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Headquartered in Savannah , Georgia , PortCity has been providing leading solutions across the third-party logistics ( 3PL ) sector since 2001 . “ We started out as a team of five investors ,” begins Billy Robinson , Chairman , “ and purchased a small courier company with five box trucks and six employees . Our annual revenue was barely hitting half a million , but we knew which way the wind was blowing , and where we wanted to be .
“ That was the first year that the Georgia Ports Authority ( GPA ) got close to hitting one million twenty-foot equivalent units , which I believe is soon to surpass 6 million now . However , at that time , I was working another job and just acting as an investor . My first actual day at PortCity was the 1 st of January 2004 , when my operating partner and I bought out the other three .
“ I remember attending my first State of the Port Address that year , at which Doug Marchand was the Port Director ,” he continues . “ He and his team had been busy attracting all sorts of big box retailers , and raising awareness of Savannah ’ s perfect location to stand as the primary gateway into the southeast US region and beyond . He stated that the local infrastructure was going to need up to 40 million additional square feet of warehouse and distribution space , so you can guess what we did . I grabbed my partner , and we started leasing , buying , and building as many warehouses as possible .
“ A few years later , we got wind that Heineken was looking to move its distribution operations away from its Charleston provider . The company saw the advantages that Savannah holds and began an 18-month journey to find a new 3PL partner in the region . We were the ones to win that business , which shocked some of our competitors , but we were growing in the right ways , and it was the perfect move for an organization of our size . Our business strives to treat people right and remain open to suggestions . That ’ s how you evolve into the kind of company that the big brands trust and want to work with .”
Thinking outside the box
Eric Howell , CEO , was first introduced to the industry working as a banker for PortCity . He went on to work for Savannah Warehouse Services in January 2012 , which PortCity acquired later that year in December . Eric then became the CFO in 2013 and stepped into the CEO position in 2019 , at which point Billy became the company ’ s Chairman .
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