Manufacturing
Savannah's manufacturing sector generates an annual payroll of more than $1 billion while making a variety of consumer goods that range from refrigerated trailers to corporate jets and from refined sugar to dental equipment. Two hundred and seventy companies employ more than 14,500 workers who earn an average yearly wage of $56,300.
Among the high-profile manufacturers are International Paper, Georgia Pacific and Weyerhaeuser, three giants of the pulp and paper industry; Gulfstream Aerospace, a producer of world-class business aircraft that employs 5,000 workers; and J.C. Bamford Excavators, which produces heavy-construction equipment.
The diversity of the area's manufacturers is further evidenced by the names of other local companies such as Byrd Cookie Company, Great Dane Trailers, Tronox Pigments, Derst Baking Company and Chatham Steel Corporation.
The Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce helps keep this vital sector of the economy strong. Working specifically through its Manufacturers Council, the Chamber serves as an advocate for pro-business policies at all levels of government and provides an information resource base for the area's industrial community.
