The state’s economy must adjust to meet changing expectations and demands, as well as to compete by using its port assets to the greatest effect. What South Carolina produces as a state may change. Our strategies for competing globally may change. But the need for transportation and shipping infrastructure remains. In fact, it is growing exponentially.

International commerce is a two-way proposition to which our ports are intrinsically linked. As South Carolina progresses in its path toward higher per capita income, greater innovation, and increased production for higher-tech markets, increasingly more exported goods will leave our shores via the state’s ports. More imported goods will be exchanged, as well, to supply the state’s producers and the burgeoning economies that result.

With South Carolina ports approaching capacity, a failure to expand under SPA leadership will have a negative impact on ‘just-in-time’ inventories and, consequently, hurt the commercial viability of both shipper and receiver companies, here and abroad. Clearly, the growth of commerce in South Carolina is absolutely dependent of a well-planned, efficient port system.

The Upstate is clearly the region most impacted by the adequacy of state port’s facilities…

• There are more than 144,100 port-related jobs in the 14-county Piedmont region, paying $4.9 billion annually. The port’s relationship with the Piedmont region is truly a symbiotic one -- the Upstate benefits from immediate access to world markets and the port benefits with a healthy, growing cargo base.
• More than two-thirds of the Upstate’s manufacturing employees work for companies that ship internationally. In Greenville and Spartanburg counties alone, there are more than 400 companies that import and export.
• Approximately 60% of the Port of Charleston’s instate cargo originates from or is destined for companies in the Upstate (14-county Piedmont region). Of the 282,000 jobs across South Carolina that are related to trade through the port, more than half of them are in the Piedmont region.
• Companies in the Upstate shipping through the port range in size from 1 employee to 2,000 associates. In fact, well over half of the Upstate international shippers are companies with 50 or fewer employees.

The development of three additional berths at the site of the former Charleston Naval Base is on track, with an environmental study expected to be complete by December 2006, and permitting decisions are expected by April 2007. The first phase of construction is to be completed in 2011.

A tract of 1,800 acres on the Jasper County side of the Savannah River, currently owned and operated by the state of Georgia as a dredge spoil dump site, presents an ideal location for a proposed deep water cargo terminal to take up the expected growth in maritime activity, particularly shipments from Asia, most of which currently dock farther upriver in Savannah.

The initiative to build a $450 million shipping terminal in Jasper County has been lengthy, contentious, and well-documented. At question, however, has been who should oversee development of the proposed port. South Carolina ports serve more than 700 companies from every county in the state. Therefore, its seaport facilities belong to all citizens of South Carolina. The organization leading this charge must consider the interests of all citizens of the state as it proceeds with port development. That organization is the State Ports Authority a group with extensive experience and undisputed expertise in a very specialized industry. Directed 60 years ago by the General Assembly for the express purpose of managing port facilities in this state, the SPA has earned an excellent international reputation for handling trade effectively through the Port of Charleston.

Ranked as the largest port on the Southeast and Gulf coasts and 4th largest nationally, the Port of Charleston has been recognized as the No. 1 most productive port in the United States. As the state’s legally recognized entity for ports development and operation, SPA is best positioned to negotiate effectively with the state of Georgia for ownership or potential partnership regarding development of the Jasper County property. Over 15 years, the SPA has invested more than $400 million of internally generated, non-taxpayer money into the state’s public port facilities. SPA envisions multiple private partners recruited through an open, competitive bidding process to achieve the most fair and cost-effective operations possible.