June
2017
Volume 9, Issue 6
Business Connection Kelso Longview Chamber of Commerce
Gibbs & Olson received the Small Business of the Year honor at the Chamber's Pillar of Strength and Crystal Apple awards. For a complete list of winners, see page 4.
Graduate returns home to join Gibbs & Olson team Kyle Busby is the kind of hire Gibbs & Olson
is looking for – bright, qualified – and, as a bonus, a Kelso native.
Kelso Longview Chamber of Commerce Team Bill Marcum, CEO Lindsey Cope, Project Manager Amy Hallock, Visitor Information Center and Office Manager Kelso Longview Business Connection is published monthly by the Kelso Longview Chamber of Commerce 105 N. Minor Road • Kelso, WA 98626 • 360-423-8400 kelsolongviewchamber.org To advertise, call Bill Marcum, 360-423-8400 or email bmarcum@ kelsolongviewchamber.org Ad Deadline: 20th of each month
“We celebrate when we are able to bring someone back to the community,” said Richard Gushman, president of the Longview-based engineering and land surveying firm that has been serving the community for more than 60 years. “The challenge we seem to have is to get people to want to move here who aren’t from here.” Gushman, Carol Ruiz, principal, and Tom Gower, vice president; all grew up in the shadow of Mount St. Helens. Gushman is a Kelso High graduate. Ruiz graduated from Mark Morris and Gower from R.A. Long. Gushman admits having an opening and finding the right, qualified candidate with a local connection to fill it isn’t a regular occurrence, but it is nice when it all lines up. Living in the Kelso-Longview area is a lifestyle choice. The smaller cities offer a slower, quieter pace than their larger, local neighbors – not always a draw for employers like Gibbs & Olson. “They don’t see the value of living here,” Gushman said. “They end up going to bigger cities like Portland.” But that lifestyle was exactly what drew Busby back. He, his wife, a Kelso High graduate, and their infant daughter were looking to return home. “All our family lives here,” Busby said. “We like
the lifestyle of living down here. We knew we wanted to live there.” After graduating from Kelso High, Busby attended Lower Columbia College and then headed to the University of Washington in Kyle Busby recently joined the team at Gibbs & Olson. Seattle where he earned a degree in civil engineering. He spent the next three years with a Seattle-area firm before finding an opening at Gibbs & Olson. “It’s working out well,” Busby said. “It’s definitely a place I can see a long-term career. The future looks very bright.” “We are very happy to have him,” Gushman said. “We like to do it when we can.”