Georgetown, SC – The Port of Georgetown will soon welcome the first ship call as part of a new, 20-year contract that will bring business to the port while supporting local manufacturing and maritime jobs.
Carolina-Pacific, a South Carolina-based producer of wood briquettes used as a renewable energy source, will begin manufacturing and exporting product from the Port of Georgetown in October. The first vessel is expected to handle 6,000 metric tons of product onto a ship for export to Europe.
Carolina-Pacific plans to move approximately 66,000 metric tons in its first year of operation at the port. Carolina-Pacific has signed a 20-year contract with the SCSPA with two, 5-year renewal options.
Local officials and business leaders joined company representatives, the maritime community and the South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA) today at the port to announce the new business.
In addition to the business across the pier, Carolina-Pacific will initially occupy more than 100,000 square feet of warehouse space at the port to support manufacturing and exporting the wood briquettes, which are used in power generation as an eco-friendly substitute or supplement to coal.
Wood pellets and briquettes are quickly becoming a high-demand commodity overseas due to requirements that member countries of the European Union generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
“We are excited to welcome Carolina-Pacific and this new business to the Port of Georgetown,” said L. David Schronce, the SCSPA’s director of the Port of Georgetown and Veterans Terminal. “Each ship entering the port supports tugs, pilots, longshoreman and others within the local maritime community, which means more dollars in the local economy.”
“Georgetown is a vital part of the state port system, and the Ports Authority is dedicated to keeping it a viable port facility for this community,” said David J. Posek, chairman of the SCSPA. “Today’s announcement demonstrates the Ports Authority’s commitment to aggressively pursue and grow business through Georgetown. Especially in this tough economic climate, we must focus on our core mission of serving as an economic engine for the State of South Carolina.”
“We appreciate and commend the Ports Authority’s flexibility and ingenuity in helping us launch this business,” said John B. Kern, chairman and CEO of Carolina-Pacific. “South Carolina is now staged to enter the renewable energy industry on a global scale.”
Kern noted that the operation has a direct connection to the state’s forestry and agricultural industries by utilizing South Carolina-sourced Southern Yellow Pine in the on-site production of the briquettes and in the transport of switchgrass grown in the I-95 corridor.
“I welcome today’s announcement and applaud Carolina-Pacific’s faith in the positive business climate of coastal South Carolina,” said Congressman Henry E. Brown. “This is also an important step forward for the Port of Georgetown, a significant economic development resource that I have long supported in Congress. The key to addressing the Port’s maintenance needs is to increase the tonnage coming across the dock, and the aggressive work by the community and the Ports Authority should be commended,” said Congressman Brown.
“This announcement is another indication that Commerce’s close partnership with the state Ports Authority is a winning combination. Having Commerce project manager John Scarborough stationed at the port provides further evidence that strong leadership at the Ports Authority working hand-in-hand with an economic development professional is a team that is producing dividends for South Carolina,” said Joe Taylor, Secretary of Commerce.
“Our state’s ports system continues to be an incredible asset for South Carolina and Carolina-Pacific’s commitment to the Port of Georgetown is another example of how export activity and the strength of our state’s ports are integral in attracting new jobs and growing our economy. Thanks to the team efforts of state and local leaders, Georgetown County will benefit from this announcement now and in the years ahead,” Secretary Taylor said.
Attention is being focused on maintenance dredging for Georgetown’s 27-foot authorized channel. Thanks to the action of Congressman Brown, the Energy & Water Appropriations bill approved by the U.S. House earlier this month included another $1 million toward needed maintenance dredging in Georgetown. With Sen. Lindsey Graham’s support, the Senate Appropriations committee adopted the same provision in its version of the bill.
ABOUT THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE PORTS AUTHORITY: The South Carolina State Ports Authority, established by the state's General Assembly in 1942, owns and operates public seaport facilities in Charleston and Georgetown, handling international commerce valued at more than $62 billion annually and receiving no direct taxpayer subsidy. An economic development engine for the state, port operations facilitate 260,800 jobs across South Carolina and nearly $45 billion in economic activity each year.
For more information: Byron D. Miller Director, Public Relations S.C. State Ports Authority 843-577-8197 www.scspa.com
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“Now most of the money that we're investing as part of this plan will get out the door immediately and go directly to job creation, generating or saving three to four million new jobs."—President Barack Obama, January 28, 2009
The President promised Americans that the trillion dollar “stimulus” was going to be spent quickly, create 3 to 4 million jobs, and get the Nation’s economy back on track. Now, while Democrats struggle to justify their spending spree with taxpayer dollars, families across the country continue to suffer from record unemployment.
Democrats have persistently claimed that their plans for health care reform would save money by lowering health care costs. That is an excellent goal, and one we all share. Unfortunately for the Democrats, the Director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says their claims don’t match up with reality:
“The health care overhauls released to date would increase, not reduce, the burgeoning long-term health costs facing the government, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf said Thursday.” (CQ Politics, 7/16/09)
ABC News has the full exchange that took place today between CBO Director Doug Elmendorf and Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). Here’s a snippet.
CONRAD: From what you have seen from the products of the committees that have reported, do you see a successful effort being mounted to bend the long-term cost curve?
ELMENDORF: No, Mr. Chairman. In the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount. And on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs.
So much for that talking point. Your move, Democrats.
75% of Americans Believe Obama Stimulus Has Either Made the Economy Worse or Had No Impact
“So far, do you think the federal government’s stimulus package has made the economy better, made the economy worse, or has it had no impact on the economy so far?
21% Obama stimulus has made the economy better 15% Obama stimulus has made the economy worse 60% Obama stimulus has had no impact 75% Total: Obama stimulus has either made the economy worse or had no impact
CBS News Poll; conducted July 9-12, 2009; Survey of 944 Adults Nationwide
In a web video, released as it was reported that the US lost another 467,000 jobs in June, House Republicans shine a spotlight on several wasteful projects bankrolled by the taxpayer-funded trillion-dollar “stimulus” and underscore the lack of jobs created by the massive spending binge.
And according to CNN, Democrats are all over the map about what happened with the stimulus, and what to do next:
ACOSTA: It’s an issue that dogged the President all the way to Russia where Mr. Obama clarified statements made by his own Vice President on the recession.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: There was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited.
ACOSTA: Not exactly, according to the President.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I would actually, rather than say “misread,” we had incomplete information.
ACOSTA: Who still believes the stimulus was the right call.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: There’s nothing that we would have done differently.
And just yesterday, as South Carolina's unemployment sits at a historic 12%, the Government Accountability Office issued a report showing that stimulus funds are not flowing to areas who are the hardest hit by the recession. Republicans warned that this would happen when the stimulus was passed, and that is why we proposed a pro-growth stimulus of fast-acting tax cuts to help small business create jobs. Instead of helping our country get back on its feet, all the Administration and the Democratic Congress has done is make Washington bigger, wasted taxpayer money, and piled more debt on the backs of our children.
