BEAUFORT -- Jasper County must highlight the statewide benefits of building a $450 million deep-water shipping terminal on its side of the Savannah River to sink opposition, members of the Greater Beaufort-Hilton Head Economic Partnership said Thursday.

Jasper County officials have visited various groups in the region to ratchet up support for the port as the county fights a lawsuit by the S.C. State Ports Authority.

The authority claims to have exclusive rights to developing a port on the Savannah River. It has sought private partners to help finance its own port on the same 1,863 acres eyed by the county and its partner, port developer SSA Marine.

The public-private partnership that acts as the development arm of Beaufort County has supported Jasper County's previous port efforts, and the group's board of directors offered suggestions Thursday in hopes of capturing attention at the Statehouse.

Jasper County has to show the port's economic benefits to the state, including new industries that would build near a port, said Jane Upshaw, chancellor of the University of South Carolina Beaufort.

"The people in Columbia don't care what happens to Beaufort and Jasper counties," she said.

Financed through private funds provided by SSA Marine, the Jasper County port would provide at least $5 million a year for the county's operating budget, said county administrator Andrew Fulghum. The region would benefit from 450 initial on-site jobs and thousands of related jobs.

Though challenging the county's plans in court, the State Ports Authority is open to a dialogue with Jasper County to find a solution both sides can support, said Glen Kilgore, a Beaufort board member of the authority.

"Anything that happens will be done by the courts and based on what's right for the people of South Carolina," he said.

With markets expanding throughout the Southeast, including Norfolk, Va., and Jacksonville, Fla., an updated economic impact model should show that a port would bring new industries to the state, not pull them from terminals in Charleston or hubs in Greenville, according to Beaufort County Councilman Dick Stewart.

Also Thursday, the board directed partnership staffers to seek private money or grants for purchasing land or buildings suitable for relocating businesses. Executive director Heather Simmons-Jones said the purchase wouldn't be for a specific prospect but would enable the partnership to offer land ready for development to businesses.