As a former economic developer, Allen Burns equates transportation as jobs. As executive director of the Coastal Regional Commission, he sees the Transportation Investment Act of 2010 as an avenue for economic growth.

“The economy is not where it should be,” he said. “Things have changed. In my opinion, the state has given us an opportunity to change that.”

Industrial prospects, Burns said, want to know how to get their trucks, employees and shipments in and out, and they need the roads to do it.

For the complete story, see Friday's edition of the Effingham Herald.