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Georgia Tech, GaMEP hire new manager
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SAVANNAH — The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership, an outreach program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, recently announced Ben Cheeks has been hired as coastal-region manager.
From Georgia Tech’s Savannah campus, Cheeks will serve Bulloch, Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Screven and Wayne counties.
He and a team of project managers will work with regional manufacturers to help them develop top-line growth and reduce bottom-line costs through process improvement efforts, ISO management systems, energy and sustainability initiative and business-development services.
In this position, Cheeks will work with Jennifer Bonnett, community catalyst with the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), to connect Savannah-based, manufacturing-focused technology startups to Georgia Tech resources. Those connections will then be brought back to Georgia Tech through ATDC to create new companies and foster job growth within the region.
“I look forward to connecting with manufacturers in the region, listening to their needs, and establishing long-term relationships,” said Cheeks, who also is finishing his doctoral degree with a focus on innovation in manufacturing.
“We’re excited to have Ben join the team and the Georgia Tech-Savannah campus,” GaMEP Director Karen Fite said. ”With extensive experience working within manufacturing plants, including overseas positions, he brings a great skill set to the position.”
For more information, email Katie Takacs at katie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu.

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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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