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Convenience stores' charitable work recognized
Greg Parker feb 2013
Parkers President and CEO Greg Parker says it is important for businesses to give back to the community that supports them. - photo by Photo provided.

SAVANNAH — Parker’s recently received a Convenience Retailing University award of excellence at the CRU conference in Glendale, Ariz.  
CSP, a convenience-store media company, presented the award in recognition of the Fueling the Community program, through which Parker’s donates a portion of gas sales on the first Wednesday of every month to area schools.
“In any given year, CSP hears about hundreds of retail programs,” said Steve Holtz, news director for CSP Information Group. “We’re pleased to recognize those that rise to the top with our CRU Awards of Excellence. The Parker’s Fueling the Community program is a great example of how convenience retailers can make a difference in their communities.”
Parker’s donates 1 cent of every gallon of gas purchased at all of its convenience stores on the first Wednesday of the month to community schools through the Fueling the Community program.
The company’s initiative officially launched in fall 2011 and has donated money to public and private schools in every community where Parker’s does business.   
 “We don’t think the retailer should just sit in an ivory tower and take from customers,” Parker’s President and CEO Greg Parker said. “We live in an age of empathy. Customers want to support companies that are giving back. So we think it’s really important that we’re giving back in a profound way to the communities that are supporting us.”
Parker’s customers can sign up for a PumpPal card online at www.PumpPalClub.com to select a school of their choice.
Existing PumpPal members can access their account online and select a specific school to receive donations.  
During the past two years, Parker’s has presented numerous checks to schools throughout coastal Georgia and South Carolina.
Parker’s currently operates 30 convenience stores in six counties throughout southeast Georgia and South Carolina and sells Parker’s proprietary brand gasoline.

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Record April boosts Savannah's container trade at port
GardenCityTerminal
The Port of Savannah moved 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units in April, an increase of 7.1 percent. - photo by Provided

The Georgia Ports Authority's busiest April ever pushed its fiscal year-to-date totals to more than 3.4 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs), an increase of 8.8 percent, or 280,000 TEUs, compared to the first 10 months of fiscal 2017.

"We're on track to move more than 300,000 TEUs in every month of the fiscal year, which will be a first for the authority," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "We're also anticipating this to be the first fiscal year for the Port of Savannah to handle more than 4 million TEUs."

April volumes reached 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units, up 7.1 percent or 23,700 units. As the fastest growing containerport in the nation, the Port of Savannah has achieved a compound annual growth rate of more than 5 percent a year over the past decade.

"As reported in the recent economic impact study by UGA's Terry College of Business, trade through Georgia's deepwater ports translates into jobs, higher incomes and greater productivity," said GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood. "In every region of Georgia, employers rely on the ports of Savannah and Brunswick to help them become more competitive on the global stage."

To strengthen the Port of Savannah's ability to support the state's future economic growth, the GPA Board approved $66 million in terminal upgrades, including $24 million for the purchase of 10 additional rubber-tired gantry cranes.  

"The authority is committed to building additional capacity ahead of demand to ensure the Port of Savannah remains a trusted link in the supply chain serving Georgia and the Southeast," Lynch said.

The crane purchase will bring the fleet at Garden City Terminal to 156 RTGs. The new cranes will support three new container rows, which the board approved in March. The additional container rows will increase annual capacity at the Port of Savannah by 150,000 TEUs.

The RTGs will work over stacks that are five containers high and six deep, with a truck lane running alongside the stacks. Capable of running on electricity, the cranes will have a lift capacity of 50 metric tons.

The cranes will arrive in two batches of five in the first and second quarters of calendar year 2019.

 Also at Monday's meeting, the GPA Board elected its officers, with Jimmy Allgood as chairman, Will McKnight taking the position of vice chairman and Joel Wooten elected as the next secretary/treasurer.

For more information, visit gaports.com, or contact GPA Senior Director of Corporate Communications Robert Morris at (912) 964-3855 or rmorris@gaports.com.

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