The Georgia Ports Authority’s (GPA) board of directors recently elected Alec Poitevint of Bainbridge as vice chairman of the GPA.

Poitevint is chairman and president of Southern Minerals and its affiliated companies, which is headquartered in Bainbridge.

He served as the state chairman of the Republican Party and a close confidant of Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue. Poitevint has in the past played a pivotal role with the water wars involving the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint rivers.

The GPA board also re-elected Stephen S. Green of Savannah to serve an additional one-year term as chairman for fiscal year 2010—July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010—and approved capital improvement projects that will increase capacity and efficiency.

“Improving our facilities and expanding our services and market share at our deepwater ports in Savannah and Brunswick are critical for Georgia’s economic recovery, and I am honored to have the opportunity to serve our state at this time,” said Green. “The deepening of the Savannah Harbor from 42 to 48 feet, the continued expansion of our existing facilities and the Jasper Port Terminal are projects that will provide our customers and our region the resources they need to realize new economic opportunities.”

Perdue appointed Green to the Authority board of directors in July of 2004, and he has served as board chairman since 2007. He has also chaired the board’s Ports Development Committee.

He is president of Stephen Green Properties Inc., a commercial real estate investment and development company. Green has been instrumental in organizing the launch of the First Bank of Brunswick, First Chatham Bank and FCB Financial Corp. In addition to leadership positions on these boards he also serves on the board of directors of the Georgia Power Company.

The board also elected Jim Lientz of Atlanta, to be secretary/treasurer.

In addition, the GPA board of directors approved a $2.3 million contract for the Cross Terminal Road and Bridge at the Garden City Terminal that will provide direct access from the north to the south end of the terminal and will increase capacity and efficiency. The project also includes a five-lane roadway corridor and a new bridge structure crossing Pipemaker’s Canal. The project is expected to be complete in March 2010.

The board of directors also approved a $1 million contract for the upgrade of Ocean Terminal Berth 18. The project consists of the removal of an existing section of the dock and construction of a new, deeper deck section to accommodate increased material handling equipment.

In other news, staff reported two of the four new super post-Panamax cranes are now in operation, and the two additional cranes will come on-line next month.

Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than 286,476 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute $14.9 billion in income, $55.8 billion in revenue and $2.8 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s bustling economy.