Business Development

The Savannah Economic Development Authority and the Georgia Department of Economic Development were first approached by Floor & Decor in January 2016 about the facility they were planning. GDEcD and SEDA quickly brought in the Georgia Ports Authority and other partners to work the project as it was narrowed down between Charleston, Jacksonville and Savannah.

Working together, GDEcD and SEDA were able to offer a tax abatement, job tax credits and Georgia’s QuickStart training program which ultimately persuaded Floor & Decor to choose Savannah.

The expansion includes two phases with Phase One being a new 1.4 million square feet facility and the creation of 64 new jobs and the retention of the current 46 jobs. Phase One, which is a $50 million investment is expected to be completed in 2017. Phase Two will include an additional 1.1 million square feet that could be developed as early as 2019 and potentially hire more employees.

“We are excited to expand our distribution footprint in Savannah. We looked at other east coast opportunities, but the combination of the Georgia Port Authority, SEDA and the local logistics and distribution services could not be better for Floor & Decor than here in Savannah. It’s just a great place to do business, especially when you look at the future investment being put into Savannah’s port and distribution business,” said Executive Vice President Supply Chain Brian Robbins.

“Atlanta-based Floor & Decor has an established presence in Georgia, and we have witnessed significant growth from the company over the years,” said former Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Chris Carr. “We look forward to working alongside our partners at the Savannah Economic Development Authority and the Georgia Ports Authority to support them through their expansion in Chatham County.”

Floor & Decor has had a distribution center in Savannah since 2013.

“This expansion solidifies Floor & Decor as a major import distribution center in our region,” said Savannah Economic Development Authority President and CEO Trip Tollison. “The assets we were able to bring to the table such as our workforce, the Port of Savannah and our vast infrastructure helped us in this competitive selection process.”

“Floor & Decor has been a valued customer for several years, and we are excited to continue our partnership with them by delivering a new facility that can help them more efficiently deliver product to their ever-increasing number of retail outlets,” said Chris Brown, Senior Vice President of Duke Realty’s Georgia and Tennessee region, the company that is developing Floor & Decor’s new building. “This new facility will be state-of-the-art and incorporate modern features that will help facilitate product storage and distribution.”

Originally announced in December 2015, Imperial is a shining example of what service after the sale is all about.

After Imperial Frozen Foods announced, SEDA’s Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Director Leigh Acevedo came into the picture. She and the Georgia Department of Economic Development got right to work, connecting Imperial staff to the Georgia Department of Labor, WorkSource Coastal, the Society of Human Resource Managers and Savannah Technical College to address near-term hiring needs.

SEDA's BRE team was also instrumental in navigating the city regulations, business approvals, license applications, permitting, certificate of occupancy requirements and more.

As things began to take shape, Imperial asked for assistance from SEDA to plan their ribbon cutting and in September 2016, in front of elected officials, company leadership, investors, community partners, customers and friends, Imperial Frozen Foods cut the ribbon on their magnificent facility.

In October 2014 SEDA hired entertainment production liaison, Ralph Singleton and entered in to a partnership with the City of Savannah to manage the marketing and selling of Savannah for entertainment production.

One year later, another major step was taken with the creation and passage of the Savannah Area Entertainment Production Incentives.

And in August 2016, the City of Savannah Film Office became the Savannah Area Film Office. The name change reflects the partnership between the City of Savannah, Chatham County and SEDA to collectively grow the entertainment production industry. The agreed upon partnership includes the City of Savannah and Chatham County handling permitting while SEDA manages the Savannah Area Film Office.

The name change also meant that Beth Nelson, who had served as interim director of the City of Savannah Film Office, was named the Savannah Area Film Office’s Executive Director. Having previously worked as a location manager for film, television and commercials, Beth brought a wealth of knowledge and experience in the entertainment production industry.

The growth of the entertainment production industry was evident throughout Savannah in 2016. From the beaches to historic squares to middle America, Savannah was reflected in a number of productions.

In 2016, the entertainment production industry had an economic direct spend of $61 million in Chatham County, up from $59 million in 2015. A total of 104 professional productions, such as Baywatch, The Little Mermaid, Gifted, Daisy Winters and Lizzie all filmed in Chatham County in 2016 as well as 176 student productions.

Savannah also landed its first major television series, Underground, a WGN America critically acclaimed hit.

Though Savannah’s outdoor, natural beauty may be what initially draws a production’s attention, its state-of-the-art indoor studio facilities also offer their own allure. In October, local entrepreneur, Rodney Dickey, added to Savannah’s existing facilities when he opened River Oaks Film Studios giving those in the entertainment industry an additional 150,000 square feet and 29’ ceiling heights of creative space for their production needs.

“The creation of this sound stage will bring even more productions to the Savannah area and help us reach the next level,” said Beth Nelson, Executive Director of the Savannah Area Film Office. "These and other achievements helped shine an ever-brightening spotlight on our region while also laying the groundwork for continued growth in the entertainment sector in 2017 and beyond."

Savannah Earns Number-One Ranking by MovieMaker Magazine

The efforts of Savannah were recognized in a big way in January 2016 when MovieMaker Magazine named Savannah number one in their annual ranking “Best Small Places and Towns to Live and Work as a Moviemaker.”

According to MovieMaker, “The year 2015 was something of a banner production year for the city, which hosted 90 professional projects, such as the Adam Sandler-starred The Do Over, Marc Webb’s Gifted and three Sundance 2016 features: Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation, Antonio Campos’ Christine, which also shot in New York, and Clea DuVall’s The Intervention.”

Georgia’s 30 percent tax incentive and the new Savannah Entertainment Production incentive were given nods as just two of the reasons Savannah was recognized. SCAD, the Savannah Film Festival and the Big River Film Festival were also highlighted as factors for the ranking.

“Ranking Savannah the number one best place to live and work for small cities and towns is a huge honor for our city,” said Trip Tollison, SEDA President and CEO.

Savannah Entertainment Production Incentive

In its first year of offering the Savannah Area Entertainment Production Incentive, the Savannah area saw a large growth in the number of productions filmed in our area.

Savannah Area Film Office Executive Director Beth Nelson attributed a number of factors for the growth in 2016, with a large part being the incentive coupled with the ones offered by the state of Georgia.

“Productions are driven by budgets,” she said. “… Starting last year in January the phone was ringing off the hook because people heard about the local incentive.”

The Savannah Area Entertainment Production Incentive and the Savannah Entertainment Production Crew Incentive is managed by SEDA. The Production Incentive offers cash rebates for feature films and television series.

Savannah Entertainment Production Crew Incentive

Though the movie line ‘if you build it, they will come’ is certainly a nice sentiment, the reality is that to attract members of the entertainment industry requires a mix of enticing offerings. Varied and picturesque locations have long been a strong selling point of the Savannah area but building entertainment production in Savannah also requires having a substantial local crew base to get the job done.

The Savannah Crew Relocation Incentive became available in 2016 and offers a reimbursement of up to $2,000 on validated moving expenses for qualified applicants.

The first recipient of the incentive was Roger Pixler, a scenic painter plasterer who worked on such productions as Baywatch, Magnificent Seven, Vice Principles, Disappointments Room, Sleepy Hollow 2, Paper Towns, The Spongebob Movie: A Sponge Out of Water and others.

In 2015, SEDA, the Development Authority of Bryan County, Development Authority of Bulloch County, and the Effingham County Industrial Authority partnered to create the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority. This group is paving the way of how regional economic development works.

In 2016, the Savannah Harbor JDA worked business development projects together, attended international tradeshows, made site selector visits and more.