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Girl Scouts pick area company for tech support
Sue Else2C CEO of Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia
Sue Else is CEO of the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia. - photo by Photo provided.

SAVANNAH — The Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia has selected Speros, a technology company headquartered in Savannah with an office in Hinesville, as its technology partner.

The nonprofit organization serves most of Georgia, including Liberty and Long counties.

“Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia has over 80 employees working in more than 15 different locations, who all need to be able to access the same data sources as well as communicate effectively with over 18,000 girls and adults,” said Sue Else, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia. “We felt Speros, having the expertise in telephone communication as well as technology, could make that happen.”

Girl Scouts staff will have access to data on the “Speros Cloud” whether they are at their desk or in the field, serving members.

Speros also negotiated and installed a new Toshiba phone system throughout the scouts statewide locations and is providing support features including monitoring, staff assistance and technology updates.

“We work hard to ensure all of our customers have the right products at the best prices, but we take extra care with nonprofits, such as the Girl Scouts, to ensure they receive discount plans that carriers might make available to NPOs,” said Keith Fletcher, chief operating officer at Speros.”

While figures are still preliminary, Else estimates an annual cost savings of more than $160,000 as a result of the technology partnership.
Else said, “Dollars saved from this partnership will go far in continuing to provide the best possible Girl Scout program for the girls throughout Historic Georgia.”

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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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