Business View Magazine September 2018

228 229 THE SAVANNAH INTERNATIONAL TRADE&CONVENTIONCENTER SAVANNAH INTERNATIONAL TRADE & CONVENTION CENTER T he Savannah International Trade & Con- vention Center (SITCC) is a 330,000-sq.- ft. complex, located on Hutchinson Island, across the Savannah River from the city’s world-renowned historic district. It is a state-owned building on state-owned property, built by Chatham County, and operated under the auspices of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA), which also manages the Geor- gia World Congress Center, and the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. The mission of the Con- vention Center is to attract and produce events that generate economic impact for Savannah, Chatham County, and the State of Georgia. “The project was conceived by the local Cham- ber of Commerce as a business and economic development project in the early 1990s,” says Mark Smith, SITCC’s Board Chairman. “In 1993, we received an $18 million grant from the State of Georgia in the form of bonds. That was matched AWORLD-CLASS FACILITY IN AWORLD-CLASS CITY