b'8American Journal of Transportation ajot.com(ESTABLISHcontinuedwelcomeandwantedhere.World Distribution Services doubles from page 6) This culture of southern hos-their technologies in real-worldpitalitywillbeoursecret environments and achieve theirsauce to success. Savannah footprintpotential faster than they wouldA boutP lug AndP lAyin Silicon Valley. WorldDistributionServices(WDS),atransloading,retaildistribution,andvalue-PhaseOneofthepart- HeadquarteredinSili- Cleveland-basedlogisticsandtransportationaddedservicessuchaspick-and-pack,and nership will consist of virtualcon Valley, Plug and Play iscompany, is expanding its operations to moreecommerce fulfillment at its two locations on eventscenteredaroundthea global innovation platformthan half a million square feet in the SavannahMorgan Lakes Industrial Boulevard in Pooler. majorthemesofFirst-Milewithacceleratorprograms,market, with a new 280,000 square-foot distri- The warehouses are less than 10 miles from Logistics,withaphysicalcorporateinnovationser- bution center in Pooler. the Port of Savannahs Garden City Terminal.Plug and Play office to launchvices and an in-house VC toCompany officials held a grand openingPrivateinvestmentinlogisticsextends inSavannahduringPhasemake technological advance- Nov. 6 at the new warehouse, expected to pro- andexpandsthereachoftheGeorgiaPorts Two. The office will be sup- mentprogressfasterthanvide up to 50 jobs. Authoritytonewcustomers,GPAChief ported by the Logistics Inno- everbefore.Sinceincep- Duncan Wright, president of WDS, saidCommercialOfficerCliffPyronsaid.Not vation Leadership Council, ationin2006,ourprogramstheadditionalspacewillsupportbusinessonly do 3PLs bring customers with them when consortiumoflocalcompa- haveexpandedworldwidegrowthandallowthecompanytotakeonthey locate here, but available warehouse and nies and universities commit- toincludeapresenceinnewclients.Ourexistingfacilityhasbeencross-dock capacity is an important factor for ted to positioning Savannah asover30locationsgloballyatcapacityformorethantwoyears,saidcompanies establishing new supply routes.a global leader in the logisticsgiving startups the necessaryWright. Based on the increased freight traf- AccordingtoCushmanWakefield,the industry.LeadershipCouncilresources to succeed in Sili- fic moving through Savannah, we wanted toSavannah market comprises 79 million square members include the Georgiacon Valley and beyond. Withhelp support the growth the GPA is driving.feet of industrial space. Another 8.7 million PortsAuthority(GPA)andover 30,000 startups and 400This facility positions WDS for future successsquare feet are under construction, for an 11 Georgia Southern University. officialcorporatepartners,in the market. percentincreaseininventory.Pyronnoted Modern ports like Savan- we have created the ultimateThenewdistributioncentermorethanthereisenoughlandpermittedforprivate nahareveryefficientatthestartupecosysteminmanydoublestheWDSpresenceinSavannah,developmenttoaccommodateanother130 mechanicsandinformationindustries. Companies in ouraddingtoanexisting250,000squarefootmillion square feet of distribution center space systemsinvolvedinmovingcommunity have raised overoperation. World Distribution Services offerswithin 30 miles of the portnearly twice the cargoon-andoff-terminal,$9billioninfunding,withwarehousingandinventorymanagement,areas current industrial space.saidGPAExecutiveDirec- successfulportfolioexits torGriffLynch.ThenextincludingDanger,Dropbox, frontier in the speed and reli- Lending Club, PayPal, Rappi, ability of global trade lies inand most recently Honey. For predictiveanalyticsanddatamore information, visit www.sharingamongtheprovidersplugandplaytechcenter.com.ofdifferentservices,sothatA boutSEdA supply channels remain fluid. The exciting thing about PlugThe Savannah Economic and Play entering the Savan- DevelopmentAuthoritys nah market is the potential tomission is to create, grow and remove silos around data andattractnewjobopportunities to incentivize the next evolu- and investment in the Savan-tion in cargo management. nahregion.SEDAassists Beyondattractingcor- businesses looking to relocate porations and startups in theto the Savannah region or an logisticsindustrytoSavan- existing business that is ready nah,akeyobjectiveofthetogrowandexpandspecifi-partnershipwillbetocon- cally through making connec-nect entrepreneurs and talenttions, business attractions and inCoastalGeorgiatoPlugretention,customizedser-andPlaysglobalnetworkvices,connectingbusinesses of400+corporationsandtoresourcesneededsuchas 10,000+ startups. workforce training programs, GeorgiaSouthernUni- infrastructure, available prop- From left, Georgia Ports Chief Commercial Officer Cliff Pyron, World Distribution Services Operations Manager versity is excited to play anerties,incentives,taxabate- Jim Kelley, WDS President Duncan Wright, WDS Customer Service Specialist Dana Radford, WDS Vice President essential role in the partner- ments,utilities,permittingWarehousing & Distribution Dale young and WDS Strategic Improvement Manager Mike Taylor attend the companys ship with Plug and Play andand more. https://seda.org/ grand opening Nov. 6 in Pooler, Ga.theSavannahEconomic DevelopmentAuthority, saidGeorgiaSouthernUni-versityPresidentDr.KyleCargo Group LLC Marrero. Critical to this part- 6232 Hwy 21nershipistheinvolvement andcollaborationamongstSavannah, Ga 31407 theeducationentitiesinthe region,includingSavannah912-966-2066 StateUniversity,Savannah TechnicalCollege,Savan-nah-ChathamCountyPublic Schools and others through- www.CargoGroupLLC.com outtheLogisticsTechnol-ogyInnovationCorridor.I believethispartnershipwillCAPABILITIES bringgreatsuccesstothe region as we further public-US Customs Bonded impact research and fill talent development needs across all Transload & Drayage sectorsofthelogisticsand Export Flat Rack Loading supply chain industry.Anystartupwhich Crating & Packing experiencesthegreatcom-Non-Compliant Wood and munity here in Savannah will stronglyconsiderstayingVacuum Services here and setting up an office, Domestic Cargo Routing said Plug and Play Vice Pres-ident Farzin Shadpour.All Inventory Management communityorganizationsYour Global Connection Partner 3.5 Miles from GPA Gates including the universities are committed to doing their best inmakingthestartupsfeel'