Georgia ports offer learning opportunities for students

Tours, internships serve young kids, college students.

The Georgia Ports Authority supports more than 370,000 jobs across the state.

And GPA, which has ports in Brunswick and Savannah, works year-round to ensure local students are exposed early to on-the-job opportunities the ports authority offers.

The authority frequently hosts student tours at its Brunswick and Savannah ports.

“During tours, students learn about job opportunities, GPA’s economic impact on the state and region, as well as about day-to-day port operations,” said Emily Goldman, manager of port relations for GPA.

GPA also participates in community events like CoastFest, she said.

“We often share a teaching resource at these events called ‘Ollie the Otter’s Big Adventure,’” Goldman said. “It’s an activity book highlighting the coastal environment we live in, as well as how Georgia’s ports operate.”

Every summer, GPA hosts dozens of college students from around the country for an internship program.

“Students are placed in a variety of teams, including corporate communications, port police and operations,” Goldman said. “Over the course of the summer, students learn real-world job skills from people working at the fastest growing port in the country.”

The internship program also helps GPA employees see their work from a fresh perspective, she said.

“Each student creates a work product while they are here that they can take with them to use as a sample when applying for jobs after college,” Goldman said.

The ports authority aims to expose students to the multitude of job opportunities, of all types, available at Georgia’s ports.

“Jobs at the Ports of Brunswick and Savannah are varied and range from information technology and insurance experts to people who specialize in equipment maintenance and operations,” Goldman said.

Supporting local education ensures the future of a skilled workforce, she said.

“The Georgia Ports would not be what they are today — a world-class operation moving 4 million 20-foot-equivalent container units of cargo and more than 270,000 vehicles each year — without its people,” Goldman said.

BRANT SANDERLIN PHOTOS / BSANDERLIN@AJC.COM Ships are loaded and unloaded in the Port of Savannah, where tours and events such as CoastFest teach kids about port operations.

Ports offer a wide variety of job types and opportunities, said Emily Goldman of the Georgia Ports Authority.