B U S I N E S S I N S AVA N N A H

By the Numbers

Savannah embraces our history while looking to the future. The

inventions of the past have, today, been transformed into ideas

for sustainability, innovation and smart technology. Whether

appealing to an environmental calling or to fostering a win-win

relationship with today’s hottest industries, the possibilities for

continued growth and prosperity are endless.

Built on the foundation of a diverse economy, which includes

manufacturing, tourism, port-related operations, healthcare

and government/military, Savannah is committed to nurturing

these mainstays while cultivating a growing number of creative

and technical businesses. These efforts have consistently made

Savannah’s economy one of the most stable in Georgia.

Savannah: Propelling Business

Even in its infancy, Savannah was an emerging center of innovation and prosperity, the first designed city in the nation. From the invention of the cotton gin to the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1819, the desire to create and foster innovation has formed a solid foundation upon which our community thrives to this very day.

You’ll find businesses and the people who run them are

welcomed here with open arms. Smart, sincere people who care

about the community are encouraged and embraced. Love our

hometown, and you’ll not only rub elbows with local leaders,

you could easily become one of them.

With SEDA’s in-depth knowledge and experience, we are

committed to helping companies take advantage of everything

Savannah has to offer. From assisting in the process of securing

property to maximizing vital state and local resources to helping

build a stellar workforce, we are with them every step of the

way. But our commitment doesn’t end there. The sustainabil-

ity and growth of companies in the Savannah region is a top

priority for SEDA, and we work hard to keep businesses apprised

of any incentive, saving or workforce program that could be of

help to them. Our dedication to helping businesses thrive shows

in everything we do.

There is a synergy in Savannah that is hard to ignore. It’s the cooperation and energy that brings together the Savannah Economic Development Authority and our partners including the City of Savannah, Chatham County,

the Georgia Department of Economic Development and so many others to help propel business in our region.

SAVANNAH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

Making it Happen

Advanced manufacturing represents 10 percent of the workforce

in the Savannah MSA, contributing to a payroll of more than

$1.1 billion. Savannah’s broad advanced manufacturing base

includes 245 manufacturers, employing more than 15,000 and

creating a $2.4 billion output in 2012.

Advanced manufacturers in the Savannah area also benefit

from the city’s superior infrastructure, which includes the Port

of Savannah. The Port of Savannah, the second largest on the

East and Gulf coasts and the fastest growing in the nation,

features two deepwater terminals and gives companies access

to 44 percent of the U.S. and 80 percent of U.S. consumers

within two days. The city also features two Class 1 railroads,

easy and immediate access to major highway systems, and an

international airport.

In 2009, Mitsubishi Power Systems, now Mitsubishi Hitachi Power

Systems, chose Savannah to produce its giant and steam gas

turbines. In 2012, they marked the first shipment of the first

commercial gas turbine rolled Today, the $325 million dollar

plant employs 340 today and will eventually employ 500.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems

Advanced Manufacturing

Savannah’s workforce is another major draw for the advanced

manufacturing sector. The Savannah area has a 14-county labor

draw with a labor pool of more than 438,000. The area’s talent

pipeline includes 18 area colleges and universities that have

more than 60,000 students, graduating 11,000 students each

year.

Many advanced manufacturers in the Savannah area have

benefited from Herty Advanced Materials Development Center,

a part of Georgia Southern University. The world-class research

and development facility, which supports the non-wovens, pulp

and paper, and bio-based materials industries, has produced

materials for Fortune 500 chemicals and materials companies

such as DuPont.

Aerospace manufacturing has been a key industry in Savannah

since Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, planted roots here in

1967. Today Gulfstream is the industry leader, producing the

world’s premier and most technologically advanced business-jet

aircraft.

As the largest aerospace manufacturer in the Southeast, Gulfst-

ream employs more than 10,000 workers locally, but they aren’t

the only ones calling Savannah home. More than 30 aero-

space-related companies are located in Savannah, making the

area a true aerospace supplier cluster.

Savannah is strategically located within 100 miles of Boeing in

Charleston, S.C., 140 miles of Embraer in Jacksonville, Fla. and

500 miles of Airbus in Mobile, Ala., making it the ideal hub

as an aerospace supplier. Savannah’s central location enables

convenient just-in-time part deliveries and same-day, round-trip

service.

Savannah’s workforce talent pipeline includes a wide variety

of job seekers and skilled laborers. Savannah has 10 times the

national average of aerospace engineers and was ranked 5th by

PricewaterhouseCoopers for aviation manufacturing talent.

With the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army

Airfield, as well other military bases in the area, 37,300 total

active duty military personnel are located within 45 miles of

Savannah, with more than 350 trained and disciplined “Heroes

for Hire” leaving the military each month.

Aerospace

As SEDA President and CEO Trip Tollison once said, “Gulfstream

Aerospace is one hell of a story.” The largest aerospace supplier

in the Southeast, Gulfstream employs 10,000 people and has a

backlog of G650 until 2016.

In September 2014, they announced plans to build a new $33

million, 72,000 square foot, state-of-the-art aircraft paint facility.

The facility will be located near the company’s 679,199-sq-ft

Savannah Service Center, which is the largest business aviation

maintenance facility in the world and can accommodate up to 36

aircraft at a time. The paint hangar will support the company’s

growing refurbishment work, especially now that the worldwide

Gulfstream fleet has surpassed 2,300 aircraft.

Construction is planned to start later this year, with completion

expected by the middle of next year. The facility will support 100

new jobs.

Gulfstream Aerospace

Fueled by the Port of Savannah, the distribution sector of Savan-

nah’s economy is booming. The world’s largest distributors, from

manufacturers to large-scale retailers, have facilities in Savannah

including The Home Depot, IKEA, Dollar Tree, Target and more.

The Port of Savannah is the fastest-growing port in the nation,

the second largest on the East and Gulf coasts, and not surpris-

ingly, a major economic development engine for the entire state

of Georgia. The port serves as a major distribution hub to and

from a 26-state region – with 80 percent of the U.S. population

within a two-day reach from Savannah.

When Dollar Tree first announced its plans for expansion in

January 2011, it included an investment of $18 million and the

creation of 68 jobs. In July 2012, with expansion complete, the

final investment totaled $19.8 million and 182 additional jobs,

adding to the 135 jobs that existed prior to expansion. The

600,000 square-foot distribution center grew by 400,000 square

feet allowing the company to bring in more than 12,000 contain-

ers in 2012 through the Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City

Terminal at the Port of Savannah.

Logistics & Distribution

Dollar Tree

In fiscal year 2014, Savannah’s port shipped more than three

million TEUs. Additionally, the port has gained worldwide recog-

nition as a major regional cargo hub, and it provides deepwater

access to one of the East Coast’s largest available mega sites.

More than 4 million square feet of distribution center space is

available within a 30-mile radius of the port.

In 2014, the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project was authorized to

begin construction to deepen the harbor to 47 feet through the

Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014. Completion

is expected in early 2018. In addition, the Port of Savannah has

planned investments of the next decade of $1.4 billion.

“We chose to expand our facility in Savannah, Georgia for a

variety of reasons, including the friendly and supportive business

environment; the Georgia Ports Authority’s commitment to

customer service and operating efficiency supported by a large

carrier base; and the excellent logistics infrastructure made up of

the port, the interstate system and the airport,” said Bob Sasser,

president and CEO of Dollar Tree.

As businesses like Dollar Tree grow, so does the attractiveness of

our region to other companies poised to benefit from Savan-

nah’s place as a logistics hub that provides global access to

customers in markets throughout the world.

Paragon Design Group is a multi-disciplined creative agency

with specialties including motion graphics and animation,

brand development, web design and development and print

design. Founded in Savannah in 2001 by graduates for the

Savannah College of Art and Design, this boutique studio creates

compelling communications across multiple media for clients of

all sizes, from Fortune 500 companies to early stage start-ups.

In recent years Paragon has garnered numerous accolades

for their work and have been featured in publications like

Fast Company, HOW Magazine, Layers Magazine, American

Corporate ID, Graphic Design USA and Hofstra University Press.

In early 2014, two of their animations were featured among

2013’s Best Infographic Movies.

Creative Design & Tech

With a creative talent pipeline, operating costs that are 30

percent less than competitors and an infrastructure that enables

young companies to grow, it’s no wonder that many companies

focused on creative production and technology are planting

roots in Savannah.

One clear advantage to Savannah is the 8,000 Savannah College

of Art and Design students who major in programs such as

interactive design and game development, industrial design, film

and television, animation and more. SCAD graduates have gone

on to work for companies such as Epic Games, Zynga, Electronic

Arts, Disney, Pixar Animation Studios, Microsoft, Google, and

more in addition to being Oscar, Grammy and Emmy award

winners. And many graduates choose to stay or come back to

Savannah to work after graduation.

Many movie productions have chosen to film in Savannah includ-

ing Forrest Gump, The Conspirator, The Last Song, Midnight in

the Garden of Good and Evil, Forces of Nature and the soon-to-

be-released SpongeBob SquarePants 2. In 2013 there were 84

productions that filmed in Savannah.

Savannah’s network of investors and entrepreneurs include The

Creative Coast, Technology Association of Georgia, SLAAM Ven-

tures, Ariel Southeast Angel Partners, ThincSavnanah, the Geor-

gia Center of Innovation for Logistics, Georgia Tech’s Advanced

Technology Development Center and more.

Savannah has a variety of office space available and boasts oper-

ating expenses that are 30 percent less than other cities such as

New Orleans, Raleigh, Austin and more.

Paragon Design Group

In 2014, The Creative Coast and SEDA announced the estab-

lishment of the Creators’ Foundry, a 16,000-square-foot facility

that serves as a vibrant, innovative epicenter of entrepreneurial

activity. The facility offers office rental space, incubator space,

co-working space, and an auditorium for lectures, festivals,

workshops and events. ThincSavannah is also available as a

shared workspace.

International Business

Savannah is also a vibrant, progressive, diverse, forward-thinking

business community and home to many international businesses

including Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and the North

American headquarters of JCB, Inc.

Savannah is home to the fourth-largest and fastest-growing

port in the nation, connected to the most extensive surface

transportation network in the United States, and includes

the Savannah Hilton Head International Airport, which has

seven direct flights to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International

Airport, the world’s busiest and most efficient passenger airport.

Announced in 1998, British corporation JCB’s North American

Headquarters in Savannah sits on over 1,000 pristine acres facing

one of the nations’ busiest highways, I-95. From the 500,000

square foot state of the art facility, JCB headquarters supports

a network of over 100 dealers in the United States, Canada and

Mexico, providing parts, training and expertise. Founded and

based in the United Kingdom, the Savannah location employs

more than 550 employees.

Under the same roof, the Savannah manufacturing floor is proud

to be the worldwide production facility for all 18 models of the

world’s safest skid steer and compact track loader as well as the

home of the HMEE (High Mobility Engineer Excavator) designed

and manufactured for the US Army and other allied nations.

JCB

The state of Georgia is also home to 42 bi-national chambers

of commerce and more than 25 foreign governments have

operations in Georgia.

In Savannah, SEDA works with our partners, which include

World Trade Center Savannah (licensed by SEDA), the City

of Savannah, Chatham County, the Georgia Department of

Economic Development, Georgia Power and others, to promote

and actively locate international businesses to Savannah as well

as facilitate the transition to locating, hiring employees and

opening a business in Savannah.

Want to learn more?

Savannah Economic Development Authority

Angela Hendrix

Director of Marketing and Public Relations

912.447.8450

912.856.7329

ahendrix@seda.org

www.seda.org

This year, Georgia has been named by CNBC, Area Development

magazine and Site Selection magazine as the No. 1 state for

doing business. And nowhere is that more evident than in

Savannah, Georgia where businesses are thriving on a global

scale. As Bob Jepson of Jepson Associates puts it, “Savannah is red

hot in terms of where it is going and the progress it is making.”

The Savannah Economic Development Authority public relations

office is here to assist you in meeting your deadlines with story

ideas, economic development statistics, press releases, images

and more. We can also assist with fact checking, interviews,

individual press trips and other special media requests. To learn

more about our diverse economy contact us today.

www.seda.org