Savannah Chamber

44 The Georgia Ports Authority operates the leading container export in the country with the largest container capacity in the western hemisphere. For calendar year 2020, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is on track to handle 4.5 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent container). While the pandemic cut activity in the second quarter, exceptional growth in the September to November period has offset pandemic-related losses endured earlier in the year. America's third busiest port is moving nearly 20,000 containers per day to vessel, truck, and rail from countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. During the past ten years, container volume has increased at a rate of 6.4% per year, more than double the U.S. average, making GPA's Savannah facilities America's fastest growing major port. As a result of long-term strategic planning, business development, and investment in port facilities, Savannah's ports continue to showcase a substantial competitive advantage. In the next ten years, the GPA plans to double the capacity of the port from its current level of 5.5 million TEUs to 11 million TEUs. The plan represents a $2.5 billion investment in Georgia's future economic growth and includes development of a 200 acre container handling facility on Hutchinson Island with capacity of 2.5 million TEUs. Georgia's logistics ecosystem provides the environment for the GPA's and Georgia's economic success on a worldwide basis. By facilitating global trade, the GPA enables international business to thrive here in Georgia. The state's political and business leadership view the GPA facilities as a state-level asset, one which yielded a one-year gain of $4 billion in economic activity and an additional 60,000 new jobs in Georgia. GPA's activity supports 500,000 jobs in Georgia and contributes $110 billion in economic activity for the state. A substantial new GPA project is the alignment and straightening of Berth 1 with other berthing to increase capacity by 1.5 million TEUs. As this is accomplished, twelve new 170-foot-tall ship-to-shore cranes, the tallest on the East Coast, will be constructed to handle the massive ships with over 20,000 TEUS. As the Berth 1 straightening project unfolds, part of Ocean Terminal's breakbulk capacity will be converted for use by container ships by the end of 2020 to maintain port throughput. Continued investment in transportation infrastructure will improve port efficiency and ease regional highway congestion. The $220 million Mason Mega Rail Terminal will double the port's rail capacity to 2 million container rail lifts annually. By September 2020, nine of the eighteen rail tracks were fully operational along with two rail-mounted cranes. The project creates the ability for GPA to load six 10,000-foot trains simultaneously. Expectations are that the project will be fully completed in 2021. The project removes almost two dozen rail crossings to substantially improve vehicle traffic flow around port facilities while also removing 150,000 trucks per year from local roads. Upon completion, the project will cut transit times to Midwestern markets by 24 hours and it will be the largest on-terminal intermodal facility in North America. GPA's inland intermodal facilities are expected to support additional growth while reducing truck traffic on Georgia's highways. Among these projects is the inland Appalachian Regional Port (ARP) in Murray County in north Georgia, offering direct rail connection to Savannah's port via CSX. In its second year of operation, ARP increased its handling of TEUs almost four-fold to 44,000 TEUs in FY2020. Further, the facility's extraordinary growth continued into the third quarter of the calendar year, rising an additional 75% as compared to the previous year with expectations for full-year growth rising to 60,000 TEUs. Development continues on the 104-acre Northeast Georgia Inland Port in Hall County with capacity up to 150,000 TEUs annually. The $90 million facility will open in 2021 and create a direct rail link via Norfolk Southern Rail to the port in Savannah. The billion-dollar Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) remains on track for completion by the end of 2021. The outer harbor dredging is complete, and the final leg of the project is dredging of the inner harbor channel in the Savannah River. As of October 2020, the project was 75% completed. Over the life of the project, it will generate savings for the nation amounting to $282 million per year with a return on investment of $7.30 for every dollar invested in the project. Tourism The leisure and hospitality sector, which includes accommodations, food services, arts, entertainment, and recreation, has historically been one of the fastest growing (about 3.5% annually) sectors since the post-recession employment low in 2010. The sector provides employment for 22,500 workers, making it the third largest employment sector in the regional economy. Due to the pandemic, activity in Savannah's hospitality and leisure industry decreased approximately 35% to 40% in 2020 according to primary indicators of tourism (employment, room tax revenue). Other indicators such as automobile rentals and alcohol sales decreased similarly. Air travel, in particular, suffered heavily as passenger numbers fell 62% (October YTD), reflecting the dramatic decrease in travel by air.

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