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Etsy: Will going corporate change its DIY ethos?
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Etsy, a company that made a name for itself as an anti-corporate business, is now a publicly traded corporation. Now Etsy merchants and investors are waiting to see whether or not Etsy can stay true to its roots and make investors money. - photo by Matthew Jelalian
Etsy, an online craft marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers of handmade clothes, art, crafts and other one-of-a-kind products, has some loyal entrepreneurs on edge as the website tries to find its place on Wall Street following a public stock offering.

It began life as a public company on Thursday with a bang, reported CNNMoney. Etsy shares closed at $30 a share, a whopping 88 percent surge from its initial public offering price.

Etsy is now worth $3.3 billion as a company, according to the CNN report.

The reason why indie craftsmen should worry about Etsys success is because now it is no longer beholden to just the community that grew the company but to shareholders as well.

As Etsys stock goes up and down, so many of the companys loyalties will shift from sellers to shareholders.

A day after investors welcomed the online marketplace for arts and crafts as a publicly traded company, by sending the stock up 88 percent, the shares tumbled as much as 12 percent intraday Friday before paring some losses in afternoon trading, following a downbeat research note from Wedbush Securities, reported MarketWatch.

Etsy closed down at $27.18 a share the day after it went public, and as a publicly traded company, its job is get that stock to grow.

Wall Street has questions about Etsys ability to succeed as a publicly traded company because of its close ties to its community of merchants, reported VentureBeat. For example, the company set aside as much as 5 percent of the 16.7 million shares on offer for its community members, though the exact figure of shares given to retailers isnt known. Some investors have wondered whether the company will be able to keep its eye on the bottom line in spite of its relationship with its merchants.

Another problem Etsy has is that according to its current guidelines, products cannot be mass-produced. Every merchant on Etsy must sell either handmade or vintage products. Craft supplies can be sold on Etsy as well, but reselling items is not allowed.

Guidelines such as these do not allow for easy growth, but if Etsy were to change this guideline, it could hurt its growth by angering a lot of its merchants.

For many of its fans, Etsy is much more than a marketplace., reported the New York Times. They view it as an antidote to global mass production and consumption, and a stand against corporate branding. Its their vote for authenticity and good old craftsmanship, and a seemingly ethical alternative to buying from big corporations. And it has helped spur a wider industry of items, from bedsheets to beef jerky, that claim to be homespun, artisanal or otherwise handmade.

Turning away from this maker-ethos might cause its sellers to look elsewhere for the community they originally enjoyed with Etsy.

Investors and merchants will be looking to Etsy to see how the company decides to navigate this tension between inventors who want to see profitable returns and those who want Etsy to ensure its loyal following of small-scale merchants earn a profit.
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Record April boosts Savannah's container trade at port
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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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