Semaglutide Medical Weight Loss Near Garden City, GA

Atlanta, GA – Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced that Norma Precision Ammunition, a subsidiary of the leading European ammunition manufacturer RUAG Ammotec, has established its U.S. headquarters, manufacturing site, and warehousing and distribution operations in Chatham County. The company is currently hiring.

“With their facilities in close proximity to the Port of Savannah – the top port for U.S. exports – and our highly-skilled pool of talent, I’m confident that RUAG Ammotec will be very pleased with their decision to invest in the Peach State,” said Governor Kemp. “I’m grateful to Norma Precision Ammunition for their job-stimulating investments, and I look forward to seeing the opportunities this creates for hardworking Georgians in the region.”

With operations in 12 different countries, Swiss-based RUAG Ammotec develops and produces high-end ammunition for sports shooters, special operations forces, and peace officers worldwide, serving key markets in the military, law enforcement, hunting, and sporting goods sectors. In 2021, Norma Precision Ammunition imported over 400 containers of ammunition from RUAG Ammotec factories in Europe, while also delivering over 30 million cartridges of ammunition made in the U.S.

“Norma Precision Ammunition has been manufacturing in the United States for over 10 years as RUAG Ammotec, USA. The past four years have been remarkable years of steady growth. With this relocation, expansion, and focus on the Norma Ammunition brand, we will continue to grow while better serving our customers and industry partners in the United States and abroad,” said Christoph Eisenhardt, President and CEO of RUAG Ammotec. “I am pleased with all that Georgia has to offer our company. I am confident that with our relocation, we have chosen the right community to partner with to ensure mutual long-term success.”

“We are pleased to announce the official relocation of Norma Precision Ammunition to the Georgia Lowcountry,” said Paul Lemke, President of Norma Precision Ammunition. “The Savannah area offers a significant opportunity to expand our small arms ammunition manufacturing and distribution operations to meet growing customer demand and to better serve our partners in the small arms industry, while providing unmatched access to the world-class Port of Savannah.”

Norma Precision Ammunition is located at 141 Prosperity Drive in Garden City. The company is currently hiring for advanced manufacturing, distribution, management, and sales opportunities. Individuals interested in career opportunities with the company are encouraged to visit www.NormaShooting.com for additional information.

“Today’s announcement that Norma Precision Ammunition will locate their U.S. headquarters, manufacturing and distribution operations to Chatham County is a testament that our region has the infrastructure and skilled workforce for companies to locate and thrive here,” said Trip Tollison, President and CEO, Savannah Economic Development Authority. “This is great news for our region and we look forward to working with Norma Precision Ammunition as they grow here in Savannah.”

“Norma’s decision to locate in the Savannah area is a perfect example of the fundamental link between manufacturing and logistics, and how Georgia excels at helping companies succeed,” said Griff Lynch, Executive Director of the Georgia Ports Authority. “We are proud to welcome Norma Precision Ammunition to our state, and to serve their global logistics needs.”

“We’re proud that RUAG Ammotec has chosen Georgia as home to all of their U.S. activities,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson. “The company has experienced unprecedented growth, and Norma Precision Ammunition’s decision to invest and grow in the Savannah region highlights the importance of Georgia’s unmatched workforce development programs, logistics advantages, and quality of life. I am grateful for the partnership of the elected officials and economic development partners in southeast Georgia who went above and beyond to recruit and support this exciting addition to Georgia’s firearms industry.”

Georgia remains a national leader in advanced manufacturing and continues to attract global businesses like RUAG Ammotec. According to National Shooting Sports Foundation data, Georgia has become one of the country’s top 10 states for firearm manufacturing. The state’s strength across multiple manufacturing sectors resulted in a GDP of $59.5 billion in 2020, which is the latest data available. The Georgia Department of Labor estimated that there were 392,508 manufacturing jobs in the state as of the third quarter of 2021.

About Norma Precision Ammunition Norma Precision Ammunition is a subsidiary of Europe’s leading manufacturer of small arms ammunition and OEM components, RUAG Ammotec. Norma Precision Ammunition brings Swiss, German, Hungarian and Swedish high-tech offerings to the U.S. Combined with disruptive technologies, sales and marketing insights, and strategic partnerships, the Norma Precision Ammunition team provides world-class small arms ammunition for use by sports shooters, hunters, law enforcers, and war-fighters in the U.S. and abroad. In the U.S., RUAG Ammotec markets its product offerings under the Norma and Swiss P brands.

Katie Byrd - Director of Communications Office of Governor Brian P. Kemp katie.byrd@georgia.gov

Andrew Isenhour - Deputy Director of Communications Office of Governor Brian P. Kemp andrew.isenhour@georgia.gov

Marie Gordon - Director of Communications Georgia Department of Economic Development mgordon@georgia.org

Two months ago Garden City unanimously passed a resolution authorizing a memorandum of understanding with Visit Savannah as a director marketing organization (DMO) to promote the city as a destination for tourists.

DMOs are non-profit organizations that help promote and market local attractions, accommodation options, tourism services, transportation, retail stores, restaurants, events and more. Garden City previously contracted with another DMO, but after more than a year of no communication with the leadership of the Garden City Convention Center and Visitor’s Bureau, the city reached out to Visit Savannah for assistance.

According to CEO Joseph Marinelli, Visit Savannah has contracted Robyn Iannone, the CEO of 3P Workplace Consultants, who is in the early stages of determining how best to market Garden City when more than half of its land is devoted to industrial or commercial uses related to due the Georgia Ports Authority.

Iannone conducted a listening tour with business owners and hoteliers to identify their customer bases and what their priorities are for 2025.

Over the next two years, Garden City will feel the impacts from several projects opening in surrounding cities—such as the first Wawa in Georgia, just 20 minutes away in Pooler, and the Ghost Pirates Ice Cove and Anchor Park in Port Wentworth. Both developments are easily accessible through Garden City.

“Business owners in Garden City are keenly aware that Garden City is an ideal option for budget-conscience travelers looking to visit Savannah, Chatham County and the surrounding areas,” Ianonne said. “Mainly due to its proximity to athletic fields, the port, EnMarket Arena, and more. Whether it’s a business traveler doing business at the port, a leisure traveler in town to enjoy all the attractions offered locally, or a family attending an event at a nearby sports venue, Garden City is the ideal location.”

Next step involves refresh of Garden City's tourism website

The goal is to wrap up conversations by year's end, and then Visit Savannah will sit with Iannone and make recommendations for strategies to promote businesses. One of the first things they’ll consider is an update to the Garden City tourism website, which needs a refresh, according to Marinelli.

“We can’t have a visitor go to the website and there’s something there from like 2013, or something like that. We’ll be thinking about advertising strategies, like print and digital ads, thinking about how to promote Garden City on social media and so forth, once we refresh the brand,” Marinelli said. “Hopefully, this will benefit the business in Garden City and attract more visitors.”

Iannone said they would be focused on marketing regionally to drive-market customers and welcoming film and construction crews who want somewhere to stay that’s budget-friendly.

The marketing plan will then be presented to the Garden City manager with objectives for 2025 and beyond.

“The key is that none of this will happen overnight. It takes time and patience to do it right, and fortunately, the city manager and the local area business owners understand and are on board,” Ianonne said. “The most important thing for residents to understand is that, ultimately, a tourism/marketing plan is about jobs. Increased visitation not only means hotel stays—it means more diners in restaurants, more visits to dry cleaners and convenience stores, and more engagement with local businesses.”

Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for the Savannah Morning News, covering the municipalities, and community and cultural programs. You can reach her at DAmbus@gannett.com.

Blue Heron Farm, a repurposed Clydesdale stable, sits tucked behind the Savannah-Chatham County Public School Complex in Garden City. Here, Bo Ballance is on a mission of preserving biodiversity and celebrating the richness of nature, one mushroom at a time.

Ballance founded Blue Heron in 2021, after he returned from a hiking trip in Tennessee. Ballance recalls being on a mountain and spotting a relative of the Amanita Muscaria, or, the “mario mushroom”—bright red with white spots.

“I saw one of those, and I realized I knew nothing about the fungal kingdom,” Ballance said. “And I fancy myself a bit of an outdoorsman. The fact that I didn’t know anything about that, it really bothered me.”

Thus began his journey of loving mushrooms through foraging, documenting and collecting specimens. He realized in order to learn more, he needed to start growing them.

“I set up a little tent in my garage, and that was it,” Ballance said. “And now, we have a whole farm.”

A typical day at Blue Heron starts with the mushroom facility, with three rooms where the different steps of the process of growing mushrooms take place. Mushroom farming consists of six steps—phase one composting, phase two composting, spawning, casing. pining and cropping. The time it takes to grow a mushroom can vary, but it takes three to eight weeks depending on the species and growing conditions.

But with the right conditions, the fruits of that labor bear a beautiful variety of mushrooms.

Buying from farmers at markets helps sustain locally grown foods

Blue Heron Farms is best known for its collection of blue, gray and gold oyster varieties of mushrooms, as well as reishi, cordyceps, chanterelles, and hedgehogs, alongside produce such as strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce and microgreens. They also have chickens and produce eggs.

Ballance has built partnerships with some of Savannah's most celebrated restaurants―Alligator Soul, Lily’s, Vittoria Pizzeria and Cohen’s Retreat, all of which regularly feature the farm's seasonal offerings. Ballance said they also fill larger individual orders for groups and markets in Richmond Hill.

“I try to go to one or two conferences every now and then, but I learned by failing a lot,” Ballance said. “What you see is, like, years of it not working, and then some things working.”

Anyone is welcome to come to Blue Heron to see how mushroom farming works, which Ballance says is this unknown is this unknown world that is just beginning to pick up steam.

“Eighty percent of the mushrooms in America are imported from Southeast Asia, which is a $67 billion industry,” Ballance said. “And we just hope that we can be a piece of this domestic marketplace.”

The industry in Southeast Asia is 20 to 30 years ahead of the United States, with cheaper labor too.

“That’s killer for any farm―any farmer will tell you that’s it’s the labor,” Ballance said. “Because this takes forever to do..in the summer we’re ripping out 50 to 60 hours easily, just trying to stay on top of everything, and we can’t afford workers. We were in line for some grant money, that all got cut up a couple months ago.”

President Donald Trump issued an executive order that paused the disbursement of all funds from the Inflation Reduction Act that supported agriculture-related conservation programs, an amount totaling $19.5 billion. The administration also froze funding related to climate smart farming projects, a $3.1 million investment.

“We’re kind of navigating all the cuts day by day,” Ballance said. “It’s definitely put a strain on me and everyone that I know who’s in this kind of work. There’s just not any kind of help right now, and to do this, you need help.”

The best way for people to help out, he said, is to invest in these small-to-middle-sized operations.

“The best way to do that is to just go to your markets and talk to your people,” Ballance said. “There’s really no help coming from the outside right now, so everybody you’re seeing that’s vending at these farmers markets are going above and beyond to provide you with the best possible food source.”

Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for the Savannah Morning News, covering the municipalities, and community and cultural programs. You can reach her at DAmbus@gannett.com

ECONOMY

Savannah Morning News

At its monthly board meeting Tuesday morning, the Georgia Ports Authority announced that the Garden City Terminal enjoyed its eighth consecutive month of growth. GPA President and CEO Griff Lynch reported that the Port of Savannah recorded its second busiest August, behind 2022, with more than 490,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units – an 18.6% increase over 2023.

At the meeting, held on Jekyll Island, GPA board members approved infrastructure expansions at its Colonel’s Island facility in Brunswick, Georgia, including a 50-acre paved lot to accommodate between 8,000 to 10,000 automobiles at a time, according to Chief Communications Officer Tom Boyd, which translates to approximately 80,000 to 100,000 additional cars per year.

The majority of those cars come into Brunswick via ocean carriers from about two dozen brands, including Nissan and Subaru, but the export business is growing, said Lynch, as manufacturers across the South and Midwest, such as the Mercedes plant in Alabama, look to GPA’s inland connectivity and ocean carrier network.

The expanded infrastructure is another step toward fulfilling Lynch’s vision of Brunswick becoming the “premier” roll-on-roll-off (Ro/Ro) facility in the nation.

“We’re either going to be number one or number two for the year,” said Lynch via telephone after the board meeting. “I want to say that Baltimore has been traditionally the number one port. Over the years we’ve caught up and become number two. We’re not going to brag on that in any way, shape or form, because Baltimore obviously had the bridge [accident], which I’m sure hurt their volumes for the year. So, we’ll see how our fiscal year does, starting July 1. We’d like to think we’re closing the gap.”

Two looming storms on the horizon

The expansion news comes as the ports face two potential storms, one literal and one figurative. As a Tropical Storm Helene brews in the Gulf of Mexico with the potential to move across Georgia later this week, a potential work stoppage on Oct. 1 churns as negotiations between the International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance have stalled.

Lynch said he is hopeful for a short-term resolution within one or two weeks to the ILA-USMA impasse. Anything beyond that timeframe can have rippling effects across the state and national economy. The last dockworkers strike occurred in October 1977 and lasted for 44 days. According to an article published online by the Marine Executive, cargo containers and Ro/Ro traffic will be the most impacted in today’s industry – a blow to both Savannah and Brunswick.

“The U.S. imports a lot more cargo that we did 40 or 50 years ago, and so, we’re heavily relying upon production of goods offshore that come into our country,” said Lynch, “and we’re relying upon exporting our products out of Georgia, like agricultural goods, cars, finished products.”

With harvest season ahead, Georgia’s farmers could take a hit if the strike lingers too long. GPA Board Chairman Kent Fountain explained that 80% of Georgia’s cotton crop is exported to other countries as is 20% of the state’s peanuts.

Lynch said, “The Georgia Ports Authority will continue to receive cargo right up to the last minute… Everybody’s doing a great job right now, and we greatly appreciate that. You wouldn’t know that this significant event was about to occur in the attitude that I’m seeing out there on our terminals.” As far as that other storm, Lynch said the heavy weather advisory group led by the U.S. Coast Guard and captain of the port, would convene later today and meet daily through the storm event. “We have a great team that knows how to work these situations and handle them.”

Amy Paige Condon is the content coach and an editor for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at ACondon@gannett.com.