Filling in for President Steve, Past President Ben Shelton rang the bell at 8:00
Kevin Courtney offered the prayer and led the pledge to the flag
Announcements:
Mary Knapp fell recently and sustained a severe concussion. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
Raffle - so far the total is $1840. A sign up sheet was circulated to find out who will be at the drawing on October 30. Turn in tickets/money next week at the meeting or the Friday before. Tickets can also be bought online through the Rec Center.
Membership: this is the second posting for Josh Grube
John Farrenkopf - if you have not signed up as yet but want to attend the Harold's Country Club social let John know. Choices are Chicken or Steak. The bus, provided by the club will leave from the High School.
Sergeant at Arms, Alicia Powell welcomed visiting Rotarians and guests. She also collected Happy $$.
Visiting Rotarians: Dick Cohen, Bridgewater NJ; Ken Nykiel, Schaumburg IL;, Pip Nowell & Leighton Nowell, UK
Guests: Josh Grube, guest of Ben Shelton (second posting); Tim Henderson, guest of Tim Ridge; Celia Cunningham, guest of John Cunningham; Jim Newsome (speaker); Kurt (speaker) & Ann Grindstaff
Speaker:
Kurt Grindstaff introduced Jim Newsome who is CEO of the SC Ports Authority.
photo credit Barry Davis
Jim shared information about the ports in South Carolina and their importance to our economy. Our ports represents 10% of our economic output and provides South Carolina with 187,200 jobs. We have the fastest growing ports (9%), while the Savannah ports are growing at 7% and Norfolk at 6%. Manufacturing is what sets SC apart from many other areas. We have the 9th largest container port while Savannah is the 4th largest. In 2005 through 2009 because of the economy, volume was lost, but are back on track with record volume since 2009. He talked about the need to refurbish terminals, deepening harbor, building new terminals and building a new port in Dillon. It is necessary to be able to handle the big container ships - which allow them to increase volume but reduce cost. Charleston will be getting a new terminal and will be opened in phases, the first being in 2021. Investments in the ports are necessary for the future of South Carolina which is more dependent on global trade than other states. He did remark that it is not possible to build two terminals at the same time When build out in Charleston occurs (2035 to 2037) there will be a need for a new terminal in Jasper. They are planning for that now - the biggest challenge is to build the infrastructure to get to the terminal
photo credit Barry David
Our region is very dependent on trade and the ports are necessary and not optional for growth. All ports in the US are publically owned but it varies how each is operated. For more information you can visit scspa.com