in part by the services of 25 short-line railroads spread out
across the state. Savannah’s port operations are a model of
efficiency, turning at 41 crane moves an hour, second only
to the Port of Charleston (S.C.) with 43. Its Garden City
facility is considered a jewel among the nation’s terminal
operations.
An agreement was reached last July to build an inland port
in Cordele, Ga., about 186 miles southwest of Savannah,
that will spawn a rail route mostly for agricultural products moving to and from the Garden City terminal. The
Cordele facility, located about one mile from I- 75, will
serve as a gateway to southwest Georgia and adjacent
regions of Florida and Alabama, according to the Georgia
Ports Authority. It will provide agricultural exporters with
rail access to Savannah and to export markets without the
cost of draying the goods from Cordele. In addition, trucks
can drop off loads at Cordele and pick up arriving freight
without having to make the trip to the coast.
K.C. Conway, chief U.S. economist for Colliers
International, an industrial real estate concern with a
strong port practice, named Georgia the “Best in Logistics”
in his spring 2013 port outlook. In particular, Conway cited
Brunswick for its excellence in the auto trade. “Georgia
ports do logistics incredibly well. They are the best in North
America,” Conway said.
By contrast, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,
the nation’s busiest port complex, do a commendable
job, but they are hamstrung by a web of state regulations
and environmental issues that Savannah is spared from,
Conway said.
INTANGIBLE ASSETS
John H. Boyd, head of The Boyd Co. Inc., a site
selection concern based in Princeton, N.J., said DC
activity in Georgia should remain strong as business
improves at Savannah and Florida markets rebound
following the financial meltdown and the subsequent recession. Boyd said Georgia is a finalist in
many of his company’s projects because of its deep
and sophisticated information technology (IT) support infrastructure. The state’s high-tech prowess is
taking on greater importance as more companies
co-locate e-commerce functions at a relatively low-cost DC site than at a head office, Boyd said.
Then there are Georgia’s intangible assets, namely
an understanding by officials, from Gov. Nathan
Deal on down, of the supply chain’s importance in
facilitating trade and commerce, and in enhancing
the value of the DC site that companies have invested
millions of dollars in. Perhaps nowhere is the commitment more evident than at the Georgia Center of
The center’s work culminates each year in the Georgia
Logistics Summit, a one-day event held in Atlanta that
is expected to draw more than 2,000 attendees when the
fourth edition convenes in March. The attendee list is
expected to include executives and officials from multiple
states and countries.
Another valuable asset is the state’s “Quick Start” program, which provides free training services to new and
expanding companies. Kia Motors, the fast-growing
Korean automaker, took advantage of the program after it
decided to build its sole U.S. production site on 2,200 acres
in West Point, a once-flourishing south Georgia textile
hub that fell on hard times along with the rest of the textile
industry. Randy Jackson, vice president, human resources
and administration for Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia
Inc., said the company was aware that the West Point
area employed thousands of workers who knew their way
around a factory. With help from the Quick Start program,
Kia retrained many of them to assemble cars.
The training began in the 2006–2007 time frame; the
first car rolled off Kia’s assembly line in November 2009.
Today, Kia directly employs 3,000 people and has another
11,000 dedicated suppliers. “And we are still working with
the program,” Jackson said. N
