We live in an area that while not totally removed from the economic deprivation our state and our country have suffered through in the last four or five years, we have been more fortunate than many areas of Georgia. The Port of Savannah, Gulfstream Aerospace, JCB, Weyerhaeuser and the Georgia Pacific recycling plant in Rincon are some of the primary reasons our local economy has remained relatively stable. I worked in and around the Port of Savannah for over 21 years with the Coast Guard and have proudly watched it grow and prosper into the 3rd busiest container port in the nation. Today it is the major economic engine for the state of Georgia and provides somewhere in the neighborhood of 55,000 local jobs in the Coastal Empire and nearby South Carolina, and according to a recent study by the University of Georgia, has an economic impact in all 159 of our counties. If we don't deepen the harbor to the 47 the Corps of Engineers has approved, with the enlargement of the Panama Canal to facilitate larger ships, when those new cargo ships come online, our area will lose a lot of business that will have a significant impact our economy. In addition, we need to work with local leaders, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Governor to ensure we develop the Pooler mega site to its full potential. Insofar as I am aware, the other larger businesses are doing fine on their own, but we need to ensure that they, along with the smaller business community, have every competitive advantage to ply their trade and retain or even expand their employee base.
The primary reason I identified the major industries is because we live in a trickle down economy. All of the thousands of employees who work at the larger industries spend their money in our local economy. They buy gas, clothes, food, have their cars repaired, their houses maintained, and avail themselves of many other commodities/services at local businesses, which provides for the continuation and expansion of small business community and additional jobs. Pooler and Rincon are prime examples of growth that have occurred in District 161 during the last ten to fifteen years. In fact, due to growth, Representative Ann Purcell's district had 18,000 too many people when redistricting occurred last year, which resulted in several areas having to be moved to other districts in order to meet the population equity requirements of the courts. That's a by-product of economic prosperity and I'll work hard to ensure our businesses and our citizens continue to grow and prosper.