Unified Voice Needed for Port

BY DICK WILKERSON

Thursday, December 15, 2011

There has been much debate in recent weeks about the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s decision to issue a permit to the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the Savannah River, thus deepening the Port of Savannah. Many wonder how a state agency could make such a decision, and in its legitimate oversight role, the General Assembly has asked for more information.

That process, as well as judicial review of the DHEC decision, will run its natural course. Our priority, however, is harbor deepening at the Port of Charleston, and for us, nothing is more important.

Each of us is a major user, or has customers that are users, of the Port of Charleston, as well as other ports. We believe it is critical South Carolina focus on two key issues: Continuing to move forward on the navy base expansion and deepening our Charleston harbor to 50-plus feet.

If we accomplish these objectives, Charleston will be the premier port on the East Coast, and business in South Carolina, as well as in Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee, will flourish. Gov. Nikki Haley and state officials recognize this point.

It is time to remove politics from the overall decision-making process surrounding the Port of Charleston. Instead, we must focus on the regional business decisions that are in the best interest of our state. Many of our companies ship goods internationally through the Port of Charleston, so its success is essential to our operations.

In this case, if competition drives costs, ports can better compete for market share. Competition between ports is a good thing and results in more efficient commerce.

With the widening of the Panama Canal expected to be completed by 2014, the race is on to better receive the post-Panamax ships that will dock somewhere on the East Coast. The Port of Charleston, with its deep water passable channels, already has the clear advantage. It is important to continue plans for deepening the Port of Charleston to maintain that advantage. With the end of congressional earmarks for infrastructure projects, a new way is necessary to secure funding for dredging.

Fortunately, South Carolina’s congressional leaders are working on a regional funding model based on merit. A federal merit-based system is the best way to make funding decisions. South Carolina can succeed based on merits, not by blocking others’ efforts. Both Gov. Haley and Sen. Lindsey Graham have consistently supported deepening the Port of Charleston channel. This relatively new administration in South Carolina has aggressively pursued job-creating economic development and has realized early successes, some of them from our companies. Future successes will depend upon the competitiveness of the Port of Charleston, and as users of those facilities, we believe our state’s leadership is taking the right steps to secure the funding necessary to deepen the channel, just one of the many items needed to ensure the port’s place as a destination of choice for our imports and exports. As we move forward, let’s not pre-empt the success of other ports that South Carolina businesses use. Concentrate our energy and limited resources on building and improving our port. In doing so, we hope our public policy makers will present a unified voice to federal funding authorities, to existing South Carolina industry and to future users of our ports.

In the end, if South Carolina gets the deepening of the Port of Charleston right, we will be a clear shipping leader on the East Coast, and circumstances in Savannah will be a secondary concern.

Dick Wilkerson is chairman emeritus of Michelin North America and past chairman of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce. This column was also signed by Mike Brenan, president of BB&T, South Carolina, and chairman-elect of the S. C. Chamber of Commerce; Derick Close, president of Springs Creative and past chairman of S.C. Manufacturers Alliance; Harris DeLoach, chairman and CEO of Sonoco, and past chairman of the S. C. Chamber of Commerce; Barry Falin, vice president of Thompson Construction Group, and chairman of the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance; Mike Johnson, president of Cox Wood Products, and second vice chairman of the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance; Jim Reynolds, CEO of Total Comfort Solutions and chairman of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce; Pete Selleck, chairman and president of Michelin North America and board member of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce.

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