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By Derek Hunter
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First City Progress: What drives growth at the ports? Population, consumerism, investments
This First City Progress is the first story in a four-week series that examines the Georgia Port Authority’s recent, rapid growth and the impact it has on the environment, economy and quality of life in Chatham County.
Savannah’s population and development boom of the past year is not the result of a pandemic fluke. It’s the culmination of more than 50 years of population growth, economic development and port expansions, according to Jeff Humphreys, an economist with the University of Georgia Terry College of Business who’s studied the economic impact of the Georgia Ports Authority for more than 30 years.
Since the 1970s, Georgia and the rest of the Southeast region have outpaced the rest of the nation in population growth, Humphreys explained. In the 1970s, Georgia was growing at four times the rate of the nation.
“In other words, a lot of people have been moving south from the Rust Belt, from the snowbelt, from the Northeast to the Sunbelt, and particularly the southeast,” Humphreys explained. “So, Georgia and all of our neighbors, especially Florida, have seen above-average population growth.”
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Georgia is 20 years ahead of population projections made in the 1990s, according to public documents from the Federal Reserve. By 2040, Georgia will have 14 million people, a 32% increase from current levels, according to updated state population projections.
While many moved to Georgia during the pandemic for cheaper cost-of-living and a slower pace of life, Humphreys said the long-time driver of migration has been jobs. In 2019 alone, 284,000 moved from other states to live in Georgia, according to the Census Bureau.
The main driver of jobs in the state? The Georgia Ports Authority.
“The ports, either directly or indirectly, are responsible for about 1 out of every 10 jobs in Georgia,” Humphreys said. “So, over a half million jobs in Georgia are port-related or in (related) industry.”
The influx of people drives economic activity and the need for more goods, bolstering the ports’ import business. As of last year, more than 45% of America’s 330 million people live within GPA’s service region, which stretches up and down the entire East Coast and across the South and Midwest regions, encompassing major cities such as Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati.
A GPA Glossary: Words to Know
Drayage: Movement of goods from the ocean to its first on-land destination. Often called "first-mile logistics."
Berth: The docks where shipping carriers park to transfer cargo to land, and vice versa.
TEU: A 20-foot Equivalent Unit. The unit of measurement for containers, most of which are 20- or 40-feet long. So, 50 TEUs would mean 25 40-foot containers. It's the best way to measure volume and capacity at the ports.
Terminal: A secure area where goods can be moved between land and sea.
Dredging: The process of digging out a riverbed to deepen a waterway.
Logistics: The management of goods and services between their point of origin and point of consumption.
The supply chain: All organizations, businesses and carriers involved in the production, distribution and consumption of a good or service.
Foundational lead: the main rail line by which a railroad company enters a port facility.
Gantry crane: Cranes used to move containers on the terminal and can move along tracks.
Ship-to-shore crane: the type of crane used to move cargo on and off of shipping vessels.
Owner-operator puts GPA ahead
While the Port of Savannah wreaks environmental and residential concerns locally, its location near Atlanta situates it as a strategic location to ship goods to half of the nation, due to the proximity to major rail lines and interstates.
But it’s the port’ legacy of operational excellence that sets it apart from other East Coast ports, according to Humphreys.
The Port of Savannah is the owner-operator of its two major terminals, Garden City and Ocean terminals. Other ports, such as the Port of Long Beach, are leased by shipping carriers. This divides terminals, so if a truck driver needs to drop a container off with Maersk, a shipping line operator, he or she will have to leave the terminal and re-enter another if pick-up is with Evergreen. (Think of it like having to go back through security and customs at an airport where you have a connecting flight.)
By operating its own terminals, GPA optimizes efficiency on-terminal. Fees related to storing containers and offloading vessels are directly collected by the authority, which helps the agency run as a self-sustaining business.
And, by being the owner-operator, GPA has a goal beyond profit, according to Leo Beckman, GPA’s director of government affairs.
“Other ports authorities are operated by private entities and have a motive to pull profit. Whereas as a state entity, our job is to create revenue for the state. bring jobs for the state, create opportunities for the people who live here,” he said. “And so, having that as our primary objective means that our primary objective is for the public good.”
Economic development efforts buoy business, protect against recession threats
Locally, economic development efforts have served as a symbiotic force for the ports, helping to spur more port traffic, while the ports’ success helps local officials secure business investments.
When Hyundai announced its new $5.5 billion plant in Bryan County, the ports were cited as a top reason for the car manufacturers’ decision.
The results of the ports’ success are evident in annual financial statements. Fiscal year 2021 brought a 28% increase in operating revenue, more than $615 million, according to audited financial statements.
Most of that growth represents an influx of imports, mainly retail goods, furniture and electronics from Asia. Since 2019, the ports have seen a 35% increase in container cargo revenue, which represents half-a-million dollars of the ports’ revenue. A reliance on Asian goods, mainly those from China, is a sign of the state’s dependence on imports, which represent nearly 70% of business, according to a news report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Humphreys believes that the booming business along the Savannah River will mostly shield the region from a major recession, even if a “mild one” emerges. Particularly because the copse of recent economic development announcements — including the Hyundai Plant, Rockingham Farms on Veterans Parkway and an ammunition company’s manufacturing plant — provides a cushion for the local economy.
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“There's a good chance that if the recession comes, Georgia might be able to squeak by. Savannah has a better chance than the state as a whole, despite the focus on the ports and transportation logistics, which is normally a cyclical industry,” he said, referencing how transportation and logistics are sensitive to changes in the economy.
“We have to keep in mind all the new projects that have been announced over the last two or three years… Most projects are gonna be building out over the next one to three years. That's going to provide a little bit of a cushion against threats.”
This story is part of First City Progress, a weekly series looking at development in Savannah and the Coastal Empire. If there are projects you're curious about, email Zoe at znicholson@gannett.com
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Maybe "Depends" would work better and cost less.
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Joe Biden’s Political SWAT Team
The White House does damage control on crime amid growing lawlessness.
The Editorial Board
Democrats are playing defense on crime, and on Thursday President Biden sent in the political SWAT team in the form of more federal spending for police. Question: Has he chatted with George Soros and the soft-on-crime local district attorneys the billionaire has helped elect?
Mr. Biden previously proposed $37 billion for policing and crime prevention in his 2023 budget. That includes nearly $13 billion to hire and train some 100,000 officers. “We need to fund police who walk the beat, know the neighborhood, are accountable to those they are sworn to serve, and build community trust and safety,” says a fact sheet about the Biden plan.
That counts as an epiphany after Democrats cheered while cities slashed police funding in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. Last year progressives sought to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department. No wonder police are demoralized and leaving in droves.
The Police Executive Research Forum surveyed nearly 200 police departments and reports that in 2020-2021 there was a 45% increase in the retirement rate and 18% increase in the resignation rate versus a year earlier. More than 500 officers left the New York Police Department last month alone, and police union chief Patrick Lynch told the New York Post that “the exodus has become a stampede.”
The main reason for the retirement surge is lack of political support. “The only differences between the [Portland Police Bureau] and the Titanic? Deck chairs and a band,” one officer wrote in an exit interview after the City Council cut police funding. Cops are “not feeling valued, they’re not feeling supported,” Sean Pritchard of California’s San Jose Police Officers’ Associationexplained last year.
Meanwhile, violent crime is up, and fewer officers now work longer hours to keep up. Mr. Biden’s proposed funding boost could provide incentives to recruit and retain officers. But local leaders will have to convince officers that they’ll be valued and not vilified for doing their jobs.
Shoplifting and organized retail theft have surged in many cities. Mr. Biden wants Congress to impose liability “for the sale of stolen goods” on online marketplaces like Amazon and to require them to verify the information of third-party vendors.
But this would increase the regulatory burden on legitimate businesses, and it won’t fix what’s primarily a state and local problem. In California stealing goods worth up to $950 is a mere misdemeanor, if it’s prosecuted at all. The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention reports that since 2000 at least 40 states have raised the felony threshold for theft, enabling thieves to steal more and risk lesser penalties.
Mr. Biden also wants a 13% increase in funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to “hire new agents and investigators to help cities trace firearms and analyze ballistics from crime scenes.” Another $3 billion would go to clear court backlogs, investigate homicides and establish task forces “to share intelligence to bring down the gun violence rate.”
But even the best police work makes little difference if prosecutors let criminals off easy. Fed-up San Francisco voters recalled radical DA Chesa Boudin last month. But progressive prosecutors, elected with financial support from Soros-funded groups, have also offered leniency for lawbreakers in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Cook County, Ill., and elsewhere.
The Biden plan doesn’t mention any of that, which suggests this spending is mostly about political damage control.
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The Modern Enslavement of The Black Community in America
By Allen West
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Media Dials Back Hysteria Over Biden's Covid Diagnosis Yet Went Ballistic When Trump Tested Positive
By Sarah Arnold
Finally:
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