Made Here. Wanted Everywhere.
A Georgia product can start on a poultry farm, factory floor or small-business loading dock and end up half a world away. That happens often enough now that Georgia has quietly become one of America’s top exporting states.
Georgia companies shipped a record $60.2 billion in goods to 213 countries and territories, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. That moved Georgia to No. 9 nationally in exports and marked its fifth straight record year. Over the past decade, the value of goods leaving the state has grown 68.9 percent.
Those numbers sound like the territory of multinational corporations, but Georgia’s export economy is more Main Street than the rankings suggest. The state reports that 87 percent of Georgia exporters are small businesses, meaning global trade can begin with a company most Georgians would never think of as global at all.
From North Georgia to the Water
Eventually, much of that commerce becomes visible at the coast.
The Port of Savannah handled nearly 5.7 million containers in 2025, its second-busiest calendar year on record. Mixed into that enormous flow are products tied directly to Georgia communities hundreds of miles inland.
Poultry makes the connection particularly clear. Northeast Georgia is one of the industry’s centers, and Savannah remains the nation’s No. 1 export gateway for frozen poultry. More than 757,000 tons of frozen poultry moved through the port. Suddenly, the chicken houses along back roads in Hall, Franklin, Hart and Madison counties look a little more connected to the rest of the world.
Brunswick Moves a Different Kind of Cargo
Down the coast, Georgia’s global reach looks less like refrigerated containers and more like acres of automobiles.
The Port of Brunswick handled 779,000 automobiles, keeping its title as the nation’s busiest auto port for a second consecutive year. Another 53,000-plus pieces of heavy machinery passed through as well.
That is the more interesting story behind Georgia’s export ranking. International trade is no longer something happening somewhere else. It runs through farms, manufacturers, warehouses and small companies scattered across the state, then follows highways and rail lines toward Savannah and Brunswick.
A product can begin on a Georgia back road and, surprisingly quickly, acquire a passport.
See more of the Georgia companies making, building and producing here through the manufacturing directory at https://gbj.com/manufacturing.
