The Port of Georgetown got some very good news last week.
Some $300 million in capital investment is coming to the area, and the port will be used to export the manufactured goods.
Port Director David Schronce called it "a total export operation" but the exact nature of the business remains a mystery. Wayne Gregory, director of the Georgetown County Economic Development Department, isn't ready to reveal any details just yet.
This is the kind of business that will best benefit the Georgetown port because there is no more room for it to expand its import operations. The port has seen more steel shipped out in the last 10 months than ever before. That's primarily been from Nucor Steel operations in Darlington and Berkeley counties. Water is the least expensive form of transportation, according to Mr. Schronce.
The additional tonnage passing through the port will translate into credits to keep the channel dredged.
U.S. Rep. Henry Brown (R-Hanahan) came to Georgetown to take part in the announcement. The fact that it's an election year and Brown has challengers in both the Republican primary and the general election made his decision to visit an easy one.
Rep. Brown has looked after the local port's interests in Washington, taking up the cause after the retirement of Sen. Fritz Hollings. Rep. Brown said he's earmarked some $14 million over the past several years for the Port of Georgetown for maintenance dredging of the 27-foot-deep channel that runs 14 miles to the Atlantic Ocean.
"It's been a real pet project of mine for a long, long time," Rep. Brown said.
The port, the airport and the planned four-lane road leading to I-95 at Manning all serve to link Georgetown -- and its manufacturers -- to the outside world.
Transporation is critical to a coastal county because of the distances goods must travel. Georgetown needs its political connections to make the case for the so-called "earmarks" that mean jobs and industrial vitality.
Not all federal dollars go for "bridges to nowhere" and much of the money that is earmarked is going to be spent somewhere. Georgetown County sends its fair share to Washington, and we need to get some of it back to build an industrial base.