Jamie McCurry, director of administration for the Georgia Ports Authority, had only to recite a few numbers to impress the crowd of nearly 200 at Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the Savannah Downtown Business Association.
“Statewide, GPA accounts for more than 350,000 full and part-time jobs, nearly $70 billion in sales, $32 billion in gross state product and $18.5 billion in income,” McCurry told the group assembled at the Charles H. Morris Center in Trustees Garden.
“But what’s really amazing is the impact this port has nationwide,” he said.
The fourth-busiest in the country — and second in terms of containerized exports — Georgia’s deepwater ports account for more than 8 percent of all U.S. container trade and 11.6 percent of all containerized exports. And that while generating some $4.5 billion in federal taxes each year.
With balanced trade numbers of 53 percent exports to 47 percent imports and a growth history consistently above the national average, Savannah is a top player, even among such huge metro area as Los Angeles and New York, McCurry said.
There are a number of reasons Savannah is so well-positioned, he said, most of them linked to the planning and execution of long-range projects.
“We have a one-of-a-kind intermodal infrastructure with on-terminal transfer facilities for two major railroads, Norfolk Southern and CSX; we have immediate access to two major interstate highway systems and are in the process of completing ‘Last Mile’ road improvements designed to alleviate traffic congestion around the ports.”
That’s no small amount of traffic, GPA records some 8,000 truck moves in and out of its gates daily. Once the Last Mile projects are complete, a significant number will be rerouted off local thoroughfares.
“When people talk about our terminal being so far upriver, they often don’t think about the fact that there are distinct advantages to this location,” he said.
Garden City Terminal, for example, is located right on top of two major railheads, making for a smooth move from ship to rail and vice versa. The same goes for interstate proximity, with GPA’s container terminal only 5.7 miles from I-16 and 5.5 miles from I-95.
And a terminal closer to Fort Jackson, for example, would put a lot more truck traffic through the heart of the city.
“Basically, we have all the key ingredients for success in place,” he said.
“We just need a deeper river.”
Deepening the Savannah River from 42 to 47 feet will enable larger, more heavily loaded vessels to call with fewer tidal delays, a necessity if the Port of Savannah is to compete for the ships expected to begin coming through an expanded Panama Canal in 2015, he said.
“Right now, we are waiting for Congress to OK the new price tag, which has grown from $500 million in 1999 to $652 million today,” McCurry said.
“And, while that seems like a lot of money, consider this: With a benefit-to-cost ratio of 5.5-to-1, the project is expected to net more than $174 million in annual benefits to the nation for the next 50 years.
“It’s time,” he said. “We’re ready.”