By the numbers
Northwest Georgia region: 25,844Bartow: 4,206Catoosa: 1,290Chattooga: 583Dade: 305Fannin: 640Floyd: 3,450Gilmer: 678Gordon: 2,236Haralson: 584Murray: 901Paulding: 2,212Pickens: 736Polk: 1,016Walker: 1,330Whitfield: 5,677
Georgia's ports support 439,220 full- and part-time jobs across the state, including 25,844 jobs in Northwest Georgia, according to a study released today by the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth.
The UGA study found that the deepwater ports at Savannah and Brunswick, Ga., are helping to support 70,000 more jobs, or 19 percent more jobs, compared with three years earlier. Georgia ports now account for 9 percent of total state employment, or one out of 11 jobs. Personal income derived from port-supported jobs totaled $25 billion statewide in FY2017.
"Deepwater ports are one of Georgia's strongest economic engines, fostering the development of virtually every industry," UGA Economist Dr. Jeffrey Humphreys said. "The ports are especially supportive of other forms of transportation, manufacturing, wholesale and distribution centers, and agriculture."
"The deepwater ports of Savannah and Brunswick are strong drivers of economic and employment opportunity across the state," said Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch. "Bringing jobs and investment to Georgia is a central part of GPA's mission."
Humphrey's study found that maritime trade amounts to $44 billion in state gross domestic product, or 8 percent of Georgia's total economic output. Business conducted through the ports resulted in $5.9 billion in federal taxes, $1.4 billion in state taxes and $1.5 billion in local taxes, according to the report.
Even though Northwest Georgia is hundreds of miles from the Atlantic coast and Georgia's ports, shipments into such ports helped sustain 5,667 jobs in Whitfield County, 2,236 jobs in Gordon County, 1,330 jobs in Walker County, 1,290 jobs in Catoosa County, 901 jobs in Murray County, 583 jobs in Chattooga County, and 305 jobs in Dade County.
"The findings are a testament to the powerful, positive impacts that trade through Georgia's ports have - supporting not only business opportunity, but important infrastructure and services funded through tax proceeds on every level of government," Georgia Ports Authority Chairman Jimmy Allgood said in a statement today.