With the recent closing of the steel mill in Georgetown and high unemployment numbers, news Wednesday of a new business for the town's port lifted the economic spirit.
Leaders from around the state assembled at the Georgetown Port Wednesday to deliver the good news. Carolina-Pacific picked the port of Georgetown as its export point. Carolina-Pacific is a start-up company focusing on renewable energy. It'll export wood briquettes to foreign companies to be used in boilers.
The news means new jobs and more work. Those who work at the the Georgetown port are thrilled about the announcement. They say in years past, anywhere between 8 and 12 ships passed through this port. So far this year, there have been only three.
"With more ships means more jobs. Every ship requires around 12-20 men, and they work for at least two days on each ship," said Harry Butler, SC Ports Authority.
Butler says the port has even greater potential, but there's a big roadblock. The channel leading to the port needs dredging. It needs to be deepened to at least 27 feet. The deeper it is, the more ships that can come in.
"Well now we've got five businesses, one of whom announced today, four more saying, 'we will announce if you'll simply commit to having the channel deepened," said Butler.
Butler says it'll take an effort by residents to pressure lawmakers to pressure the Army Corps of Engineers to make the port deeper.
"Anything you can do to persuade the Corp of Engineers to deepen the channel in Georgetown will bring multiple jobs here and multiple opportunities for employment for the residents of Georgetown and adjoining counties," he added.
