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Georgia ports plan big investments to keep pace with growth

In this photo provided by the Georgia Port Authority, GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz addresses more than 1,300 attendees during the 2015 State of the Port address, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, in Savannah, Ga. Foltz reported nearly 3,000 new jobs created and $619 million in industrial investment tied to a year of strong growth at the GPA. (Stephen Morton/Georgia Port Authority via AP)
In this photo provided by the Georgia Port Authority, GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz addresses more than 1,300 attendees during the 2015 State of the Port address, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, in Savannah, Ga. Foltz reported nearly 3,000 new jobs created and $619 million in industrial investment tied to a year of strong growth at the GPA. (Stephen Morton/Georgia Port Authority via AP)

By Associated Press 3 min read

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) – Georgia’s coastal seaports plan $142 million in expansion and improvement projects in the next year to keep pace with faster than expected growth, the ports’ chief executive said Thursday.

Curtis Foltz, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, delivered his annual “State of the Ports” speech just two months after the agency reported record-smashing cargo volumes at both Savannah and Brunswick in fiscal 2015.

Buoyed in part by West Coast labor woes that diverted cargo to the eastern seaboard, Georgia’s ports saw overall cargo volume jump 8 percent to 31.7 million tons during the fiscal year that ended June 30. The Port of Savannah, fourth in the nation for handling cargo containers used to ship retail goods, saw that business grow a whopping 17 percent as it moved 3.7 million container units.

“Those are container volumes we didn’t expect to see until 2019, and we saw them last year,” Foltz told about 1,500 gathered in a convention center ballroom for his speech.

Though some of the increased business that Georgia saw last year has returned to the West Coast, Foltz predicted more growth in the coming year. And he said the ports should be ready for the extra volumes.