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Marketing workshop set for Hinesville
Digital media to be focus on March 2
mike blinder
Mike Blinder, a consultant with hundreds of newspaper and media companies, will be in Hinesville March 2 dispensing advice to business owners. - photo by Photo provided.
Special to the Couirer
Updated: Feb 11, 2015, 3:56 PM
Published: Feb 11, 2015, 4:02 PM

Mike Blinder is a small-business owner and multimedia consultant, and one of his favorite things to do is share his experience and expertise in marketing.
The Coastal Courier has invited Blinder to Hinesville next month to offer advice to entrepreneurs and other small businesses on how to grow their business at a free workshop. Blinder’s workshop is set for 12-1:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, at the Liberty County Schools Performing Arts Center on East Oglethorpe Highway in Flemington. A light lunch will be served.
“Any small-business owner who is looking to find new customers and wants to help themselves use the Internet better to grow their business should attend the seminar,” Blinder said. “If you’re not embracing a strong digital-marketing strategy, odds are your competitor is and that’s what I’m noticing in today’s world.”
Blinder is a consultant with hundreds of newspaper and media companies across the United States, Canada and around the world. He was a radio and TV talent who moved from behind the mic to a career in marketing and sales.
“Morris Multimedia has worked with Mike successfully in the past,” Coastal Courier publisher Mark Griffin said. “What I like best about Mike and his team is that they work hand-in-hand with us and use the knowledge we have of our communities and businesses combined with their proven expertise in marketing to put together the best plan for our customers.”
At each of the 90-minute workshops, Blinder will talk about the best use of all forms of marketing, including social media like Facebook and how Google can help or hurt your business.
“We think Mike can offer some very good advice to our business partners in better understanding the opportunities of digital marketing, and marketing in print as well,” Griffin said. “He certainly has helped us better understand it.”
Blinder will discuss mobile marketing.
“I will also spend some time talking about what I call the mobile movement and how important it is to embrace a very mobile strategy,” Blinder said. “You have to embrace the fact that everyone is walking around using mobile devices. We’re in a world where everyone is on the move, taking the Internet from the beach to the bathroom and back and businesses have to realize that now.”
About 80 percent of small businesses don’t have mobile-optimized websites, offering a bad customer experience on smartphones, Blinder said, and that impacts their businesses a great deal.
The workshops will not be filled with complicated geek speak. Blinder said he provides simple, comprehensive information to help grow a business.
This seminar is suitable for anyone interested, from beginners to experienced small-business owners. It’s going to be general enough to appeal to people who are technically savvy or someone who is email challenged, Blinder said.
Go to www.localmediaworkshops.com/ to register for the free workshop March 2 in Hinesville.

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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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