SAVANNAH – Georgia is on the move. Literally. And the newly-named Georgia Logistics Innovation Center (LINC) plans to keep it that way, building on the firm foundation of its predecessor, the Maritime Logistics Innovation Center (MLIC). Why the change?

Consider the following statistics: currently, Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than 286,476 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute $14.9 billion in income, $55.8 billion in revenue and $2.8 billion in state and local taxes.

If that sounds impressive, short-term future projections are almost mind-boggling. Projected growth puts Georgia’s container ports handling more than 4.4 million TEU’s (twenty foot equivalent units) by 2015 – compared to the current load of 2.3 million, which ranks it as the 3rd largest in the Country (behind only LA/LB and NY/NJ), or a 107 percent increase. The increase means Georgia’s container terminal in 2015 could handle as much as the entire country of Canada, does today.

From these numbers, it is easy to see how this growth at the ports impacts every other sector of logistics. For example, currently there are as much as 2,346 unique trucks visiting the container terminal in Savannah every day; many of those trucks make more than one run, for a daily total of more than 3,500 daily round trips. To handle the projected growth, it could take as many 4,856 unique truck visits in the year 2015 or a similar increase of 107 percent. However, the growth of licensed truck drivers in the entire state is only expected to grow a total of 23 percent in the next eight years, and only 12 percent nation wide, leaving a significant shortfall of drivers.

And trucking is just one aspect of the multi-faceted logistics industry that includes roads, air, rail and support systems – all of which will be needed to manage the growth surge. Georgia has doubled its spending on transportation and infrastructure since 2002; to more than $2 billion per year. However, these dollars are not going nearly as far due to factors such as rising costs in materials like concrete and steel. This requires the logistics industry and the State alike to be more creative and innovative with available resources. Combine these statistics with the Federal Highway Trust Fund’s $8.1 billion dollar shortage expected in 2010, and a sense of urgency begins to set in.

How each logistics sector uses new ideas, technology and funding to address the impending issues and stay ahead of the curve is of paramount important to the economic development of Georgia. Positioning the issue for each sector as complex is a classic understatement. However, imagine the impact of Georgia’s multi-billion dollar logistics industry if each sector, independently successful and poised for significant growth, had a platform to discuss interconnected growth and industry issues, solve problems and share technology solutions across the board.

Enter LINC. As of September 20th, the organization will continue doing what MLIC has always done – help solve logistics problems and facilitate the development of new technologies. However, this newly expanded platform is now a source for connecting the many sectors of Georgia logistics. Going forward, in addition to providing effective solutions and technology applications for the maritime sector, LINC will also seek to incorporate the thoughts, insight and problems faced by other closely linked logistics sectors – rail, trucking, air cargo, warehousing and distribution, and service providers in Georgia.

As MLIC, and now LINC, executive director Page Siplon worked over the past three years to help address maritime logistics issues, it became increasingly obvious that more than just the ports are involved in what is often called “maritime logistics.” To top it off, Siplon says, “The expected growth will create fantastic opportunities for Georgia’s logistics industry – and challenges.”

“While there are multiple transportation modes and even more support systems, working together to create what we think of as a “logistics industry,” many of the problems – and their potential solutions – could be and should be shared,” said Siplon. “Another way to state this interconnection is to think of it as a ‘logistics ecosystem.’ Each sector operates independently, but at the same time, is often completely dependent upon the success and efficiency of the others.”

“More importantly,” Siplon continued, “we realized if one organization could facilitate this ecosystem and the connections between each logistics sector throughout Georgia, there would be no stopping the growth potential for our State and its many businesses.”

The transition to a statewide organization facilitating growth in the entire logistics industry also has support from the top. “The concept behind our innovation centers strategy is leveraging our strengths to create new jobs and investment, as well as cementing Georgia’s position as a leader in these critical industries. As Governor and a business owner myself, I see first-hand how our logistics infrastructure plays a crucial role in the success of many Georgia companies. Expanding the focus of the maritime logistics innovation center will help build and lead broader and stronger industry collaboration and shows we are committed to using our respected position in the logistics industry to further economic development throughout the State.” Sonny Perdue, Governor of Georgia

LINC will continue to focus on activities such as RFID, security, asset tracking, process optimization and analytics. The Center will build upon this expertise by promoting, testing and developing technology based solutions for all logistics sectors to manage current issues and expected growth related challenges. LINC will also look at areas where the sectors either overlap or have gaps in connectivity; information sharing, infrastructure capacity and workforce development are all example areas of potential opportunity.

“We want to help ‘crack the boulders’ that potentially stand in the way of the logistics industry moving forward,” said Siplon. “Really, we are already involved in working with the other sectors due to their connection to the ports or what most people think of as “maritime logistics”. Our new name just officially recognizes the broader functions while maintaining the critical core connection to the ports and “maritime logistics”

Curtis Foltz, Chief Operating Officer of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) sees the importance of closer integration of the logistics industry and the impact to the Port. “GPA has grown 14.5% this fiscal year to over 2.3M TEU’s and continues to be the fastest growing container port in the nation. We are constantly looking at ways to improve. However, many of the obstacles to ensuring the port can maintain these increases in volume are directly tied to the other components of the logistics industry, such as rail and road capacity and the depth of our river. LINC will play a very important role in both helping to connect these components and looking at new technologies that can make the Georgia links in the global supply chain as efficient as possible.” said Foltz.

“The Georgia Logistics Innovation Center is one of the bright stars in our state’s Centers of Innovation,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Ken Stewart. “They have long been a top source of expert logistics knowledge, and their new name better reflects the breadth of their role in our state.”