is that white-collar employees typically earn more than minimum wage, enjoy above-average fringe benefits and experience greater opportunities for career advancement than other workers.

The labor department exempts some professionals, such as teachers, lawyers and doctors regardless of salary. However, most other white-collar workers are exempt only if they receive a predetermined, fixed salary of at least $455 a week (or $23,660 a year) and perform qualifying executive, managerial, administrative or professional duties.

If its proposed regulations go into effect as planned, the labor department will raise the current salary threshold for the white-collar exemption to $970 per week (or $50,440 per year). The agency didn’t reach this salary level by simply adjusting the current threshold for inflation, which would result in a weekly salary level of $561.

Rather, the department wants to set and maintain the exemption threshold at a salary equal to the 40th percentile of weekly earnings for all full-time salaried workers as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Clearly, the labor department seeks to expand the types of white-collar employees eligible for overtime, not just preserve the status quo, and to encourage employers to hire more workers to avoid paying overtime.

The department says its proposal will make 4.7 million white-collar workers who are currently exempt eligible for overtime. That does not mean, however, that all of them will bring home a bigger paycheck.

The agency projects that 74.7 percent of affected workers (approximately 3.5 million people) will not earn any extra income because they already work less than 40 hours a week.

Of the 25.3 percent of affected workers actually expected to benefit from the rules change, only 931,000 workers are expected to regularly receive overtime compensation and only 71,000 individuals are expected to receive a salary increase to remain exempt employees.

The labor department acknowledges that some employees may lose their salaried status for an hourly wage, may be limited to working 40 hours or may be denied the option to work remotely because of the challenges associated with tracking hours logged outside the office.

The department estimates that American businesses will spend more than $254 million just to review the new regulations and would spend about $338 million to implement the new rules. Labor officials project that increasing the salary level for the white-collar exemption will transfer more than $1.3 billion from employers to employees in the form of overtime pay.

Businesses concerned about how the proposed regulations might affect their bottom line should:

• Review salary levels and job responsibilities to determine how many employees qualify for the white-collar exemption and determine which employees, if any, would lose exempt status if the proposed regulations go into effect.

• Review labor regulations regarding the computation of overtime for salaried employees and estimate how much overtime would be paid to employees under the new regulations if their salaries remain unchanged.

• Consider hiring new employees to avoid paying overtime or reducing staff to cut overall labor costs. Before terminating any employees, however, employers should review the terms of their employment contracts as well as anti-discrimination laws to reduce the chance of wrongful termination lawsuits.

• Review and update systems for tracking employee time.

• Monitor the status of the proposed regulations, especially possible changes to the duties test.

The public may comment on the proposed regulation until Sept. 4 at www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/NPRM2015/. Georgians should provide feedback to ensure the needs of our region are considered during the rulemaking process.

Attorney Andrew Dekle is an associate at Bouhan Falligant whose practice focuses on civil litigation, corporate law, bankruptcy and employment law. He can be reached at 912-644-5776 or ahdekle@bouhan.com.

SAN FRANCISCO — Like a lot of teenagers, Aanya Nigam reflexively shares her whereabouts, activities and thoughts on Twitter, Instagram and other social networks without a qualm.

But Aanya’s care-free attitude dissolved into paranoia a few months ago shortly after her mother bought Amazon’s Echo, a digital assistant that can be set up in a home or office to listen for various requests, such as for a song, a sports score, the weather, or even a book to be read aloud.

After using the Internet-connected device for two months, Aanya, 16, started to worry that the Echo was eavesdropping on conversations in her Issaquah, Washington, living room. So she unplugged the device and hid it in a place that her mother, Anjana Agarwal, still hasn’t been able to find.

“I guess there is a difference between deciding to share something and having something captured by something that you don’t know when it’s listening,” Agarwal said of her daughter’s misgivings.

The Echo, a $180 cylindrical device that began general shipping in July after months of public testing, is the latest advance in voice-recognition technology that’s enabling machines to record snippets of conversation that are analyzed and stored by companies promising to make their customers’ lives better.

Other increasingly popular forms of voice-recognition services include Apple’s Siri assistant on mobile devices, Microsoft’s Cortana and the “OK Google” feature for speaking to Google’s search engine. Spoken commands can also be used to find something to watch on some TVs, and an upcoming Barbie doll will include an Internet-connected microphone to hear what’s being said.

These innovations will confront people with a choice pitting convenience against privacy as they decide whether to open another digital peephole into their lives for a growing number of devices equipped with Internet-connected microphones and cameras.

The phenomenon, dubbed the “Internet of Things,” promises to usher in an era of automated homes outfitted with locks, lights, thermostats, entertainment systems and servants such as the Echo that respond to spoken words.

It’s also raising the specter of Internet-connected microphones being secretly used as a wiretap, either by a company providing a digital service, government officials with court orders or intruders that seize control of the equipment.

“We are on the trajectory of a future filled with voice-assisted apps and voice-assisted devices,” Forrester Research analyst Fatemeh Khatibloo says. “This is going to require finding the fine balance between creating a really great user experience and something that’s creepy.”

Fears about Internet surveillance have heightened during the past two years as former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden released documents revealing that the U.S. government’s terrorist-fighting programs have included mining personal information collected by a variety of technology companies.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a watchdog group, wants the Federal Trade Commission to set security standards and strict limitations on the storage and use of personal information collected through Internet-connected microphones and cameras.

“We think it’s misleading to only present the potential conveniences of this technology without also presenting the huge number of possible drawbacks,” said Julia Horwitz, director of the center’s privacy project.

The FTC believes companies selling Internet-connected devices and apps should collect as little personal data as possible and quickly delete it once the information has served its purpose, said Kristen Anderson, an attorney with the commission’s division of privacy and identity protection.

Amazon.com says Echo users don’t need to worry about the device eavesdropping on them. As a safeguard, according to Amazon, the device’s microphone is programmed to come on only after it’s activated with the press of a button or the use of a certain word, such as Alexa, the name of the software that powers the Echo.

A blue light on the Echo also comes on when it’s recording and remains illuminated when it’s listening. Users can also select a sound to alert them when the Echo is recording. Amazon also allows users to review the recordings made by the Echo and delete any or all of them, although the Seattle company warns the device might not work as well without access to the audio history.

The Echo so far is getting mostly glowing reviews. It has received a five-star or four-star rating from about 90 percent of the roughly 23,000 reviews posted on Amazon.com.

Despite what Amazon says, Steven Combs has noticed the Echo’s blue light illuminate at times when it hasn’t been asked during the six months he has been using a test version of the device in his Columbus, Indiana, home. But he says he has never worried about being spied upon.

“Somebody would have to have a real interest in me, and I don’t think I am that interesting for someone to come after my data,” said Combs, the president of a community college.

Michael Feldman, 61, started to wonder about the Echo’s snooping potential within the first few weeks after he set up the device in his home in Huntington Woods, Michigan. He frets about the possibility of government agencies using the Echo or similar devices as a surveillance tool, though that concern hasn’t been enough to cause him to turn off the device’s microphone.

“After you have lived long enough, you realize people will be willing to bring spying technology into their own house if they think it will do something great for them,” Feldman said.

Back-to-school time is here and so is Georgia’s tax-free weekend.

From today through Saturday, shoppers won’t have to pay sales tax on several items. The exemption applies — in stores and online — to clothing and footwear with a sales price of $100 or less per item, computers with a price of $1,000 or less per item and school supplies with a price of $20 or less per item.

Jewelry, handbags, umbrellas, watches and similar items are still taxable.

The statewide sales tax holiday kicked off nearly 20 years ago in New York when the legislature there enacted the first tax-free week in January 1997. When local New York governments were given the option to participate in a tax-free week, most declined.

As of this year, 16 states have adopted the idea with Georgia enacting its first tax free weekend in 2004. Each state sets its own criteria and exceptions.

For instance, while Georgia sets a price limit for school supplies at $20 per item, Tennessee’s price limit is $100 per item. While Georgia’s tax free holiday is this weekend, Oklahoma’s tax free holiday is Aug. 7-9.

Several companies are offering additional deals for students and parents. Staples is offering its Back to School 110 percent lowest price guarantee, in which it matches any of its competitors’ prices and gives customers an extra 10 percent of the difference between the Staples price and the competitor price.

“This is the first year we’ve done the Less List, in which we offer our lowest prices of the season,” said the general manager at Staples’ Victory Drive location. “We’re offering sharpeners, pencils and erasers for 25 cents, pencil boxes for 50 cents along with other deals.”

Target is also offering the deal of Buy one, get one 50 percent off on school supplies, backpacks, kids apparel and other items.

“Our store is fully stocked and ready to go,” said the general manager at Target’s Victory Drive location.

Best Buy is offering several college student discounts on items such as printers and backpacks, while Kohl’s and Kmart are offering several deals on back-to-school apparel.

BREAKOUT

More information

Below are clothing items that are tax-exempt and items that are taxable. To see which computer supplies and school supplies are exempt and which are not, visit the following website: http://dor.georgia.gov

Examples of exempt clothing items:

Antique/vintage clothing

Aprons, household and shop

Athletic clothing (e.g., ski wear, uniforms, tennis apparel)

Athletic pads and guards

Athletic supporters

Baby receiving blankets

Baby clothes

Bandanas

Bathing suits and caps

Bathing suit cover-ups

Belts and suspenders

Belts for weightlifting or back support

Blouses

Bras

Caps and hats

Coats and jackets of all types

Capes, shawls, and wraps

Corsets and corset laces

Costumes

Coveralls

Dresses

Diapers, children and adult, including disposable and reusable diapers and diaper covers

Ear muffs

Football pads

Footwear of all types including

cleated and spiked shoes

Formal wear

Garters and garter belts

Girdles

Gloves and mittens for any

purpose

Hats and caps

Hand muffs

Headbands (athletic)

Helmets

Hosiery

Insoles and inserts for shoes

Knee pads

Lab coats

Leg warmers

Leotards and tights

Lingerie

Neckties and bowties

Pants

Rainwear

Robes

Scarves

Shin guards

Shirts

Shoe laces

Shorts and skorts

Skates (ice, roller, roller blades)

Skirts

Sleepwear

Socks

Suits

Sweaters

T-shirts

Underwear including long or thermal underwear

Uniforms, athletic and nonathletic

Vests

Examples of taxable items:

Baby bibs

Belt buckles sold separately

Briefcases

Clothing accessories or equipment

Corsages and boutonnieres

Cosmetics

Costume masks sold separately

Crib blankets

Cuff links

Diaper bags

Eyewear, nonprescription

Fanny packs

Hair notions including, but not limited to, barrettes, hair bows, and hair nets

Handbags

Handkerchiefs

Hard hats

Jewelry

Key cases

Life jackets and vests

Masks and goggles, protective

and swim

Materials used to repair clothing

and shoes

Patches and emblems sold

separately

Personal flotation devices

Sewing equipment and supplies

Sewing materials

Umbrellas

Wallets

Watches

Watchbands

Wigs and hair pieces

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, both R-Ga., along with the entire Georgia delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives has urged the Obama administration to make the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project a priority for its fiscal year 2017 budget recommendations.

In a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Georgia delegation called for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to match its budget request with the public commitments for federal support expressed by several members of the Obama administration.

The cost of the Savannah Harbor project is estimated at $706 million, and the federal government’s share is $440 million. Georgia already has contributed its $266 million obligation.

If the federal government allots less than $100 million a year to the Savannah Harbor project for fiscal years 2017-2020, the project cannot be completed by 2020, and the resulting delays could ultimately cost taxpayers an extra $200 million, the delegation wrote.

Sens. Isakson and Perdue, along with U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1st District, also met with Darcy on Wednesday to reiterate the importance of the project to Georgia and the Southeast.

“The key to the success of this project will be whether the administration’s budget proposal next year includes at least the approximately $100 million that [the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has identified as the level that would keep the project on the path to timely completion,” wrote the congressional delegation.

“By every measure, our ability to grow our economy is tied to our ability to have competitive international shipping rates, and those rates are determined by having cost-efficient port infrastructure.

And no port infrastructure project in the nation can more efficiently and more quickly stimulate job growth in our country

than SHEP,” they wrote.

Background

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project was authorized in the Water Resources and Development Act of 1999 to deepen the Savannah River from its current 42-foot depth to as much as 48 feet.

The project is being undertaken in anticipation of an expansion of the Panama Canal that will increase the maximum draft of vessels travelling to and from the East Coast from 39.5 feet to as much as 50 feet.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates the harbor deepening project will bring $174 million in annual net benefits to the United States. For the Post-Panamax II vessels, the extra five feet of depth will allow for an additional 3,600 cargo containers in each transit, an increase of 78 percent.

SHIPPING SCHEDULE
Following are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean terminals this week. Schedules are supplied by GPA and are subject to change.

TERMINAL VESSEL ETA

GPA EVER SUMMIT Today

GPA PUSAN Today

GPA HAMMONIA POMERENIA Today

GPA ZIM LOS ANGELES Today

GPA MAERSK WEYMOUTH Today

GPA MAERSK CHICAGO Today

GPA MAERSK WALVIS BAY Today

GPA MSC JUDITH Today

OT GRANDE MAROCCO Today

OT TYSLA Today

OT CLIPPER TERMINUS Today

GPA CMA CGM MAUPASSANT Saturday

GPA OOCL TAIPEI Saturday

GPA NYK RUMINA Saturday

GPA SEALAND WASHINGTON Saturday

GPA CAP HUDSON Saturday

GPA MAERSK SOFIA Saturday

GPA COSCO ADEN Saturday

GPA CHARLESTON EXPRESS Sunday

GPA ZIM ONTARIO Sunday

OT PALMERTON Sunday

GPA MSC FLORIDA Monday

GPA HYUNDAI VOYAGER Monday

GPA COSCO GERMANY Monday

TERMINAL VESSEL ETA

GPA NEVZAT KALKAVAN Monday

GPA YM OAKLAND Monday

GPA MAERSK ATLANTA Tuesday

GPA ZIM CONSTANZA Tuesday

GPA MSC VERONIQUE Tuesday

GPA VIKTORIA WULFF Tuesday

GPA MARE LYCIUM Tuesday

GPA APL CORAL Tuesday

GPA HELSINKI BRIDGE Tuesday

OT TULANE Tuesday

GPA NYK CONSTELLATION Wednesday

GPA ARIAN Wednesday

GPA CALISTO Wednesday

GPA CMA CGM RACINE Wednesday

GPA HANJIN GDYNIA Wednesday

GPA MSC MARIA ELENA Thursday

GPA CORCOVADOA Thursday

GPA ZIM PIRAEUSA Thursday

GPA JULIETTE RICKMERSA Thursday

GPA QINGDAO TOWERA Thursday

GPA MOZARTA Thursday

GPA MOL MAJESTYA Thursday

GPA MTM SANTOSA Thursday

OT INDEPENDENCE II Thursday

Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools, with a sponsorship by JCB North America, has announced dates for its inaugural Passport to Excellence Lecture Series.

The series will feature three lectures by accomplished individuals who attended or graduated from Savannah-Chatham schools.

They will discuss their careers and their insights about success and how to achieve it.

Stratton Leopold will speak from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, at Savannah Arts Academy, 500 Washington Ave.

Leopold attended elementary school at Massie Heritage Center and went on to attend Chatham Junior High.

He later studied pre-med at Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt universities but ultimately chose to work his way into the film industry.

During his 40 years in the industry, he has nearly 60 film and television credits to his name, ranging from executive producer and producer to casting director and actor.

He has also served as an executive vice president at Paramount Pictures.

He is known locally for Leopold’s Ice Cream on Broughton Street, which was founded in 1919 by his father, Peter Leopold, and his uncles, Georgia and Basil.

The second lecture will take place from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at Savannah High School, 400 Pennsylvania Ave. and will feature a presentation from television newscaster Dawn Baker.

Baker graduated from Savannah High School and went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Baker now co-anchors WTOC newscasts at 5:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.

She also wrote “Dawn’s Daughter: Everything A Woman Needs To Know.”

She has donated 20 percent of the proceeds from her book to The Dawning of a Miracle Scholarship, a fund Baker created to help young ladies with chronic and/or life-threatening illnesses go to college.

Businessman and civic figure Howard Morrison will be the

final speaker from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at Woodville Thompkins Technical and Career High School, 151 Coach Joe Turner St.

Morrison, who attended Massie School from the second grade to the sixth grade in Savannah, graduated from Yale University and is a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Morrison had a banking career that spanned nearly 30 years, and he helped to develop the C&S Bank’s (now Bank of America’s) High Technology Banking Group. He also helped to develop Atlanta’s high technology business community.

Morrison was inducted into the Georgia High Technology Hall of Fame in 1995.

He returned to Savannah after he retired from banking in July 1996 and become an advocate of educational and entrepreneurial related initiatives.

At the end of the series, the three speakers will be honored at the February 2016 Teacher of the Year Banquet with the Passport to Excellence Awards of Distinction.

These presentations are free but are by invitation only. If you are interested in attending one ore more, contact Cynthia Wright at cynthia.wright@carriagetradepr.com or 912-856-9075.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy isn’t moving at warp speed, but it looks like it will be strong enough to handle an expected interest rate increase later this year.

Fueled by solid consumer spending, Thursday’s report on the gross domestic product underscored the steady growth that is likely to bolster the Federal Reserve’s case that it will soon be time to make a move, perhaps in September.

The economy’s total output of goods and services rebounded to a respectable annual rate of 2.3 percent in the April-June quarter, the best showing since last summer. Moreover, the first quarter managed to grow a slight 0.6 percent, reversing an earlier government estimate of a contraction.

“The fact that the economy improved meaningfully in the second quarter and is likely to strengthen further in the current quarter should keep a September rate hike on the table,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

While the latest figures fall short of a boom, the United States appears in better shape than other major economics of the world. China — the world’s second-biggest economy — has seen a sharp drop in stock prices recently. Meanwhile, Europe has been consumed with resolving a stubborn debt crisis in Greece.

The International Monetary Fund is forecasting that the 19 nations that use the euro currency will grow a modest 1.5 percent this year. It expects China to expand 6.8 percent, which would be the slowest growth rate for the country in 25 years.

In the United States, economists are hopeful that the 1.5 percent average growth from January through June will double in the second half of this year to around 3 percent.

The optimism stems from projected trends in consumer spending, which should strengthen further in coming months thanks to robust job gains. Unemployment hit a seven-year low of 5.3 percent in June, but the Fed says it wants to see more. It remains concerned about wage growth and the number of part-time workers unable to find full-time jobs.

The Fed also needs to be convinced that price gains will eventually rise toward its target of 2 percent a year. Inflation has been running well below that level for some time, a situation that policymakers view as a sign of a still-weak economy.

The GDP report did offer some encouragement on the inflation front. A price measure tied to GDP rose at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the second quarter. Excluding food and energy costs, the price index rose by 1.8 percent, up from 1 percent gains in the two previous quarters.

While the GDP report provided support for the Fed’s march toward higher rates, economists cautioned that a hike at the Sept. 16-17 meeting is by no means a certainty. It will depend largely on incoming data between now and then, including two jobs reports and a revision to Thursday’s GDP estimate.

“Data over the next two months retain their primary position in the decision process,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors.

The Fed noted in its post-meeting statement Wednesday that the job market, housing and consumer spending had all improved. As expected, it kept a key rate at a record low near zero, where it’s remained since 2008.

While many analysts peg September for a rate hike, others aren’t so sure.

They contend that it may take longer for the Fed to see the improvements it seeks, delaying the first rate hike until as late as December. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has emphasized in recent appearances that if the economy improves as she expects, a rate increase will hap

pen before the end of this year.

The current recovery from the Great Recession of 2007-2009 has been the weakest of any expansion since World War II. Revised data released separately Thursday showed even more weakness than previously believed. For the three years from 2012 through 2014, growth averaged just 2 percent, down from the previous estimate that the economy turned in average growth of 2.3 percent during this period.

The modest performance has raised concerns that the U.S. economy has entered a period of historically slow growth. The nation’s workforce is growing at a weaker pace, and employees are less efficient than before the recession, government data show. Those trends could restrain future economic growth.

In the second quarter, consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity, expanded at an annual rate 2.9 percent. That is a sizable pickup from the 1.8 percent growth in the first quarter.

Trade also served as a small boost to overall growth after subtracting nearly 2 percentage points in the first quarter. Trade in the first quarter was hampered by a labor dispute at West Coast ports and the rising value of the dollar.

Business investment, which has been hurt by a sharp cutback at energy companies, fell at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the first quarter. That reflected in part a big drop in the category that covers oil and gas exploration activities.

Housing construction was a bright spot, rising at a 6.6 percent rate. The government sector grew at a 0.8 percent rate as gains in spending by state and local governments offset a drop at the federal level.