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Job program trains offenders
Grants go to several areas in state
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Special to the News
Updated: Feb 2, 2014, 2:40 PM
Published: Jan 31, 2014, 3:05 PM

The Governor’s Office of Workforce Development recently announced the allocation of more than $107,000 in grant funding for offender training in six Local Workforce Investment Areas across the state.
The five pilot areas with re-entry training programs include Southwest Georgia, West Central Georgia, Coastal Georgia, DeKalb and Atlanta.
“Offenders re-entering the civilian workforce face real hurdles when searching for a job,” GOWD Executive Director Ben Hames said in a news release. “With a vision to target this population through strong training, these local areas are equipping citizens with the tools they need to overcome those employment barriers and regain their place in the workforce.”  
Detailed in the grant agreements, each local area has selected 10-15 offenders to participate in the program through the individual’s local Transitional Center. The job-specific training will vary based upon labor demands in the local area.  
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice, nearly 700,000 people are released from state and federal prison each year, and more than two-thirds of state prisoners are re-arrested within three years of their releases. According to the news release, the GOWD program will attempt to disrupt this pattern “by ensuring that citizens have a meaningful chance to start over after incarceration.”

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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
Bryan County News
Updated: May 23, 2018, 1:59 AM
Published: May 23, 2018, 2:00 AM

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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