Letter from the Chairman

"The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails."

John Maxwell

From the moment former SEDA President and CEO Rick Winger (2001 – 2010) announced his retirement, we have certainly had to make some adjustments. I couldn't have been more pleased with the succession planning and search process that followed, involving nearly every member of the board and many other business and government leaders throughout the region in the effort to reposition the organization and find the right replacement.

There have been a few course corrections since then, but I believe we are finally on target. And while establishing the right leadership with the hiring of Trip Tollison as President and CEO may be the most critical thing we have achieved in the past year, there have been other notable changes and achievements.

First and foremost, we have built a great team with talented and dedicated new and longtime staff members. We have a clear and ambitious business plan, with accountability and measurement built in. We have advanced our relationships regionally and at the state level. We launched SEDA Innovations to help create businesses and jobs by preparing new and expanding businesses for capital investment and connecting them to that capital. We have had a very successful first full year of operation of the World Trade Center Savannah and renamed our office building World Trade Center Savannah, both of which lay a very solid foundation for the future. And we are placing the greatest emphasis on business attraction and retention, the two most important things we do.

As I make the last turn as chairman, I am confident about the future of SEDA. The following report provides a glimpse of all of the work over the past year, work that has established a solid course for moving forward.

David E. Paddison, CPCU AFSB Chairman
President, Seacrest Partners

Letter from SEDA
President and CEO

On behalf of the staff, I thank you for reviewing our 2012 Annual Report. SEDA does not succeed without the efforts and support of many partners and stakeholders doing their part to advance our collective vision for Savannah, Chatham County and the surrounding region to be as economically strong as possible.

I would also like to take a moment to thank SEDA's Executive Committee and Board of Directors for supporting our transition in leadership and for their vision and guidance as we brought last year to a close and welcomed the first quarter of 2013.  I am quite humbled by the confidence placed in our team as we strive to champion SEDA's core mission - creating and retaining jobs and attracting investment.  SEDA has a strong staff in place to continue achieving our traditional goals while embracing the challenges and excitement that come with our new efforts like World Trade Center Savannah and SEDA Innovations.

In 2012, SEDA was pleased to announce $91.7 million in direct investment and 531 new jobs.  This reflects a marked improvement over 2011, which saw $62.9 million in direct investment and 239 new jobs. SEDA is also happy to report that our balance sheet continued to grow in 2012 (with Total Net Assets up 8 percent from 2011); primarily due to our predecessors' forethought and our commitment to fiscal responsibility while working toward the SEDA mission.

Into its first full year, World Trade Center Savannah was full steam ahead, accomplishing far more in the first year of operation than reasonably expected. We also launched SEDA Innovations and began defining SEDA's role in helping to bring much-needed capital to new and expanding businesses and making sure those businesses are investment-ready.

I have often told folks since coming on board last October that the Savannah region is on the cusp of what I feel will be deliberate and solid growth in the years to come.  Please note that the SEDA team stands firmly ready to take on this growth as we strive to market and sell our amazing community.

Finally, I would like to sincerely thank Angela, Brandt, Brynn, Chrissy, Jerald, Jessica, Lee, Leia, Leigh Acevedo, Leigh Ryan, Lory, Mark, Sarah and Tory for welcoming me and for quickly adopting me into the SEDA family.  I am indebted to them for their incredible work and persistence in making SEDA one of the best development authorities in the country.

We are excited about the future and working with you as we move forward.

Trip Tollison President and CEO

Letter from World Trade Center Savannah Chairman

It has been almost two years since fellow SEDA board members Tommy Hester, Steve Green, Scott Center, Brooks Stillwell and I kicked off the effort to explore World Trade Center Savannah's potential. It was our intent to develop an international business development platform specific to the greater Savannah region and make sure it would strengthen our economic development mission to create jobs and attract investment.

Our goals for the effort were to -

• Help established regional businesses expand internationally
• Identify more foreign direct investment opportunities for the region
• Coordinate international connections and opportunities with a focused intent on generating a business result
• Create a meaningful regional economic development structure
• Elevate Savannah, as the economic hub of the region, on the world stage
• Generate revenue to support the effort

After our due diligence, we determined a WTC license offered SEDA the flexibility required to design a structure and strategy that met those goals while also providing a global network and brand value that could be utilized to elevate and advance our mission at a relatively low cost. On Tuesday, September 13, 2011, the Savannah Economic Development Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously in favor of securing a World Trade Center license for Savannah. And on October 12, The World Trade Center Association's Board of Directors approved our application at their General Assembly in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Since then, it's been full speed ahead. We hired our first full-time staff person in February 2012 and now have three. We established an inaugural board that is growing regionally. We launched a website and developed our first collateral materials. We have attended conferences and trade shows and given dozens of presentations. We hosted international business delegations, offered educational programs to sold-out rooms, supported regional businesses in their efforts to expand internationally, secured investors and are starting to generate revenue. We spent nine months researching our connections to the world and identified targets to begin more proactively marketing the region as a location for foreign direct investment. We have established a presence and a purpose that is meaningful and effective. Our reputation is growing and the feedback has been extremely positive.

Of the many efforts I have been involved with over the years, World Trade Center Savannah is one of my most meaningful that should have an impact for a long time. Growing area businesses internationally and attracting foreign investment here will better ensure our peace and prosperity for the future. If you haven't yet, I hope you will join us.

Eric Johnson Chairman, World Trade Center Savannah
President, Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung

"Trip is part of a new generation of leaders... He will bring to SEDA a vision that is long overdue."

Stephen Green,
SEDA Secretary and Treasurer

"Trip Tollison brings a wealth of experience and extensive relationships with our economic development partners at the local, state and regional level... Trip has been involved in nearly all of the major economic development initiatives in Chatham County in the last decade and has worked closely with SEDA staff for many years."

Bob James, SEDA Vice Chairman

Throughout SEDA's history, there have been many phases of prosperity and success corresponding with great leadership. In 2012, SEDA entered a new era with the hiring of Trip Tollison as interim President and CEO. Formerly the chief operating officer and vice president of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce and Visit Savannah, Trip came to SEDA with a wealth of knowledge and relationships that immediately propelled SEDA forward. In fact, he was so impressive in his short six months as interim that on April 9, 2013, he was unanimously approved by the SEDA board of directors as the President and CEO.

And Trip is not the only new addition. From the corner office to the front desk, you see a lot of new faces mixed in with those that have been the steady rocks of the organization, albeit with a few new titles and roles.

New faces include Brandt Herndon, a veteran economic development professional who joined SEDA as Vice President of Business Development, Jessica Hood as Project Manager and Leia Pittman as Economic Research Manager.

After working for several years as a consultant to SEDA, Angela Hendrix left her public relations firm to fill the Director of Marketing and Public Relations position.

Also in 2012, World Trade Center Savannah began building its team, adding three new staff members: Leigh Ryan, now Director of Trade Services and Foreign Trade Zone 104, Tory Grubbs, as Manager of Trade Services and Programs and most recently Sarah Smith as Research Specialist.

And finally, SEDA wrapped up the year by welcoming back a familiar face with the hiring of previous employee Chrissy Driggers as Executive Assistant to the President and Office Manager and Lory McDaniel as Receptionist/Administrative Assistant.

Even with all this fresh talent, SEDA is not without institutional knowledge and experience.

Brynn Grant, with SEDA for more than 12 years, was recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer, in addition to her role as Vice President of World Trade Center Savannah. Jerald Mitchell, who served as a project manager for several years is now Director of Innovation. Mark Sprosty, director of finance and administration, has served in that position for two years. And Leigh Acevedo, who started working at SEDA in 2007, has made the transition from research to working with Lee Grimes, a 17-year SEDA veteran, in business retention.

Together, this team is working to move SEDA and Savannah forward.

LMI Aerospace is a leading supplier of structural components, assemblies and kits to the aerospace industry serving such clients as Gulfstream Aerospace, Aviation Partners Boeing and Boeing. Since 2003, LMI has grown from a 28,800 square foot facility to its current 86,600 square foot facility and in 2012 announced its expansion to occupy an impressive 111,400 square feet off Coleman Boulevard in Savannah. With the additional square footage come additional jobs, bringing the company's Savannah total to 56 employees. This expansion came on the heels of LMIs completion of a $3.2 million high-speed machining center with a second machining center already in the works.

The Port of Savannah is the world's busiest in terms of poultry exports, moving approximately 1.67 billion pounds of chicken per year. That kind of capability is bound to attract attention - and it has. In October 2012 Gulf States Cold Storage, another company that specializes in frozen poultry, began retrofitting a cold-refrigerated distribution center in Savannah's SPA Industrial Park. The $10 million investment will bring as many as 60 jobs to the area, further validating cold-storage sector growth.

Since 1993, K Machine Industrial Services has been serving the power generation and outage support needs of a diverse client base including nuclear, gas and fossil fuel plants as well as Duke Energy, Southern Company, Florida Power and Light and Texas Utilities to name a few. The company was acquired by the current ownership in 2004 and since that time has grown from 20 employees to more than 100. In 2012, K Machine announced the expansion of its Savannah facility to include 20,000 square feet of additional production space, which will allow for large machining capabilities and steam turbine repair.