Savannah Chamber

27 combined statistical area. The county's development authority completed a major infrastructure project in 2021 with the construction of a new 500,000 gallon elevated water tank in Tradeport East Business Center. This $2.4 million project is the second tank in Tradeport East and was constructed to serve future development in the park. Further, the tank was put into use immediately to serve a new 1.4 million square foot building completed by Savafieh at the end of 2021. 800,000 square feet has already been occupied by Hooker Furnishings creating over 50 jobs with expectations for more hiring in the future. Georgia Ports Authority The Georgia Ports Authority operates the leading container export in the country with the largest container capacity in the western hemisphere. In FY 2021 the Port of Savannah handled a record 5.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), an increase of 20% from 4.4 million TEUs in FY 2020. Additionally, the Port of Savannah moved 22% of the east coast container trade and handled almost 12% of all U.S. containerized exports in 2021. The port has remained busy through the last six months of 2021, which has seen record-breaking volume and trending toward an increase of about 25% as compared to 2020. The increased workload has strained the capacity of the logistic sector's steadfast 18,000 regional workers. Overtime hours have been up to 40% amid the port's round-the-clock operations. Excess demand and pandemic restrictions imposed on the global commercial fleet combined to increase the number of ships and containers waiting offshore up to 50% higher than normal. As 2021 closes, about half (15) of the peak number of ships remains waiting offshore. A shortage of the chassis frames used to carry the containers has contributed to the problem. A GPA solution is the development of pop-up container yards where containers can be stored, which also frees up space on-site in the terminal. Funding for the pop-up container yards originated from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which allocates $8 million to GPA to convert properties in Georgia and South Carolina into temporary storage yards. During the past 15 years, container volume has increased 6.2% 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, GPA plans to double capacity from 5.5 million 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 2.7 million TEUs. Georgia's logistics ecosystem provides the environment for GPA's and Georgia's economic success on a worldwide basis. By facilitating global trade, GPA enables international business to thrive here in Georgia. The state's political and business leadership view GPA facilities as a state-level asset, one which yields an annual contribution of $3.4 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia's economy. GPA's activity supports 500,000 jobs in Georgia and contributes $122 billion in economic activity for the state. 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. The project creates the ability for GPA to load six 10,000-foot trains simultaneously. 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. Another substantial new GPA project is the alignment and straightening of Berth 1 with other berthing to increase capacity by 1 million TEUs per year by June 2023. 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. 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 a 388-mile direct rail connection to Savannah's port via CSX rail lines. ARP has a capacity of 50,000 containers

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