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Georgia Conservancy hires coastal leader
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Clay Mobley, a Savannah native, will lead the Georgia Conservancys coastal operations from its office in Savannah. - photo by Photo provided.

The Georgia Conservancy announced recently the selection of Clay Mobley as its coastal director.
Mobley, a Savannah native, will lead the Conservancy’s coastal operations from its office in Savannah.
“We are proud to have Clay Mobley, who grew up in Savannah, leading our coastal effort,” said Pierre Howard, president of the Georgia Conservancy.”
Mobley previously served as the executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association Georgia, a nonprofit organization that promotes the conservation of marine resources, for almost six years.
“My love for the Georgia coast is tied into my best memories,” Mobley said. “Growing up, I explored its marshes and rivers with my parents and brother. Now, as a husband and father of two, I share the beauty of our barrier islands and estuaries with our children. ”
A Savannah native, Mobley and his family live in the area and volunteer with several coastal community groups, including the Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy, Savannah Ocean Exchange and the organic farm program at Bethesda Academy Gardens. Mobley is a 2004 graduate of Leadership Savannah.
The Conservancy has been a presence in Savannah for more than 40 years as an advocate for the protection of the Georgia coast.
Among the Conservancy’s current coastal priorities are the adoption of a conservation plan for Jekyll Island, the proposed deepening of the Savannah Harbor and the transfer of retained rights of former landowners on Cumberland Island to the U.S. Park Service.

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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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