SAVANNAH, GA. — The Port of Savannah and the surrounding industrial market are both growing exponentially. That trend was reinforced with the $172 million investment announced last week by Plastic Express to build two new manufacturing facilities in nearby Pooler. “They’re going to export plastic resins out of our port to the tune of 100,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year,” said Hugh “Trip” Tollison, president and CEO of Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA). “Plastic Express has instantaneously become one of the port’s largest customers.” Tollison was one of the featured speakers at a luncheon hosted by SEDA on Wednesday, May 1 at 5Church restaurant in Midtown Atlanta’s Colony Square. The event brought together several of Savannah’s top businesses, including Savannah Bourbon, Visit Tybee Island, Georgia Grown, The Salt Table and Leopold’s Ice Cream, which is turning 100 years old this year. Tollison highlighted many economic drivers in the Savannah region, including aerospace giant Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. hiring its 12,000th employee; healthcare system St. Joseph’s/Candler opening a new hospital in Pooler last month; and the film industry that last year doubled its 2017 economic spend thanks to productions of films like the upcoming “Gemini Man” starring Will Smith. The straw …
