Business developmentforSavannah AEC firms.
BD-AEC is an embedded, fractional business development director for Savannah architecture, engineering, and construction firms. Your engineers bill $300 an hour, so they should not be running your pipeline. We run it, one market at a time, with the relationships that win work before the RFQ ever drops.
The Savannah market
Who buys design and construction here
Savannah is a small, concentrated AEC market where a handful of outsized owners set the table. About 138 design and construction firms compete here, including 75 engineering firms, and the port drives more of that demand than anything else.
Savannah buys design and construction on the back of its port. The Georgia Ports Authority runs Garden City Terminal, the largest single-operator container terminal in North America, and it's mid-way through a $4.5 billion expansion that includes the Ocean Terminal rebuild finishing in 2026 and a whole new Savannah Container Terminal on Hutchinson Island. That port gravity pulled in the region's defining megaproject: Hyundai's $7.6 billion Metaplant America in Bryan County, about 25 miles west of downtown, which opened in 2025 and dragged a wave of 17 suppliers and roughly $2.7 billion more in plant work behind it. Add Gulfstream Aerospace, the area's largest private employer at more than 11,000 workers and mid-expansion on its G400, G500, and G600 lines, the Memorial Health and St. Joseph's/Candler systems, SCAD's deep historic-preservation portfolio, and a tourism build headlined by Plant Riverside and the $276 million Convention Center expansion, and you have a market with far more capital than its size suggests.
It's a small AEC town, and a tightly held one. Homegrown primes like Thomas & Hutton and Hussey Gay Bell have anchored here since the 1940s and 1950s, they know the port, the airport, and the county owners cold, and they show up on job after job. With only about 138 design and construction firms in the whole metro, the field isn't crowded so much as it's owned: the same firms, the same facilities directors, and the same program managers recur, and selection runs on who they already trust, not the low number from a name they don't know.
That concentration is exactly why a fractional BD director earns its keep here. These pursuits, port and logistics work, Hyundai's supplier campuses, health-system towers, airport and GDOT programs, run on relationships that take years to build, and a principal who's billable can't build them on the side. Savannah is also underserved by dedicated BD talent, so a director who's actually working the owners and primes stands out fast in a market where everyone knows everyone.
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (NAICS 5413, 2022)
Ports & logistics
The Georgia Ports Authority and its $4.5B expansion, Garden City Terminal, the Ocean Terminal rebuild, and the new Savannah Container Terminal on Hutchinson Island, plus the warehousing and distribution boom along I-16 and I-95.
Manufacturing & industrial
Hyundai's $7.6B Metaplant America in Bryan County and the 17-plus supplier plants trailing it, Gulfstream Aerospace's G400, G500, and G600 expansion, and the metro's largest private employer footprint.
Healthcare systems
Memorial Health's $265M patient tower and its new Pooler and Richmond Hill emergency departments, and St. Joseph's/Candler's Pooler campus expansion across the region.
Public infrastructure & aviation
GDOT, the City of Savannah, Chatham County, and Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport's $400M campus program, including the concourse expansion and the I-95 interchange upgrade.
Institutional & hospitality
SCAD and its portfolio of roughly 70 restored historic buildings, the $276M Savannah Convention Center expansion, and a tourism build led by Plant Riverside, the JW Marriott, and the new Ritz-Carlton in the historic district.
By discipline
BD-AEC in Savannah, by discipline
We run business development for Savannah AEC firms one discipline at a time, one client per discipline. Open your discipline’s Savannah page on the main site for the local picture.
Civil Engineering
Savannah business development for civil engineering firms.
Structural Engineering
Savannah business development for structural engineering firms.
Architecture
Savannah business development for architecture firms.
Land Surveying & Geospatial
Savannah business development for land surveying & geospatial firms.
Landscape Architecture
Savannah business development for landscape architecture firms.
Construction Management
Savannah business development for construction management firms.
Transportation & Traffic Engineering
Savannah business development for transportation & traffic engineering firms.
Testing & Special Inspection
Savannah business development for testing & special inspection firms.
Why us, here
Why a fractional BD director in Savannah
Savannah is one of the select major markets BD-AEC takes on beyond its home corridor, and it's a market built for this model. In a metro this small and this concentrated, work flows to the firms the port authority, the health systems, and the county owners already trust, and those relationships take years to build. A dedicated fractional director who's out working those owners and primes, week after week, is the way into a market where a billable principal simply can't do the same on the side.
By policy, BD-AEC represents one firm per discipline, project type, and market, an ethical line that protects every client's pipeline. In a market as small as Savannah, that matters even more: it means an exclusive BD partner who will never walk your relationships across the street to a competitor chasing the same port, Hyundai-supplier, or hospital work.
Questions
Straight answers
Does BD-AEC work the Savannah market?
Yes, as one of the select major markets we take on beyond our home corridor. We won't pretend to have a Savannah office or to know every local owner by name from down the street, that wouldn't be honest. What we bring is a dedicated fractional director who works the port, the health systems, and the public owners for you directly, and builds the relationships in a small market where everyone knows everyone.
What kind of AEC firms do you represent in Savannah?
Principal-led architecture, engineering, and construction firms, roughly $1M to $20M in revenue, whose senior people are too valuable to spend their week on business development. By policy we take only one firm per discipline, project type, and market, so we never represent two competitors.
How is a fractional BD director different from hiring a salesperson?
A salesperson cold-calls. A fractional BD director is an embedded, senior partner who owns your pipeline: the strategy, the relationships, the teaming, and the pursuit. You get the expertise of a six-figure BD hire without the full-time salary line.
Savannah is a small market where a few homegrown primes own the relationships. Can we still break in?
Yes, but not by underbidding the incumbents. Firms like Thomas & Hutton and Hussey Gay Bell have held the port, airport, and county relationships here for decades, so the way in is to be known and trusted for the work you do best, not to be the cheapest stranger. We position your firm with the owners and program managers who decide, so you're the name they think of when your kind of work comes up.
How do we start?
Tell us about your firm and your market using the form below. Scott will respond within one business day to set up a discovery call and tell you honestly whether your discipline and market are open.
Talk to Scott
Is your Savannah market open?
Tell us your firm and your discipline. Scott will respond within one business day and tell you honestly whether your Savannah market is open and what a fractional BD director would do first.
Request a discovery call
SavannahAEC firms only. We'll never share your details.
More markets at bd-aec.com