ATLANTA – Containerized cargo, which already dominates activity at the Port of Savannah, soon will play an even bigger role.
The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) board has approved a plan to renovate and realign the docks at the port’s Ocean Terminal to better accommodate an expanding container operation.
“For nearly 40 years, Ocean Terminal has been handling a mix of container ships and breakbulk vessels,” authority Executive Director Griff Lynch said. “The realignment is part of a broader effort to transform the terminal into an all-container operation, shifting most breakbulk cargo to the Port of Brunswick.”
The GPA plans to move breakbulk cargo, which doesn’t easily fit into shipping containers, to Colonel’s Island Terminal in Brunswick. Construction has started on 360,000 square feet of dockside warehousing that will serve auto processing there, as well as three additional buildings and 85 acres of auto storage space on the south side of the island.
The 200-acre Ocean Terminal facility will be modified in two phases.
The work will begin with rebuilding the docks to provide 2,800 linear feet of berth space capable of serving two big ships simultaneously. The docks will be served by new ship-to-shore cranes.
“As the dock construction progresses, GPA will continue to operate container ships at Ocean Terminal,” said Ed McCarthy, the ports authority’s chief operating officer. “The work … will be conducted alongside container and breakbulk operations.”
Apart from new cranes and berth enhancements, the project will bring expanded gate facilities and paving to allow for 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) of annual cargo capacity. Wharf renovations are scheduled to start in January, with completion of the entire terminal redevelopment expected in 2026.
Port officials expect container volumes to taper downward toward the end of the year after a period of record-breaking business.
Lynch said the opening of a new container berth at the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal next summer and volume declining from historic highs will help expedite vessel service, which experienced backlogs when demand was at its peak.
“While we are beginning to see an anticipated market correction, it is important that GPA move forward with projects like the Ocean Terminal enhancements to accommodate business growth,” GPA board Chairman Joel Wooten said. “Through continued infrastructure improvement, we will ensure the free flow of commerce, and our ability to meet expanding customer demand.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Former Pickens County School Superintendent Carlton Wilson has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of racketeering and theft, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Monday.
Wilson was involved in various schemes to illegally obtain charitable donations, county tax dollars, and funds from his own business for personal use, including one scheme involving his wife, Cindy.
“Carlton and Cindy Wilson stole thousands of dollars from hardworking Georgians, and now they are facing the consequences of their illegal actions,” Carr said. “This conviction is a major victory for all those who fell victim to the couple’s fraudulent and deceptive tactics.”
“Our detectives and prosecutors with the attorney general’s office worked hundreds of hours analyzing financial records and interviewing dozens of witnesses in an effort to bring this case to a close and provide restitution to our victims of this racketeering enterprise,” Pickens County Sheriff Donnie Craig added.
Wilson is a former teacher, school principal, magistrate judge, school superintendent and victim advocacy director for the district attorney’s office. He and his wife also own and operate a private company in Jasper.
In 2009, a private landowner donated 10 acres to a Boy Scout troop in Pickens County. Wilson was active with the Boy Scouts and exercised control over the land through that association.
Years after the donation, Wilson sold the property and kept $26,420 instead of giving it to the troop. He subsequently used the money to pay personal expenses.
During the last two years, Wilson suffered a serious injury while working for the county, exhausted the balance of his paid sick leave, and certified that he was still unable to work.
But while he was collecting more than $6,000 in leave time donated by county employees, he was actively working at his business doing work with the same physical requirement.
Also in 2021 and this year, both Carlton and Cindy Wilson embezzled funds from the business they shared with two other partners.
They wrote checks totaling more than $79,000 from the company and deposited them into their personal account. In addition, the pair redirected almost $25,000 in company revenue from a vendor to their personal account and took $42,800 in cash from the company.
Carlton and Cindy Wilson pleaded guilty last week. No date has been set for sentencing.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Georgia Commissioner of Economic Development Pat Wilson
ATLANTA – A German robotic machinery manufacturer specializing in individualized robotic equipment will build a manufacturing plant in Canton to house its North American headquarters, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday.
Becker Robotic Equipment will invest more than $30 million in a project expected to create 137 new jobs in Cherokee County.
“Georgia continues to attract global companies like Becker to our ever-growing automotive industry,” Kemp said. “We’re grateful for Becker’s decision to locate their North American headquarters in Georgia and look forward to their expanding impact on the Peach State.”
Headquartered in Dülmen, Germany, Becker was founded in 1993 to supply accessories and integrated automated systems, mainly for the automotive industry.
“The investment in Georgia builds on our previous success in the state and enables us to bring about a new phase of growth for our high-tech manufacturing operations,” said Johan Broekhuijsen, Becker’s CEO for global project management. “Georgia’s business environment, particularly regarding e-mobility, has been critical in this regard. The available workforce, business environment and support on all levels drove the decision to remain in the state.”
Pat Wilson, commissioner of the state Department of Economic Development, said Georgia has been a center for the automotive industry since Kia set up shop in West Point in 2009. The automaker has 3,000 employees and has drawn more than 40 suppliers responsible for 12,000 more jobs, Wilson said Monday at the Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators, a three-day orientation session for newly elected lawmakers at the University of Georgia.
“Automotive is a major driver of our economy,” he said.
Becker is looking to hire sales and applications engineers, automotive project managers, non-automotive project managers, inside sales support staff, project engineers, office administrators, HR generalists, manufacturing technicians, and customer and service technicians. Interested individuals can reach out directly to hiring-us@becker-robotic.com.
The state economic development agency worked in partnership with the Cherokee County Development Authority, Georgia EMC and the Technical College System of Georgia’s Quick Start program on the Becker project.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Early voters wait in line at a precinct in Cobb County. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – More than 1.7 million Georgia voters cast ballots last week ahead of the U.S. Senate runoff, a sure sign that interest is high in the contest between incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker.
The 352,953 ballots cast on Friday, the final day for early voting, shattered the previous one-day record for early voting in Georgia set ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Counting absentee and military voters, the total turnout reached 1.85 million, 26.4% of active Georgia voters.
Warnock received more votes than Walker in the Nov. 8 general election, capturing 49.4% of the vote to 48.5% for the Republican. But since neither candidate won more than 50% of the vote, state law requires a runoff to decide the victor.
Democrats have expressed concern about the relatively low number of absentee ballots turned in ahead of the runoff, citing legislation the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed last year requiring voters to show a photo ID to vote absentee and significantly limiting the number of absentee ballot drop boxes.
But Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the strong early voting turnout shows the new law works.
“Georgia has struck the perfect balance between accessibility and security,” Raffensperger said. “These historic turnout levels emphasize that any lawful voter who wants to cast a ballot can do so easily.”
Tuesday is Election Day. Polling locations across the state will be open from 7 a.m. until 7p.m.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia
ATLANTA – The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee voted Friday to recommend shuffling the 2024 presidential primary schedule to give Georgia and several other states earlier primaries.
Under the proposed schedule, Iowa and New Hampshire – historically the first Democratic caucus and primary states – would give way to South Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, and Michigan. The proposal came from President Joe Biden.
The move would add to the diversity of early Democratic primary voters, since both Iowa and New Hampshire are majority white. While Republicans have dominated South Carolina for decades, Georgia, Nevada, and Michigan, have become key battleground states in recent presidential elections.
“Georgia Democrats have always said that our state will play a critical role in the national political landscape for years to come and must be prioritized as such,” U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia, said Friday. “Today’s vote … to recommend Georgia as an early primary state reflects the Democratic Party’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity.”
Under the proposal, South Carolina would become the first state to hold a Democratic presidential primary in 2024, which would take place on Feb. 3. New Hampshire and Nevada would hold primaries on Feb. 6, followed by Georgia on Feb. 20 and Michigan on Feb. 27.
South Carolina essentially bailed out Biden’s presidential bid two years ago after he received a powerful endorsement from House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. After losing in Iowa to Pete Buttigieg – now Biden’s transportation secretary – and to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in New Hampshire, Biden posted his first primary win in South Carolina.
He then went on to win the Georgia primary with 75% of the vote and coasted from there to the Democratic nomination.
The committee’s vote sends the proposal to the full Democratic National Committee, which will make a final decision on the primary schedule early next year.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
