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Jesup-based business earns top honor in statewide contest
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Staff Report
Updated: Apr 9, 2008, 9:00 AM
Published: Mar 25, 2008, 11:48 AM
Harris Ace Hardware & Building Supply was recently chosen as a 2008 Georgia Family Business of the Year winner.  
The awards are given out by the Cox Family Enterprise Center at the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University.
Tim Harris, present owner of the Jesup-based company expanded into Hinesville two years ago, said he believes the business' philosophy helped win the award.
"You never forget your customers. You never forget your employees. Without them you're nothing," Harris said. "That's as true today as when the family started 100 years ago."
Harris bought out Hinesville Building Supply in March 2006 and converted it to an Ace store last year.
"We're very honored to receive the award," he said. "We appreciate everything that God has blessed us with."
The award is the top one of several annual the center hands out to encourage and promote family businesses.
"Since 1991, the Cox Family Enterprise Center has honored the best in Georgia-based family businesses," center executive director Joe Astrachan, Ph.D., said. "We are proud to once again recognize a great group of winners and finalists who have withstood the test of time, flourished due to their strong values and savvy business sense and made an impact as community leaders and innovators."
The Jesup business got it's start in 1907 when J.M. "Red" Harris opened a grocery story in K'ville. The store sold everything from rakes and toothpicks to hats, collars and ties. When Red Harris passed away, his son, John Henry, took over the business at 16 years of age and began expanding into other retail areas. Soon, his brothers, Nick, Pierce and J.P. joined the family business.
The business expanded into gin and feed mills, green corn packing, and an international dealership, Wayne Freezer Locker. In 1972, the Freezer Locker building was converted to a hardware store and lumberyard by a grandson of the founder, Raymond Major Harris, which today, is Harris Ace Hardware & Building Supply. The business is now in its fifth generation and is run by the fourth generation.
Founded in 1987, the Cox Center is the largest and second oldest center of its kind in the United States. It is dedicated to the research, education and recognition of family businesses.
The awards ceremony will be held on May 19 at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta.
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GPA grows trade, market share
Intermodal volume up 20 percent
port photo
Rubber tired gantry cranes handle cargo at the Chatham Intermodal Container Transfer Facility at the Port of Savannah. The Georgia Ports Authority's Mason Mega Rail project will double rail lift capacity to 1 million containers per year by 2020 - photo by Provided
Staff Report
Updated: Apr 17, 2018, 1:07 PM
Published: Apr 17, 2018, 1:08 PM

The Georgia Ports Authority achieved 14 percent growth in March container volumes, moving 355,208 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers.

From July 2017 to March, TEU container trade grew by 9 percent, or 255,786 additional units for a total of 3.08 million, a new record for Savannah.

"Savannah's continued strength is a reflection of our customers' commitment, Georgia's leadership, and the many dedicated service providers, GPA employees and ILA members who come together every day to achieve great things," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "March marked our 17th consecutive month of business expansion thanks, in part, to a strong economy and growing market share."

Intermodal rail volumes jumped by 20 percent in March and 15.4 percent for the fiscal year to date, for a total of 318,454 containers handled over nine months – another record for the GPA.

"As the numbers show, our rail cargo is growing at a faster pace than our overall trade," GPA Chairman Jimmy Allgood said. "This is important because rail is playing a key role in our responsible growth strategy. We anticipate our rail infrastructure investments to take 250,000 trucks off the road each year by 2020."

The GPA recently broke ground on its Mason Mega Rail Terminal, on which the Port of Savannah will build 10,000-foot unit trains within its own footprint. From the expanded rail infrastructure at Garden City Terminal, Class I rail providers CSX and Norfolk Southern will provide direct rail service to major Southeast and Midwestern markets from Memphis to St. Louis, Chicago to Cincinnati.

An added benefit is that the Mason Mega Rail project will move all rail switching on terminal – improving vehicle traffic flow around the port.

In August, the GPA will open its Appalachian Regional Port in Murray County. Located in an industrial belt, including the production and export of carpet and flooring, automobiles and tires, the ARP will provide an alternative to all-truck transit to Northwest Georgia.

Each round-trip container moved via the Appalachian Regional Port will offset 710 truck miles on Georgia highways.

March was also a strong month for roll-on/roll-off auto and machinery units at the Port of Brunswick and Ocean Terminal in Savannah. Colonel's Island Terminal in Brunswick handled 66,144 cars, trucks and tractors, while Ocean Terminal added 4,050, for a total 70,194, a 17.2 percent increase.

"The global economy is thriving and our volumes are following suit," Lynch said. "As existing accounts grow their footprint in the expanding auto facility in Brunswick, Georgia's competitive logistical advantages are drawing additional business across all of our docks."

Lynch noted that for the fiscal year to date, Mayor's Point breakbulk terminal in Brunswick grew by 44 percent (34,515 tons) to reach 112,728 tons of forest products. At East River Terminal, bulk cargo expanded by 34 percent July-March (189,918 tons) for a total of 750,384 tons.

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