Posted on May 22, 2019
Despite a projected slowdown, last month was the busiest April ever for the Georgia Ports Authority with fiscal year-to-date twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) topping 3.7 million, an increase of 8.7 percent compared to the same period in fiscal year 2018.
Total container cargo for the month reached record volumes of 364,481 TEUs at the Port of Savannah, an increase of 1.9 percent, or 6,700 TEUs.
“Very positive news; we had kind of projected April to be down, so this is a pleasant surprise,” GPA executive director Griff Lynch reported to the board of directors Monday morning.
The GPA board elected longtime member and vice chairman William D. McKnight as chairman, replacing outgoing chairman Jimmy Allgood effective July 1.
In April, GPA handled 76,000 TEUs of intermodal cargo, an 11 percent increase over the same month last year. Of the total cargo crossing the docks at Garden City Terminal since the start of fiscal year 2019, 776,600 TEUs moved by rail. That’s an increase of 21 percent, or 135,000 TEUs, compared to the first 10 months of 2018.
Lynch noted that as the fiscal year winds down, May and June are up against strong year-over-year numbers, but he expects the result to be a positive one.
“We still think this is going to be a record year,” he said. “We should come in around 7 to 7.5 percent growth, so hopefully we’ll be talking in July and we’ll be telling that story, but this is going to go down in the record books.”
Looking ahead to the possibility of increased tariffs, Lynch said GPA is concerned and monitoring the situation, but is hopeful that it’s still rhetoric.
“There’s a lot of jockeying and negotiation going on today, presently, and we’re hopeful that this will lead to a better situation for the U.S. and a good situation for trade, but right now we’d be lying if we said we weren’t concerned about it,” Lynch said.
Allgood pointed to positive economic indicators as reasons to remain hopeful.
“All the economic signals say, don’t worry about it. Obviously we worry about it, but the economy is going so well,” Allgood said.
Port of Brunswick developments
The board approved an expansion of the auto-handling capacity at the Port of Brunswick. The $6.7 million Colonel’s Island North Side Paving Project includes upgrades of about 33 acres, new pavement striping and new facility gates for trucks and other vehicles.
The project will accommodate BMW, which recently renewed a multi-year agreement to move vehicles over Colonel’s Island Terminal.
“For BMW, the Port of Brunswick is perfectly situated to serve the Southeastern U.S. because of its proximity to our customers and easy reach by Interstates 95 and 16,” said Irene Bloomfield, vehicle distribution center business and transportation manager at BMW North America.
“The port’s reliability and detail-oriented customer care makes Brunswick a trusted link in the BMW supply chain.”
Lynch reported that Volvo has opted to stay at the Colonel’s Island Terminal, where it has been a customer for several years. The company was expected to move to Charleston after the opening of its North American factory in nearby Berkeley County.
“They’ve signed on with one of our auto processors and they’ll be moving approximately 25,000 vehicles through the port at Colonel’s Island next year, so that’s a very positive development,” Lynch said.
New leadership
McKnight has been on the board for seven years and served as vice chairman since 2018.
The board elected Patrick “Kelly” Farr Jr. as vice chairman, while Joel Wooten will remain secretary-treasurer.
Born and raised in Augusta, McKnight graduated from Georgia Tech in 1979 and went on to work for his family-owned construction company, McKnight Construction Co., and has been its president since 1996.
McKnight has served and chaired numerous boards and committees, including the First Bank of Georgia, Associated General Contractors of America, Augusta Ballet, Richmond Academy Booster Club, Tuttle-Newton Home, Episcopal Day School and First Tee.
“We’ve had great leadership the last three years; it’s going to be very tough, 25 percent growth is kind of tough to follow, but we have a great team,” McKnight said.
?… It’s been seamless with the new governor and administration and we’re working hard to figure out ways to get small businesses connected to the port through the governor, so we have a lot of great things going on, a great legacy and we’ve got a great team, too.”
Reflecting on his three years as chairman, Allgood said it was an unbelievable ride to see such projects take shape as the Savannah Harbor deepening, Mason Mega Rail expansion and mid-American arc, which increased service to inland markets from Atlanta to Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago and the Ohio Valley.
“I think we’re set up to really move forward,” Allgood said. “All of these projects will be finished and then we’ll see the results in the next few years.”
Lynch said having entrepreneurs in executive roles is critical and has set the GPA apart for many years.
“They challenge our thinking and sometimes from the staff side can see something a certain way, but when you have somebody coming in from the outside saying, why don’t you look at it like this, it can be an ego challenge at times, but it’s good and that’s why we’re successful because there’s a collaborative thought process around the table,” he said.
Lynch said the transition has been flawless and he credits the board and governor for that vision.
“It’s why the Georgia ports is successful over our long history. Here we have a new chairman who has been sitting in the vice chairman role for two years and has traveled around the world and has seen the customers and met the customers, so it’s very seamless,” he said.
“I can tell you that not every port does it that way and that sets us up well for future success. There’s no disruption.”
Source: blufftontoday.com
