Economic activity picks up in Georgia for future Jasper port, while S.C. sees none so far

BEAUFORT -- Investors have dumped more than $364 million into economic development on the Georgia side of the Savannah River in anticipation of a shipping port in Jasper County that is at least seven to 10 years away from opening.

The $450 million port will be a joint shipping terminal for Georgia and South Carolina. The two states will share control of the port, which will become one of the largest in the nation.

"One of the things that's been an enigma to me is all these developments looking for industrial land, but I'm not seeing that on the South Carolina side," said Lynn Pitts, senior vice president for the Savannah Economic Development Authority, an independent organization that attracts new investment and supports existing businesses in Chatham County, Ga.

Pitts, who spoke at the Sea Island Rotary on Tuesday, said the joint port helps make the two states competitive in a global economy.

"It's going be a good thing for all of us," he said.

Pitts said the port will balance the economic development and growth between Beaufort County and Savannah.

A great deal of the industrial development has concentrated on Bryan and Liberty counties in Georgia, Pitts said. Tradeport Business Center was created in Liberty County as a 5,495-acre industrial park. Target Corp. built a 1.5-million-square-foot regional distribution center in Tradeport East, a section of the business park.

In Bryan County, infrastructure is being installed to support a 500-acre industrial park called Interstate Centre Phase II, according to the county Web site.

Following the announcement of plans to build the port in a 2004 speech by the Georgia Ports Authority, companies shifted or increased focus on the Savannah River area, Pitts said.

He said one of Savannah's major employers, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., a business-jet aircraft company that employees 5,000 people, spent $100 million for new and planned facilities, including a new service center, a research and development center and a production hanger.

"Big-box distribution companies are expanding and coming to Savannah because of the port," Pitts said. "They think something really big is happening with the port here."

AMB Property Corp., a global developer, invested $100 million, and heavy equipment manufacturer, JCB America, invested $8 million in existing facilities and created 240 jobs, Pitts said.

But the building boom and rapid maneuvering to establish a corporate base has not occurred to the same extent on the South Carolina side of the river.

Kim Statler, executive director of the Lowcountry Economic Network, said Savannah's disproportional gains are easy to explain.

"What's historically been different in the past few years is that they've taken an aggressive position to change their economic base," she said.

Statler said a distribution and logistics center will be built in a corridor park near Interstate 95. Statler said one strategy for attracting businesses is to focus on small niche companies, such as technology intensive ones. While Savannah's industrial parks fill, there are 150 acres of industrially zoned land available in the Beaufort Commerce Park off U.S. 21, Statler said.

"There's going to be similar opportunity on this side of the river," said Ginnie Kozak, Lowcountry Council of Governments planning director. Savannah has had success because it already has a functioning port, she said.