By and for Citizens ………………………………………………………Page

Port Wentworth Jobs and Redesigned Growth by and for Citizens

By C.J. Smith,

Ph.D. Candidate

Annexation beginning in 1989 marked growth for the City of Port Wentworth, Georgia along a 21-mile corridor on Boney Bridge Road to welcome an industrial corridor. Now for over two decades the City of Port Wentworth, Georgia has benefited from growth in jobs as a result of the Georgia Port Authority (GPA). Now complete as of March 2022, the 32 mile-$973 million Savannah Harbor Deepening Project (SHEP) launched in 2015, expands the Georgia Ports Authority from 42 feet to 47 feet deep. SHEP meant larger-huge container vessels or cargo ships could enter the GPA bringing more containers and jobs to create additional local distribution centers and warehouses in Port Wentworth and Savannah. Expansion has brought over thirteen (13) distribution centers and warehouses to Port Wentworth, Amazon, IKEA, Dollar, Wal-Mart, Target, Noritake Company, Schilli, Con Global Industries, Cargo Group, Port City Logistics, NFI, CST, Wayfair and EctroLux. However, not all Port Wentworth distribution centers and warehouses have a Port Wentworth address or benefit the City of Port Wentworth, which have been annexed to the City of Savannah. Another seven (7) distribution centers and warehouses like, Ashley Furniture, Supply Chain, Tradeport Logistics, Home Depot, Lowes, Ocean Link and R & S Logistics, have City of Savannah addresses. Many of the Port Wentworth warehouses and distribution centers are regulated by the City of Savannah. Companies like Port City Logistics invest $80 million into a 50,400-foot new facility on Highway 21 in Port Wentworth, which equates to 200 new jobs for Port Wentworth residents. Simultaneously, Port Wentworth experiences a growing number of BIOPIC populations migrating from 2 Savannah to better opportunities and

increased wages to balance more affordable housing. The Great Exodus of Savannah (Downtown, East and West Savannah) marks displacement yes for BIOPIC populations from the Savannah Urban Core, however, Port Wentworth benefits in a win for population growth. While Savannah transforms from urban decay to gentrification replaced with transient and temporary residents, Port Wentworth looks to the comparative advantage of growth and industrialization. That is, Port Wentworth citizens have the power in Redesign of their City, which means investments in safer and better communities and roads.

Therefore, in many ways industrialization and growth means major victories for local residents. The migration of BIOPIC populations dominates Port Wentworth and serves as the primary culprit for immediate CAT (Chatham Area Transit) expansion for Port Wentworth. In 2019, a half million jobs existed in the Georgia Port Expansion. A billion federal and state dollars were spent to protect fish and wildlife along the Savannah Harbor. Another $1 billion in federal and state dollars could be spent in Port Wentworth to integrate Complete Streets or Smart Growth in Port Wentworth.

Complete Streets is a redesign to make communities safer for pedestrians, motorists and bikers in commutes to and from. Elements of Complete Streets include public transit expansion, more sidewalks and bike/walk paths along Highway 21. Holistically, as Port Wentworth continues to grow and transform, citizens have the element of say and ownership. Port Wentworth residents have the opportunity to contribute significant public input to assert positive change in modernizing the city to improve the overall quality of life of the city rather than fracture their community vs. annexation in past decades.