Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business -- April 2017 by Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business/Senior Times

April 2017

Volume 16 • Issue 4

Trios Health cuts staff, considers bankruptcy, mergers BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz

Going Green

Eco-friendly homes are a growing trend in Tri-Cities Page 11

Real Estate & Construction

Richland’s Fred Meyer remodels, to add curbside grocery service Page 21

Transportation

Martinez Trucking opens school to fill need for skilled drivers page 49

he Said It “Nothing worthwhile happens easily or quickly. But, at least in the Tri-Cities, it does happen.” -Gary White, director of business retention and recruitment for TRIDEC Page 43

About 25 Trios Health employees lost have their jobs as Kennewick’s public hospital district grapples to fix a financial crisis. The series of layoffs that took effect April 1 are expected to save more than $2 million. But facing net losses of more than $29 million since 2013, including about $17 million last year, as well as a crushing debt load that’s crippling cash availability, Trios has more difficult choices ahead. “Trios Health has been in financial distress for some time,” said Interim CEO Craig Cudworth, who arrived in Kennewick on Feb. 1 to lead the turnCraig Cudworth around project. In January, longtime CEO Glen Marshall announced his retirement, effective June 30. To address the problems, the Kennewick Public Hospital District board last year hired Quorum Health Resources, a Tennesseebased management consultant firm, to review Trios’ financial health. The $395,000 contract with Quorum is for one year, and there is an option to renew another one to two years. Cudworth, an employee of Quorum, is not compensated directly by Trios Health, but rather from the fees paid to Quorum. He is earning $250,000 a year, plus payment of reasonable expenses and two trips home to Virginia a month. What Quorum’s ensuing 400-page report showed was clear: “Trios would not be viable unless we made some significant and difficult changes,” Cudworth said. The report recommended the elimination of 115 full-time equivalent, or FTE, jobs. With Trios’ work force restructuring, the layoffs eliminated 95 FTEs within the hospital and clinic groups. uTRIOS, Page 42

Tri-City officials continue their efforts to convince an airline to provide a Pascoto-Los Angeles flight. A coalition representing cities, counties, ports and businesses ponied up to offset the start-up costs for an airline last year. (Courtesy Tri-Cities Airport)

New Pasco-to-LAX flight remains in holding pattern BY JEFF MORROW

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

The proposed and much anticipated Pasco-to-Los Angeles flight first announced in 2015 hasn’t taken off yet. But local officials haven’t given up hope. “At this point we’re in a holding pattern,” said Carl Adrian, president and CEO of TRIDEC, with no pun intended. Adrian said the Tri-Cities is ready, but it’s just a matter of finding an airline willing to step up. “We’ve just got to find the right match,” he said. Randy Hayden, the Port of Pasco’s exec-

utive director, said adding a new route for an airline can be a challenge. “The reason (airlines) give us (for not doing it yet) is aircraft availability,” Hayden said. “Pilot availability is another issue. And finding gates at LAX.” In markets the size of the Tri-Cities, there is an industry shortage of pilots and aircraft dedicated to a new route. In addition, LAX is having a tough time finding a gate for the route. Changing regulations for pilots aren’t helping, either. “You used to be able to fly 12 hours as a pilot,” Adrian said. “Now it’s eight. Plus, the pilot work force is getting older.” uFLIGHTS, Page 9

Group pushes for return of Columbia River shoreline to local control BY JOHN STANG

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Three prominent Tri-Citians hope to persuade the federal government to turn over Army Corps of Engineers’ riverfront land to local governments by the end of this year. This has been a dream for some TriCitians for at least 30 years, if not longer. Their immediate hurdle is no one is really sure which Columbia River waterfront lands are owned by the Corps and which are owned locally by the cities of Kennewick, Pasco and Richland. The trio angling for local control are retired U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, former Kennewick mayor Brad Fisher, and retired Tri-City Development Council vice president of federal programs Gary Petersen. They and other Tri-City leaders are wait-

ing for a Corps report to be unveiled that will map out exactly which Columbia River shoreline plots are owned by the Corps between Hanford and Finley. The group’s motive is their belief that the Tri-Cities would do a better job of maintaining the 34 miles of rivershore — including its appearance — than the Corps does. “The Corps has done zero maintenance in the past 69 to 70 years. … Because of the overgrowth, you can’t see the river,” Petersen said. The growth of weeds and bushes along many steep rocky segments of the riverfront has been slow but relentless for decades and the ugliness has not made an impact on TriCitians’ minds, he said. “The Corps won’t allow pesticides or herbicides to be sprayed,” Petersen said. uRIVERSHORE, Page 4

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Pasco’s AutoZone distribution center to welcome first inbound truck Company bypasses 3 other cities to invest $50 million into new warehouse BY KRISTINA LORD

editor@tcjournal.biz

AutoZone’s new Pasco distribution center will welcome its first inbound truck on April 15 and begin sending trucks out to customers and stores in late June. The company invested $50 million into the new distribution center that will serve 235 stores in seven states, including four in the Tri-Cities. The company has 5,872 total stores. “We’re very excited to be coming to Pasco and filling our customers’ needs,” said Rod Halsell, AutoZone senior vice president for supply chain and customer satisfaction. He was the keynote speaker at the March 15 Tri-City Development Council’s annual meeting in Pasco. Halsell noted the company needs to “be close to our stores” and said the Pasco warehouse might eventually serve 400 to 500 stores as the Pacific Northwest population grows, which would mean “more jobs in the Pasco community.” The company plans to employ 200 in Pasco, with a $10 million annual payroll. It has a total of 82,000 employees. The Memphis, Tennessee-based company operates auto parts stores and supplies automotive replacement parts and accessories to commercial customers. The publicly-traded company boasts annual sales of $10.2 billion. Eighty percent of its customers are do-it-yourselfers and 20 percent are commercial, Halsell said. The company built a 443,819-squarefoot distribution center and truck maintenance yard at 3733 Capital Ave., near Pasco’s King City Truck Stop. Big-D Construction, based in Salt Lake City, was the general contractor for the

project. It’ll be the company’s ninth distribution center. The tenth is being built in Florida. AutoZone bypassed Richland, Hermiston and Yakima before choosing Pasco. Halsell said AutoZone invests $50 million into a community before hiring even begins so making a good match in a community is critical, especially since “AutoZone is here for many decades.” How did the company settle on Pasco? Halsell said AutoZone officials met with community leaders, elected officials and other “retail leaders” to learn about the area, and quality and availability of the work force. “It’s very important information for us,” he said. The debate about where to build “wasn’t an easy decision” and not everyone agreed. Ultimately Pasco was chosen because of the availability of employment and “we liked the growth in the area,” Halsell said. “We thought it would be a good home for AutoZone.” Halsell said the company’s distribution centers maintain a union-free environment. Halsell also talked about how AutoZone would be a good corporate citizen in the Tri-Cities with its nonprofit charitable giving programs and “People With Abilities” program that employs those with disabilities. He encouraged those in the audience to buy AutoZone stock — it was about $700 a share the day of the meeting — as “it’s very profitable.” The business went public in 1991, trading on the New York Sock Exchange under AZO. Its first store opened in Forrest City, Arkansas in 1979.

Columbia

SCHOOL DISTRICT

Request for Proposals Food Service Management

The Columbia School District (District) is accepting written food service proposals from qualified food service Send proposals to: management companies (FSMC) to provide food services according to District Dr. Lou Gates, Superintendent specifications. Detailed specifications Columbia School District may be obtained from Dr. Lou Gates, 755 Maple St., Burbank, WA 99323 Superintendent, at 509-547-2136. All proposals must be received no later than 3:00 p.m. on May 12, 2017. Proposals received after scheduled closing cannot be considered. The District reserves the right to accept any proposal which it deems most favorable to the interests of the District. It also reserves the right to waive any informalities and irregularities and reject any and/ or all proposals or any portion of any proposal submitted which in their opinion is not in the best interest of the District. A pre-bid conference will be held on April 28, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at the Columbia School District Administration Building, 755 Maple St., Burbank, WA 99323. Each FSMC is limited to a maximum of two representatives. Attendance at the conference is mandatory if you wish to submit a proposal. The purpose of this conference is to answer questions related to our food service program. No bidder may withdraw or alter his proposal after the time set for opening thereof, unless award of contract is delayed for a period of more than forty-five (45) days from the date of opening. All documents are published on the Columbia School District website at www.csd400.org/CSD/lunch.php.

Bruce Lufkin, Pasco distribution center manager, left, and John Davis, maintenance manager for the center, were among a group of AutoZone employees — known as AutoZoners — wearing red shirts at TRIDEC’s annual meeting on March 15. Davis received the Extra Miler Award for his work getting the Pasco distribution center under way.

The company changed its name from Auto Shack to AutoZone in 1987 after Radio Shack raised concerns, Halsell said. Halsell said he’s thankful for the name change as the company’s advertising campaign, “Get in the zone,” wouldn’t have worked with “Get in the shack.” “It wouldn’t have the same ring,” he said with a smile. AutoZone has been a Fortune 500 company since 1999.

AutoZone culture

AutoZone employees wearing red company polo shirts turned the TRIDEC event into a mini company meeting to give Tri-Citians a sense of the company’s culture. They did a group cheer with clapping and hand motions to spelling out the company’s name and recognized one of their Pasco workers. “Who’s the best?” Haldsell and the others shouted.

“AutoZone,” they responded in unison. “Who’s No. 1?” “The customer,” came the response to the call. The company’s pledge states AutoZoners know their parts and products, that their distribution centers look great and they deliver the right merchandise at the right time. They also emphasize a clean and safe work environment. AutoZoners receive Extra Miler awards for going above and beyond their duties, and Pasco High alumni John Davis received the Pasco distribution center’s first one during the TRIDEC meeting. He’s the maintenance manager for the new Pasco center. “(John’s) knowledge of the Tri-Cities has helped out tremendously,” said Bruce Lufkin, manager of the Pasco distribution center.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

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RIVERSHORE, From page 1 The group wants to get the land ownership included in the federal National Defense Authorization Act currently being put together in Congress, using U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse to do so. If that is successful, the transfer would take place Oct. 1. If the effort fails this year, the trio plans to try again next year, Petersen said. TRIDEC supports the proposed ownership transfer. “Right now, it’s pretty restrictive for any development for recreational or commercial uses. ... One of the challenges for the cities has been the maintenance of park lands (under the status quo). .... (The cities) don’t have any equity. They can’t use the land for any revenue generation,” said David Reeploeg, TRIDEC’s vice president for federal programs. With the long string of dams on the Columbia River now upstream of Richland, the threat of flooding in the TriCities is almost non-existent, Petersen said. But the first step is to figure out what Columbia River shorelines, plus the ditches leading toward the river, are actually owned by the Corps. The huge flood of 1948 and construction of McNary Dam in 1954 led to the Corps taking ownership of significant portions of riverfront land to build levies and to create buffer zones in anticipation of future flooding and the creation of the McNary reservoir. The result is that riverfront is a hodgepodge of federal and locally-controlled lands. Eventually, everyone essentially forgot who owned what.

Retired U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, former Kennewick mayor Brad Fisher, and retired Tri-City Development Council vice president of federal programs Gary Petersen point to overgrown, neglected Columbia River shoreline as a reason for the Army Corps of Engineers to turn over the land to local municipalities. They, along with other Tri-Cities leaders, are awaiting a Corps report to be unveiled that will map out exactly which Columbia River shoreline plots are owned by the Corps between Hanford and Finley.

A while ago, Franklin County Commissioner Brad Peck filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the Corps to find out which lands the Corps owned. He was told that the request would cost $30,000, along with him having to do his own sorting through the federal records. Consequently, Newhouse took the lead on the records search with the Corps having a March 1 deadline to provide the information to Congress. That deadline has been missed. The records and a map have been created of the appropriate lands, according to the Corps. That information is now at the Pentagon or at federal Office of Management & Budget, depending on

Investment Opportunities

DEPARTMENTS

Around Town................................... 71 Networking...................................... 27 Business Profiles........................ 60-61 Public Record.................................. 65

A LOOK BACK April 2002

• Developers of Hansen Park, a 750acre housing development, were getting ready to break ground on the corner of Columbia Center Boulevard. and West 10th Avenue in Kennewick. • Cadwell Laboratories launched QuickMed, an electronic medical office program.

UPCOMING

May Focuses: • Retirement • Tourism & Recreation

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1,200 sq.-ft. commercial building in Eltopia, previously a general store and post ofﬁce. Priced to sell.

Call 509-546-2121 for more information on these properties • Combination commercial and apartment building in Kennewick • 6.5 acres of farmland with irrigation in north Pasco for lease

June Focuses: • Agriculture • Manufacturing The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business, a publication of TriComp Inc., is published monthly and delivered at no charge to identifiable businesses in Pasco, Richland, West Richland, Kennewick, Prosser and Benton City. Subscriptions are $27.10 per year, including tax, prepayment required, no refunds. Contents of this publication are the sole property of TriComp Inc. and can not be reproduced in any form without expressed written consent. Opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of staff, other contributors or other advertisers, nor do they imply endorsement by staff, contributors or advertisers. Every effort will be made to assure information published is correct; however, we are not liable for any errors or omissions made despite these efforts.

509-546-2121

1919 N. 20th Ave. Suite B Gary L. Graber, broker • 509-521-3316 Pasco, Washington Enrique Salas, broker • 509-851-9118 tri-citiesrealtygroup.com Claude Oliver, broker • 509-619-9192 Clint Oliver, broker • 509-366-1470

who is talking. Two requests to Newhouse’s office seeking the status of the report were not answered. The information is expected to become public soon, Petersen said. Meanwhile, the governments of Pasco, Richland and Kennewick have taken a wait-and-see stance on whether they want to assume control of the Corps lands. A few weeks ago, the Kennewick City Council voted to support the concept, and it expects to seek public feedback this summer on what to do with the Corps land. The city is eyeing 60 acres on the east end of Columbia Park as a recreational area. “We have no preconceived idea” on what might be done with those 60 acres, said Terry Walsh, the city’s director of employee and community relations. “We’re interested in it simply from the perspective of local control. … Do we want the land back? We don’t know. It depends on what the legislation says,” said Rick Terway, Pasco’s director of administration. For Richland, questions include getting a better grip on the flood control issues, and to figure out what maintenance of the new lands would cost Richland, said Joe Schiessel, parks director for Richland. Right now, none of the three cities has development plans for any new riverfront land. Terway noted that state and federal environmental impact reviews would still be needed if any such local plans surface. The three men pushing for local control are not pushing any development aspirations, Petersen said, adding the city governments would control that issue with zoning. However, the history of the Tri-Cities trying to assume control of its waterfront has been long with little progress. A 1988 Tri-City riverfront improvement plan looks much the same as a 2012 version, which closely resembles the concerns voiced by Hastings, Fisher and Petersen. But Petersen said he thinks “we are closer than we have been in the last 30 years … to getting this property returned to the community.” See video about shoreline reconveyance at http://bit.ly/shorelinecontrol.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017 uBUSINESS BRIEFS Chervenell awarded bid for Kennewick elementary

Chervenell Construction Co. of Kennewick was awarded the general construction contract for Kennewick School District’s elementary #16, located in the Clearwater Creek development in Richland. Chervenell, currently building the new Westgate Elementary on Fourth Avenue in Kennewick, provided a low bid of $20 million. Elementary #16 will open to students in August 2018. Consisting of 38 classrooms, gym, cafeteria, music room, computer lab, library, two reading rooms, flexible learning space and playground, it will be the district’s largest elementary school. Voters approved the project as part of a February 2015 bond. It is funded by a combination of state assistance funds and a portion of a $55.1 million state grant aimed at reducing classroom sizes in kindergarten through third grade.

UW business school offers business certificate program

The University of Washington Foster School of Business is offering a business certificate program to improve the business knowledge, skills and leadership abilities of employees of Tri-City area companies. The program is designed for people who want to become more effective in their job, develop leadership and strategic thinking skills and improve problem-solv-

ing abilities. Classes are held at Columbia Basin College from noon to 3 p.m. on six successive Fridays: April 14, 21 and 28 and May 5, 12 and 19. Lunch is provided. Cost is $350 per student. Visit foster.washington/edu/consult for more information.

Chamber, Ag Hall of Fame launch youth program grant

The Mid-Columbia Ag Hall of Fame and Pasco Chamber of Commerce have launched “Cultivating Our Future,” an annual competitive grant program aimed at supporting opportunities for youth to research, demonstrate and learn more about agriculture. Funding up to $5,000 is available for educators and entities to provide programming on engaging youth in agriculture. Funding decisions will be made by a MidColumbia Ag Hall of Fame committee comprised of farmers, ranchers, agriculture industry representatives and inductees of the Ag Hall of Fame. Grant requests are due to the Pasco Chamber of Commerce by 5 p.m. May 1. For more information, call 509-547-9755 or email admin@pascochamber.org.

KID seeks new board member, McGuire retires

Kennewick Irrigation District Director Patrick McGuire has decided to retire from the board after over eight years. The Benton County commissioners will be asked to appoint an interim director for Position 2 to fill the vacancy.

The person appointed to this position will serve though the end of 2017 and may run in the annual irrigation district election to be held on Dec. 27. The person elected in the 2017 election will take office in January and serve for the remaining year of the unexpired term. KID directors must be 18 years old, a citizen of the United States and a resident of Washington. They must be electors of the district and hold title or evidence of title to land in the district. Candidate applications are available at kid.org or may be picked up from the district office, 2015 S. Ely St. in Kennewick. Deadline to apply is 5 p.m. May 31. For more information or to request an application be mailed, call 509-586-9111.

Bechtel National achieves first milestone of 2017

Bechtel National Inc. employees recently completed installation of a caustic scrubber, a 19-ton piece of vitrification melter off-gas exhaust equipment in the Low-Activity Waste facility at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant—the vit plant—its first contract milestone of 2017. The scrubber was the final piece of a system that will treat exhaust from the Low-Activity Waste facility to ensure it meets air quality requirements. Work crews may now complete the subsequent work of installing remaining plant items and equipment there. When complete and fully operational, the facility will produce about 30 tons of vitrified glass a day. Three interim contract milestones

remain to complete the Low-Activity Waste facility construction completion contract milestone and Bechtel National is on schedule to meet those in the first quarter of 2018. Bechtel, a global engineering, construction and project management company, holds the prime contract to design, construct, start up and commission the vit plant.

Second Harvest to supply free food to nonprofits

Second Harvest has partnered with Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels, TriCounty Partners Habitat for Humanity and the Second Chance Center, a program of the Community Action Committee, to supply free nutritious food to homebound seniors and low-income families. Second Harvest is on track to provide more than 5 million pounds of free food to more than 20 hunger-relief partners in Benton and Franklin counties. Contact Jean Tucker, Second Harvest development manager, at 509-545-0787 or jean.tucker@2-harvest.org for more information.

Carousel of Dreams undergoes maintenance

The Gesa Carousel of Dreams is undergoing annual maintenance to preserve paint and wood on the horses in April. The bulk of the work will be paint touch-ups and a clear coat on the 107-year old wood. Visit gesacarouselofdreams. com for carousel hours.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

HAPO launches commercial program to serve growing business community BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz

HAPO Community Credit Union has extended its “member-centric” focus to include businesses. The Richland-based credit union recently launched a commercial division that stands ready to helps businesses, large and small. “We are member-centric and focus on what our members’ needs are. Sometimes their needs get lost in bigger banks,” said Monte Drake, vice president of commercial lending. He said HAPO wants to take the time to answer questions, address concerns and understand customers. The new division will assist current members with their existing small businesses or those wanting to start up one. It also welcomes new members and can move in existing business accounts from other places. Drake, who has been in the banking and finance industry for 33 years, joined HAPO in October 2015 to develop, launch and grow the credit union’s new commercial/ business lending program. He previously worked at AmericanWest Bank for four years and at First Interstate Bank in Montana for 14 years. The new HAPO division launched on the deposit side in December and the loan side in February. The credit union will offer traditional business lending services for commercial real estate, both owner and non-owner occupied; construction; equipment lines of

credit; and working capital lines. The new program also offers a business debit card and in late fourth quarter will upgrade business accounts so they can be tied to members’ personal accounts, as well as offer a “more robust online banking platform,” Drake said. “We’re also offering remote deposit capture and merchant services. As we grow, we’ll add treasury management service to tie into more products and services into online banking,” he said. “It will only continue to get better and better.” Richland-based Gesa Credit Union also has joined the state’s growing commercial lending market. It recently opened a homeloan center and commercial lending office in Spokane, according to the Journal of Business in Spokane. Spokane-based Numerica, which has three branches in the Tri-Cities and plans to build more here, also offers business loans and accounts. At HAPO, there’s a need for the commercial division, said Steve Anderson, president and CEO of the 140,000-member credit union. “We want to make sure we are always bringing value to our members and it had become very evident over the last several years that more and more of our members needed HAPO to provide business services for them. Monte has assembled a top-notch team that our members will be very impressed with,” Anderson said. HAPO’s multi-million dollar commercial lending portfolio is expected to see continued growth as demand increases,

Drake said. HAPO’s commercial loan goal is to service those under $3 million, but is “capable of going into larger loans where we see needs,” Drake said. “The higher need is where we see $250,000 to $1.5 million loans to meet the needs of our membership. That’s where general business needs line up in a community. There are a lot of little shops needing to expand their business and remodel and buy additional equipment,” he said. Drake said he’s been “surprised at how strong our business community is.” “The anchor services Monte Drake, vice president of commercial lending are here with the Hanford for HAPO Community Credit Union, has worked in the banking industry since he was 16. He led the site and the educational Richland-based credit union’s efforts to launch a stronghold is here to have commercial lending program. highly trained people to work. This births the need for additional business services. It’s really cial division. The credit union staff has gone through exciting to see,” he said. Drake said the community’s healthy extensive training with the financial serhousing market provides an alternative to vices group “and they are standing by and bigger metro areas. “I see great things they’re ready to help,” Drake said. “There ahead for the Tri-Cities area, especially will be someone trained in every branch,” when you’re launching a business pro- he said. For more information, call 509-222gram,” he said. HAPO has 340 employees and 17 3685, visit hapo.org, or stop in any branch. branches. Five make up the new commer-

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

DATEBOOK

VISIT TCJOURNAL.BIZ AND CLICK ON EVENT CALENDAR FOR MORE EVENTS

APRIL 18

• Senior Times Expo: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Red Lion Hotel, 2525 N. 20th Ave., Pasco. Contact 509-737-8778. • LIVE UNITED Celebration: 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick. RSVP unitedwaybfco.com. • Abundent Life Banquet, a fundraiser for Tri-Cities Pregnancy Network: 6 p.m., Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick. RSVP tcpnbanquet.org.

APRIL 19

• Lourdes Legacy Luncheon: 11:30 a.m., Red Lion Hotel, 2525 N. 20th Ave., Pasco. RSVP 509-5432412.

APRIL 20

• Reason to Hope breakfast, a benefit for Alzheimer’s Association: 7:30 a.m., Red Lion Hotel, 2525 N. 20th Ave., Pasco. Tickets alz.org/alzwa. • Giving Circle Reception, hosted by Women Helping Women Fund Tri-Cities: 6 p.m., Tri-City Country Club, 314 N. Underwood St., Kennewick. RSVP contact@ whwftc.org.

APRIL 21

• LinkUp2Us Business Expo: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Red Lion Hotel, 1101 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Kennewick. Contact linkup2us.com. • 15th annual ABCD Open, a fundraiser for Access to Baby & Child Dentistry: 11 a.m., Canyon Lakes Golf Course, 3700 Canyon Lakes Drive, Kennewick. Contact 509-543-4948. • Hanford Music Benefit Auction: 6:30 – 9:30 p.m., Terra Blanca Winery, 34715 DeMoss Road, Benton City. Tickets hanfordmusic.org.

APRIL 26

• Tri-City Regional Chamber Luncheon: 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick. RSVP 509-491-0510.

APRIL 27

• Tri-City Regional Chamber Business Development University: Ethical Decision Making: 1 – 3 p.m., Tri-Cities Business & Visitor Center, 7130 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick. RSVP 509-4910510. • Tri-Citian of the Year: 6 p.m., Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick. RSVP tricitianoftheyear.org.

• Internment – 75th Anniversary of Minidoka, presented by Columbia Basin Badger Club: 6 p.m., Shilo Inn, 50 Comstock St., Richland. RSVP 509-6286011. • HeART of Healing, benefitting Cork’s Place: 6 p.m., Anthology Event Center, 706 Williams Blvd., Richland. RSVP 509-783-7416.

APRIL 29

• Washington State Patrol Memorial Foundation dinner: 4 p.m., Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick. RSVP 360-597-4411.

MAY 2

• 4th annual Administrative Professionals Event: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Red Lion Hotel, 2525 N. 20th Ave, Pasco. RSVP adminprofessionalstc.org. • Prosser Chamber Luncheon: Noon – 1 p.m., The Barn Restaurant, 490 Wine Country Road, Prosser. RSVP 509-786-3177.

MAY 3

• National Active and Retired Federal Employees Assoc. luncheon: 11:30 a.m., Red Lion Hotel, 1101 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Kennewick. narfe1192.org.

• West Richland Chamber Luncheon: Noon – 1 p.m., Sandberg Event Center, 331 S. 41st Ave., West Richland. RSVP 509-967-0521.

MAY 4

• Washington Self-Insurers Association annual Conference: Toyota Center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick. RSVP wsiassn. org.

MAY 5

• The Derby, a benefit for The Children’s Reading Foundation of the MidColumbia: 7 – 10 p.m., Gesa Carousel of Dreams, 2901 Southridge Blvd., Kennewick. Tickets 509-222-7323.

• Pasco Chamber Luncheon: 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m., Red Lion Hotel, 2525 N. 20th Ave., Pasco. RSVP 509-547-9755.

MAY 12

• Tri-City AGC Regional Golf Tournament: noon, TriCity Country Club, 314 N. Underwood St., Kennewick. Register nwacg.org.

MAY 13

• Run for Ribbons, a fundraiser for Tri-Cities Cancer Center: 8:30 a.m., Howard Amon Park, 500 Amon Park Drive, Richland. Register 509-737-3413. • March for Babies: 9 a.m., John Dam Plaza, 1815 George Washington Way, Richland. marchforbabies.org

MAY 8

• Association of Washington Business Spring Meeting: Historic Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St., Spokane. RSVP awb.org.

MAY 10 – 12

• Clore Classic Golf Tournament: 1 – 8 p.m., Canyon Lakes Golf Course, 3700 W. Canyon Lakes Drive, Kennewick. Contact lottie@theclorecenter.org.

MAY 6

MAY 8 – 9

• POPP Fur Ball 2017, a benefit for Pet Over Population Prevention: 5 – 11 p.m., Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick. Tickets popptricities.org.

MAY 16

• Eastern Washington Solutions Summit, presented by Washington Policy Center: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St., Spokane. RSVP washingtonpolicy.org.

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

uBUSINESS BRIEFS KID explores title transfer

The Kennewick Irrigation District has less than five years remaining on its contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. At its March 7 meeting, the KID Board of Directors determined it may be in the best interest to pursue title transfer from the Bureau of Reclamation to give KID more direct control, provide valueadded service to its operations and customers and benefit the community, river and stakeholders. Title transfer is a voluntary effort most often initiated by Bureau of Reclamation water and power contractors, such as KID. The Bureau of Reclamation has established a process to convey title, and

has transferred components of 30 projects since 1996. The title transfer would divest the Bureau of Reclamation of responsibility for the operation, maintenance, management, regulation and liability for the projects, land and facilities of KID. Next steps are for KID staff to continue to engage community stakeholders in the process. Call Charles Freeman, KID district manager, at 509-586-9111 for more information.

Pasco to improve roads, alternative routes suggested The city of Pasco is working on two long-term road projects that will affect drivers in the coming months. Convention Drive from Three Rivers

Drive to Burns Road will remain closed until the end of June while it is rebuilt and relocated. Work on 20th Avenue from west Lewis Street to Sun Willows Boulevard, including replacement of traffic signals, curbs, butters, ramps and traffic islands will be from about 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. When complete, the projects will improve safety and traffic flow, but during construction there will be traffic delays so use of alternative routes is encouraged. For more information visit pasco-wa. gov.

Jacobs Radio changes station format, trains kids

Jacobs Radio shifted the music played on its U-Rock station, 95.3 FM, to 80s rock in early March. The station now has

local DJs from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and continues to feature Alice Cooper from 7 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday. The company, which also has The Beat 107.3 and Smooth Jazz 102.3 stations, is training kids from Tri-Tech Skills Center to DJ on weekends. They will receive school credits as part of the program.

Registration open for business wellness challenge

The Tri-City Regional Chamber’s Good Health is Good Business eightweek wellness challenge runs from May 1 to June 26. The challenge is open to teams and individuals, and encourages teamwork, friendly competition and health. A live site allows for tracking of activity, nutrition and wellness accomplishments. Cost is $10 per participant. For more information or to register, visit tricityregionalchamber.com or call 509-491-3238.

Kennewick shifts pavement funds to pothole repair

The city of Kennewick budgeted $1.6 million this year for pavement preservation. With the extreme winter weather and resulting pavement damage, more than half of this budget will now be dedicated to repairing severely damaged areas and will reduce the number of overlay projects in 2017. The city executed a contract to rate the pavement conditions for city streets and establish a database of 61 miles of arterials, 33 miles of collectors and 242 miles of residential streets. The database will provide an analysis for prioritizing repairs and maintenance, calculating costs and predicting future needs. Repairs and overlays will be bid out this spring and the city anticipates work to begin on priority repairs by June and overlay projects by August. The city has another $1.6 million budgeted in 2018 that will go exclusively to overlay projects.

Community hosts sought for WSU medical students

Individual and family hosts in the TriCities are sought to welcome, support and orient Washington State University medical students to the community during six weeks over a two-year period beginning in September. While studying for their first two years at WSU Spokane, students will spend six individual weeks in the city where they will be during their third and fourth years: Sept. 3-9; Nov. 26-Dec. 2; March 25-31, 2018; Aug. 19-25, 2018; Nov. 11-17, 2018; and March 24-30, 2019. Hosts will be invited to participate in the college’s community nights, to be held on Wednesday each of the weeks at the respective WSU campuses. For more information, email community hosting coordinator, Kyle Holbrook at kyle.holdbrook@wsu.edu.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017 FLIGHTS, From page 1 But Hayden said the market exists, with an estimated 150 people a day heading to LA from Pasco. Adrian agreed: “Based on the numbers our consultant (Jack Penning) prepared, it warrants daily service. We believe we have the market. The TriCities is the largest market (on the West Coast) that doesn’t have a direct flight from any of the Los Angeles Basin airports.” In 2015, the Tri-Cities Airport received a $750,000 Small Community Air Service Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help with the startup costs for an airline to launch a new route. In addition, another $257,091 in local cash pledges were added to the pot to clear $1 million. After $108,091 in airport landing fees (based on two Pascoto-LAX flights a day), the biggest pledge is $50,000 from TRIDEC. Another $20,000 is pledged from Visit Tri-Cities, while $10,000 each is being pledged by Franklin County, Benton County, the cities of Pasco, Kennewick and Richland, Port of Kennewick and Port of Benton. The Tri-Cities has enough business firepower to keep after the route with Hayden, Adrian, Penning, Ron Foraker, director of airports, and Buck Taft, deputy director of airports, working together. “I think we’ve got a unique partnership with the airport director and the consultant,” Adrian said. Foraker says everyone has worked as

a team. “We have met with multiple carriers that serve the Tri-Cities now on multiple occasions,” he said. “We’ve talked to Alaska, Delta, American, Sky West, United,” Adrian said. “We made a presentation to all of them, then we had a second opportunity to speak to many of them at a conference.” But no airline is making the move just yet. The Tri-Cities Area Journal of

“We feel we’re losing a significant amount of passengers to Seattle, Portland and Spokane.” - Ron Foraker, director of airports, Tri-Cities Aiport Business sought comment from each, but only two responded. “We continually review new market opportunities and do not disclose specifics for competitive reasons,” said Jonathan Guerin, senior manager for public relations for United Airlines. “The network planning team continually evaluates our network, looking at supply and demand,” said LaKesha Brown, spokeswoman for American Airlines. “Every new market opportuni-

ty is taken in the context of our overall network and resources. At this time, we do not have plans to add direct service between Pasco and Los Angeles.” The Tri-City coalition remains undaunted, and they understand the airlines’ situation. “Moving into a new territory for an airline is a big deal, with all of the setup fees,” Foraker said. “The timing for Alaska acquiring Virgin doesn’t help us. A lot of it has to do with the timing of the airline.” Both Adrian and Foraker also said the grant’s timeline won’t expire any time soon. “The grant is in a two-year window, with the opportunity to request an extension,” Adrian said. “The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) was pretty agreeable to extending the window.” Foraker says the group keeps the government informed. “We send quarterly reports to the DOT to tell them what we’re doing,” he said. “And the way the grant is written, it could be any of the LA airports (LAX, John Wayne, Ontario, Long Beach, Burbank). But LAX would be the first choice,” Adrian said. Acquiring a Pasco-to-Los Angeles air route would provide plenty of benefits, Hayden said. Chief among them is providing critical access to investors, businesses and professionals in the Los Angeles Basin to support business development in the Tri-Cities. Such a route also would open up potential new markets in the LA

Basin for Tri-City businesses and attract new visitors to the Tri-Cities. More competition between the airlines could lead to reduced airfares in the region. Internationally, it likely would mean better connections to Mexico destinations. The top foreign destination out of the Tri-Cities is Guadalajara. The Tri-Cities Airport has been big business for the area. The Port of Pasco, which owns and operates the facility, expects the airport will have an operating budget of nearly $8 million for 2017. Airlines are projected to pay the airport an estimated $2.7 million in rent in 2017. The 2016 estimate for expenses at the airport was $6.2 million. Still, things could be better, Foraker said. “We feel we’re losing a significant amount of passengers to Seattle, Portland and Spokane,” he said. “If these passengers can come here without having to come to another airport, everybody would be better off.” So the key words for Tri-Citians are patience and persistence, officials said. “Even if an airline said they could do it today, we’d have to wait for it to happen next spring,” Adrian said. “So we’ll continue to pitch this. We want to make sure (the airlines) don’t forget about this opportunity.” Foraker agreed. “I’d love to tell you it’s going to happen this year, but I don’t want to lie to you,” he said. “These things take time.”

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

GOING GREEN

Demand for sustainable homes growing but more awareness needed 270 eco-friendly homes certified in Tri-Cities last year compared to 1,000 in Seattle BY ELSIE PUIG

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

The owner of Easton Construction’s model home in the Inspiration Estates neighborhood in Kennewick looks like most custom-built homes — a wide and open interior floor plan bringing together the living room, dining room and kitchen with white cabinets and white quartz. It’s airy, spacious and elegant, but what sets it apart from other custom builders’ homes is the importance owner Dan Easton places on eco-friendly, sustainable design and energy-efficient home features. When people walk through the home, they’ll see signs pointing out the energyefficient features and sustainably-harvested building materials used in the home, such as a whole house Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) system, triple-glazed windows, on-demand hot water unit, LED lights, touchless faucets, rigid foam insulation, engineered wood and paints with no volatile organic compound (VOCs). His homes also are built as solar-ready

in case homeowners want to install solar panels in the future. “I try to build a home that gives a person the ability to live comfortably, age in place in the home. These are very healthy homes,” Easton said. He builds all of his homes this way – and he is seeing increased interest and more awareness from potential home buyers for eco-friendly homes. “It’s not rocket science what we’re doing here; it’s a system, I look at the shell of the home as necessary to creating a home with its own ecosystem inside the home. We take a lot of time in sealing the home. We’re using a little more resources to create the insulation but we’re significantly reducing the amount or energy and resources the home will require to operate,” he said.

HBA’s Built Green program

Through the Home Builders Association of Tri-Cities’ Built Green program, Jonathan Jones, director of building science, has a platform for advocating the

Dan Easton, left, owner of Easton Construction, and Mike Walker, owner of Walker Homes, work together on building projects like this eco-friendly home in Inspiration Estates in Kennewick. Last year, the Built Green program certified 270 eco-friendly homes in the Tri-Cities.

benefits — and cost feasibility — of building energy-efficient homes. Although he does see increased awareness about the importance of building sustainably and with energy efficiency in mind, sometimes that does not translate to a noticeable uptick in more green homes being built, at least not locally.

Nationally, however, the trend seems to be a little different. According to a 2014 study by McGraw Hill Construction Research, green, singlefamily homes will represent about 40 percent of the housing market by 2018, and 84 percent of residential homes will have sustainable, or “green” features. uBUILT GREEN, Page 12

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

BUILT GREEN, From page 11 Jones, a former independent consultant, has been in the green building business for about eight years and joined the HBA more than nine months ago. He consults with local builders to achieve the necessary improvements required to achieve Energy Star and Built Green certifications. In 2009, he designed a net-zero home in Pasco. Net-zero homes produce as much energy as they consume. He is also certified as a home energy rater and verifier by RESNET, or Residential Energy Services Network. “The Built Green program has been somewhat of a niche in the Tri-Cities so far. Some builders advocate to building exclusively to the Built Green standards, but some choose not use the program at

GOING GREEN

all,” Jones said. “Sometimes to certify an environmentally-friendly home is a nominal amount compared to the cost of the home.”

Educating consumers

It also comes down to consumer awareness and communication between the buyer and builder. Most first-time buyers don’t know what to ask for when it comes to green building and energy efficiency, so they don’t ask, Jones said. Built Green and Energy Star are two voluntary third-party programs guaranteeing the sustainability and energy efficiency of a home. The Department of Energy’s Challenge Home certifies builders who follow guidelines to build homes that are so energy efficient they can offset all or more of their annual energy con-

sumption. Another independent certifier is LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. “A lot of my builders come to me and say, ‘Well, my homeowners are not asking for those things,’” Jones said. “But surveys show that the younger generation and aging population are both interested in energy efficiency. They are seeking that consistency in price and affordability. They have an expectation that it should be included in their home.” “There is an increased cost for high performance housing but case study after case study has shown that there are two costs involved with buying a home: the purchase price and the operating cost,” Jones said. “An educated buyer will look at the long-term savings versus the initial sticker shock.”

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Last year, Built Green certified 270 homes in the Tri-Cities, compared to about 1,000 homes in Seattle. Home builders like New Tradition Homes, Green Plan Construction, Easton Construction, Septan Homes, Habitat for Humanity and Alderbrook Homes are using Built Green standards. To certify a Built Green home, the home has to pass an inspection and meet certain criteria, such as being energy efficient, meeting health and indoor air quality standards, using materials efficiently and using low-impact development techniques. To keep a Built Green license, the builder has to pay an annual fee of $150 and $50 per home inspection up to 20 homes. The rest are free. One thing Jones usually looks for in eco-friendly homes is that they are built with products that contain no VOCs, which are often found in finishes, carpets, paints and glues used for laminates. For interior paints, Jones recommends using American Clay, or other earth plaster, which provides a non-toxic and environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional paints. “You have to get products that have finishes or construction materials low in VOCs. The fume you smell off the paint is one of them — even the new car smell are added chemicals, such as formaldehyde,” Jones said. He suggested looking at the packaging of products to see if they’ve met standards. Jones said builders should avoid using medium density fiberboard for trim work and base boards as those often contain formaldehyde. He also said some builders have the option of using ethically-sourced building materials or renewable resources like bamboo, cork or hemp, or using sustainably-harvested hardwood floors that lessen the impact to the environment and are much healthier for the home. “We’re also looking for carbon offset. The longer life cycle of the product the better. There are also products and building materials that will offset the CO2 during construction of the home,” Jones said. Eco-friendly structural design is also something homebuilders should look at. A home with less square footage on exterior walls is easier to ventilate and minimizes workload on a heating and cooling system. For more information on HBA’s Built Green program visit hbatc.com/for-members/built-green.html.

Please recycle the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business when you are done reading it, or pass it on to a co-worker.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

GOING GREEN

Tri-City alliance forms to explore charging stations for e-vehicles BY JOHN STANG

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Tri-City interests are looking at the possibility of installing charging stations for electric vehicles in the Mid-Columbia. Right now, that possibility is in the initial brainstorming stage. The Franklin County and Benton County public utility districts, Energy Northwest and other local entities are seeking grants to study the subject, said Karen Miller, Franklin County PUD spokeswoman.

“We’re in heart of research and development country, and this should be part of it.” - Karen Miller, Franklin PUD spokeswoman However, no timetable for coming up with a plan has been set yet. The Mid-Columbia effort is called the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Transportation Alliance. It has received letters of support from the city governments of Richland, West Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, Connell and Ellensburg — plus all their ports, chambers of commerce, tourism associations and

economic development groups. The Tri-City Development Council and Mid-Columbia Electric Vehicles Association also support the alliance. Miller said installing electric vehicle charging stations would help attract western Washington electric car drivers to Eastern Washington. “It could be a tourist draw,” she said. A minimum target would be a charging station each in Kennewick, Richland, West Richland and Pasco. “We’re in heart of research and development country, and this should be part of it. … We need to be thinking ahead, to be proactive,” she said. The website plugshare.com shows there are 24 electric car charging station locations in the Tri-Cities. Kadlec Regional Medical Center’s new five-story garage has two EV Link chargers that are free to use. The garage has capacity for 14 chargers. A couple months ago, the Benton and Franklin PUDs lobbied for a bill by Rep Gael Tarleton, D-Seattle, that would have let public utilities seek private-sector help in installing electric-vehicle charging stations. But that bill did not make it out of committee. Current state law forbids the private sector and public utilities from tackling this as a joint effort. Tarleton’s bill was designed specifically for Seattle City Light, but it is expected to be expanded to cover all public utilities, including those in rural areas. Seattle City Light hopes to install at least 20 charging stations for electric vehi-

Tesla Motors has eight electric car-charging stations available for customers at the Kennewick Fred Meyer store. The Franklin County and Benton County public utility districts, Energy Northwest and other local entities are seeking grants to study the possibility of installing charging stations for electric vehicles in the Mid-Columbia.

cles this year and next year around the city. That would be the first stage of the public utility’s hopes to set up a yet-to-be-determined number of charging stations across Seattle. Seattle has a goal to support the use of 15,000 electric vehicles by 2025. Seattle City Light is still in the beginning stages of calculating the number of charging stations needed and their locations. A Seattle long-range timetable, a budget, plus private and public revenue sources, still have to be identified. Other unknowns include how much a customer

would pay for electricity at a charging station and the effects on Seattle City Light ratepayers. The city of Seattle has allocated $2 million for installing the initial 20 charging stations. The cost per station is tentatively budgeted at $80,000 each, but that can easily change as details get nailed down. EVgo Services, a New Jersey-based network of nationwide charging stations, has about 900 stations nationwide. Fourteen are in Washington, in King and Snohomish counties.

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

GOING GREEN

Metals market sees an upswing as economy improves Pacific Steel & Recycling customers include food processing, construction, towing companies BY JESSICA HOEFER

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Long before Jackie Koleber became the manager of Pacific Steel & Recycling’s Kennewick location, she was a customer. “When I was little, I used to collect pop cans. My uncle would take me and my cousins out (to find cans), and we would bring them in when I was little,” she said. Koleber doesn’t remember what she bought with the money she earned but guessed it was probably candy. “We loved it. We thought it was the coolest thing. We would do it at least once a month,” she said. Years later, Koleber went from turning in pop cans to receiving them—as well as an assortment of other metals—when she joined the Pacific Steel & Recycling team in 2007. “I came from working at a hospital. I was a billing specialist. I was looking for something completely different than the job I had. I grew up doing most of the things boys do—working on cars and motorcycles—and the scrap industry intrigued me,” she said about her transition to the field. The company has dozens of locations throughout the Northwest, and at the Kennewick location where Koleber

works, it recycles a number of items including household appliances such as washers, dryers, plumbing materials and tires. All car parts—excluding fluids—are recyclable. Pacific Steel & Recycling even takes Christmas lights. “One of the things that surprises me is that people don’t realize they can recycle a dishwasher or a hot water heater or Christmas lights,” she said. “The lights are covered in a plastic cord, but there’s copper in it. Electrical contractors don’t always realize they can recycle the ends of their copper—and it can save them money. You can send it here and not pay to send it to a landfill. It helps for one, with being green.” If a contractor has a large quantity of material, Pacific Steel & Recycling has a bin service provided in Kennewick, Pasco and Richland. The company will take anything from seven cubic yards to 40 cubic yards, and if a customer lives outside the perimeter of the three main cities, Koleber said they can assess the job to try to work out an arrangement to bring the metals in. Most of the items it recycles are iron and steel. The largest quantities come from cars and contractors, she said, as well as farm equipment. The year Koleber joined, the price for scrap metal was on an

Pacific Steel & Recycling warehouse customer service specialist Shawn Jackson sends cans up the conveyor to be weighed. The company accepts an average of 400 to 500 pounds of cans per day.

upward swing. But the price paid out is not quite the same as it was prior to the economic downturn. “Back in 2008, steel would go for probably about $350 a ton,” she said. Steel is priced by the ton or pound, and currently the value is between $80 per ton to $110 per ton, depending on the quality of the metal. “Appliances are thin metal with plastic or other materials mixed in. Heavy fixed steel would be the higher-grade steel. That’s what you’d get your $110 for,” she said. “Right now, the way the markets are, you’d probably get $5 for a washing machine. But you’re not paying to dump

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it. And it’s not sitting in your backyard as ugly yard art.” The scrap metal market seems to follow the stock market, she said, and it appears to be on an upward trend. The company ships out six to 10 rail cars each month at 80 tons per railcar. And although it’s not quite to the caliber of shipments in 2009—which saw 10 to 15 cars per week—she believes growth is on the horizon. “Our year will be much better than it has since 2009,” she said, adding that she noticed signs of the industry picking up in January 2017, and that metals have come up 15 percent in price since the start of the year. Prices change on a daily basis for what the company calls non-magnetic material such as aluminum, copper, stainless and brass. Steel is typically the only metal with a monthly fixed price. “We have a contract with our buyers, and we base our prices on whatever our sell-to contract is,” she explained. When sellers come to the facility, Koleber said they will either be sent to a truck scale or a small indoor scale, depending on the load they have, whether it’s one pound or 100,000 pounds. Customers include a lot of food processing businesses, construction companies, contractors and towing companies. But individuals still come in to sell items such as cardboard and aluminum cans, she said. Pacific Steel & Recycling pays a penny a pound for cardboard, and pop cans run 35 cents per pound. “We (take) an average of 400 to 500 pounds of cans a day,” she said, adding that aluminum recycling has come full circle for her now that her children have taken an interest in can collecting. “Oh yeah,” she laughed, “they’re into it.”

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

GOING GREEN

Fuel from human waste, algae could be lucrative sources for biofuels BY JOHN STANG

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland is looking at a couple of potentially lucrative sources for biofuels. Poop and algae. The poop approach will be tested on a full scale soon in Vancouver, B.C. The algae approach is eventually headed for tests at an Arizona facility. Biofuels refer to a wide range of fuels created by different processes for a wide variety of purposes. They are usually created with sugar, or with cover crops such as camelina, or with wood wastes such a leftover slash of downed trees, among other sources. A July 2016 U.S. Department of Energy report concluded that the nation has the partly-untapped potential to produce at least 1 billion tons of crops, biomass from forests and other waste materials capable of replacing 30 percent of the United States’ 2005 petroleum consumption. Biofuels result in fewer carbon emissions than petroleum-based fuels. PNNL is working on two additional unconventional sources for biofuels. One source is sewage — with plenty of toilet paper, plus some grease, fats and oils mixed in. PNNL believes that a single person can produce two to three gallons of biocrude oil annually just by doing what comes naturally and inevitably to each one of us. PNNL has been tinkering on and off with biofuels since the 1970s. The lab’s

Biocrude oil, produced from wastewater treatment plant sludge, looks and performs virtually like fossil petroleum. (Courtesy Water Environment & Reuse Foundation)

scientists ended up focusing on the grease, fats and oils in sewage as a potential source of biocrude oil. The problem has always been that sewage sludge is too soggy to produce usable biocrude oil. And until recently, engineering issues have kept scientists from drying the sewage sludge into a biocrude oil-friendly substance. Those engineering problems have been solved — at least in the laboratory. The process is called hydrothermal liquidification. That means the sludge in a lab setting flows through a long, narrow tube — 1/3-inch to 1/2-inch in diameter — under a pressure of 3,000 pounds per square inch while being heated to 660 degrees Fahrenheit. The resulting bio-

crude can then be refined into usable biofuel, possibly for use in jet planes and other machinery. Corinne Drennan, PNNL’s head of bioenergy technologies research, said 100 million gallons of sewage can produce 100 tons of dry biocrude sludge. The nation’s sewage plants treat roughly 34 billion gallons of sewage every day, which could translate to about 30 million 42-gallon barrels of oil a year, according to PNNL figures. PNNL has licensed this technology to Utah-based Genifuel Corp., which is now working with Metro Vancouver. Metro Vancouver has an $8 million to $9 million pilot project planned for its Annacis Island wastewater treatment

plant, with construction expected to be complete by the end of 2018. The plant serves roughly 1 million people with 175 billion liters of wastewater going in each year, resulting in 16,000 metric tons of mixed sewage sludge being produced annually. “Hydrothermal processing could be as dramatic as when the steam locomotive displaced the horse and carriage,” wrote Metro Vancouver spokeswoman Sarah Lusk in an email. Drennan speculated that Metro Vancouver might send its biocrude to an existing Northwest refinery for the final processing. She acknowledged that the economics of sewage-based biofuel still need be studied and improved to make it financially feasible. A second biofuel source being studied by PNNL is algae. Algae is a targeted source for creating biofuel to fight carbon pollution. Algae’s big plus is that it grows much faster than other biofuel sources. Some algae can double in mass every two hours, and could theoretically be harvested daily. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that to replace all the petroleum fuel in the country with homegrown algae fuel would require 15,000 square miles, which is less than one-seventh of the area devoted to growing corn in the United States. Also, using algae would not interfere with food production, which would be a factor in using sugar. uBIOFUEL, Page 16

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

BIOFUEL, From page 15 In a 2013 interview with Bloomberg. com, J. Craig Venter of Synthetic Genomics Inc. contended that algae can produce biofuels 10 times the amount of ethanol created by a similar acreage of corn. But biofuel is significantly more expensive than oil. In 2010, algae-based biofuel was estimated to cost $140 to $900 a barrel. That same year, oil cost $71 a barrel. At least 100 fledgling businesses are looking at developing algae-based biofuel. In 2015, an Israeli firm called Univerve claimed to have technology capable of eventually producing algae-based biofuel at $50 a barrel, which was slightly greater than the price of oil in 2015. “Algae biofuel is a promising clean energy technology, but the current production methods are costly and limit its use,”

said the Richland project’s lead researcher Micheal Huesemann at PNNL. “The price of biofuel is largely tied to growth rates. Our method could help developers find the most productive algae strains more quickly and efficiently.” In the 2013 Bloomberg story, Rex Tillerson, then CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. and now U.S. Secretary of State, said the corporation has invested $600 million in creating biofuel from algae, but does not expect results for 25 years because the algae does not grow quickly enough to create enough raw material to supply a refinery. “We’ve come to understand some limits of that technology, or limits as we understand it today, which doesn’t mean it’s limited forever,” Tillerson said in the Bloomberg story.

Going Green The federal effort led by PNNL is systematically trying to find the fastest growing algae. Also involved are the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. DOE is providing $6 million for the project. Since biofuels are significantly more expensive than petroleum-based fuels, a speedy renewable cycle will help keep costs down, Huesemann said. PNNL is looking at 30 strains of algae, and trying to find the best four for speedy growth. The most promising algae strains will then be studied for oil, protein and carbohydrate components, which address their abilities to produce biofuels. The most promising also will be studied to see if they can produce useful byproducts. The other national laboratories will

simultaneously analyze different algae at different stages of the experimental processes. A basic stage in that overall project is each strain spending six months in a PNNL lab being subjected to a variety of shifting lighting conditions and temperatures in glass containers called photobioreactors. “We can simulate any pond in any place in the United States on any day,” Huesemann said. After the lab studies, the algae will be test-grown at Arizona State University’s Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation for additional analysis. “Even if it does well in the lab, we don’t know how well it will do in a pond,” Huesemann said. The goal is to have at least four prime strains of algae identified three years from now. The lab tests have just begun. The airline industry and the federal government are aiming to cut commercial aviation carbon emissions to 50 percent of 2012 levels by 2050. In the case of jet fuel, biofuels are blended with petroleum-based fuels to cut down carbon emissions. ASTM International — a more-than-acentury-old organization that sets technical standards for numerous industries worldwide — tests the blended fuel to see if it meets its requirements for jet fuel. ASTM has certified five biofuels for jet fuel use since 2011. A major hurdle in getting airlines to use biofuels is the cost difference between biofuels and petroleum-based fuels. Right now, petroleum-based jet fuels are cheaper. Biofuels do not totally replace petroleumbased fuels when used in jets. Instead, they are mixed with petroleum-based fuels to reduce carbon emissions. Another problem is that the prices of biofuels and petroleum-based fuels are constantly fluctuating. Also there are several processes — with varying expenses — for creating biofuels. And there are several sources for raw materials for biofuels: sugars, corn, other crops and wood. These sources have their own constantly shifting economic pictures. Late last year, the Port of Seattle, the sustainable jet fuel company SkyNRG and Sir Richard Branson’s nonprofit Carbon War Room announced they are partnering on a study to find out how to compensate airlines for the difference in fuel prices. Their goal? To set up a way so all airlines at SeaTac International Airport can economically use biofuel for their passenger jets. They want SeaTac to become the first American airport to provide biofuel for all of its passenger planes. Worldwide, only the airport in Oslo, Norway, does that. In the United States, United Airlines uses biofuel in its airplanes leaving Los Angeles International Airport. But another unknown is where the money will come from to compensate airlines for the greater cost of using biofuels. A central question is how the production of more biofuels can be spurred so it becomes more economical at larger volumes. The nation uses roughly 23 billion gallons of aviation fuel a year, according to the Commercial Aviation Fuels Initiative, a national coalition of airlines, biofuel producers and government agencies. CAAFI has set a target of manufacturing 400 million gallons of biofuels a year by 2020.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

GOING GREEN

Local winemaker ‘bottling’ with eco-friendly, recyclable totes Palencia Wine Co. plans to put 500 cases into the totes this year BY WINE NEWS SERVICE

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

A Walla Walla winemaker who is relocating part of his business to the TriCities also is doing everything he can to reduce his carbon footprint. He is starting by putting some of Palencia Wine Co.’s wines in a package that will reduce its environmental impact while also helping the wines stay fresh and delicious for consumers. Victor Palencia, owner and winemaker, has begun packaging some of his Vino La Monarcha wines in the AstroPaq. It’s a fully recyclable, foodgrade plastic that dispenses the wine through an easy-to-use spigot. “I’ve been in the industry long enough to realize the impact we have on various resources, even with my own boutique winery,” Palencia said. “I’ve seen first-hand how much waste can be generated with traditional bottlings.” Palencia said that most of the wines under his La Monarcha label are consumed quickly – often within hours – after purchase. “It’s really a waste to see all that glass go out,” he said. “So this new packaging is going to allow me to feel better about what I’m doing to our planet in general but also without reduc-

ing the enjoyment of the wines.” In traditional bottles, a wine’s flavor can be affected by oxygen within three to four days after a bottle being opened. But the wine tote that Palencia is using can easily keep wine fresh for a month after it is first opened. The wine in a tote also could be aged for two years before being initially opened. “The bag is filled with argon first, then filled with the wine,” Palencia said. “So there’s an inert environment with low oxygen levels.” The totes hold the same as a bottle of wine – 750 milliliters – but weighs half as much because there’s no glass. “I can now pick up two cases of wine with one hand,” Palencia said with a chuckle. The wine now costs less to ship, and the package can be recycled when it’s empty. Palencia said the new packaging will undoubtedly appeal to younger wine drinkers, especially the all-important millennial generation. “It’s a great way to provide wine for adventurous people,” he said. And Palencia is going all in right way. He’s already committed to putting 500 cases of his wines into the wine totes this year, starting with his Cabernet

Palencia Wine Co. has begun packaging some of its Vino La Monarcha wines in AstroPaq, a fully recyclable, food-grade plastic that dispenses wine through an easy-to-use spigot. (Courtesy Wine News Service)

Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay. “It’s ramping up quickly,” he said. “It doesn’t change the flavor of the wine. It’s the exact same wine that goes into the bottle.” Palencia Wine Co., which now is in its fourth year of operation, produces about 8,500 cases of wine annually. Palencia also is the head winemaker for Jones of Washington in Quincy and director of winemaking for J&S Crushing in Mattawa. April Reddout, wine program director for the Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center in Prosser, said the center regularly carries the La Monarcha wines, and

she thinks it will be a big hit. She’s carried a similar product in the past, and it was a wild success, particularly with consumers who realized its environmental benefits. “People from Seattle and Portland love it,” she said. “They get all excited about the eco-friendliness of it. They really respond to the value, the recyclability and the convenience. They can take this on a boat or on a hike. There’s no need for a bottle opener. They just love it.” Consider this: Half the households in America don’t have a corkscrew in them, and Palencia just made it easier for all of them to enjoy a great glass of wine. uWINE TOTES, Page 18

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

WINE TOTES, Form page 17 Carol Sanford, wine steward of Yoke’s Fresh Market in Richland, noted it is one of the first stores to carry the new La Monarcha packaging. She began carrying it in early February – all four Yoke’s groceries in the Tri-Cities are selling the totes – and said she became a true believer in quick order. Sanford said Palencia challenged her to open the tote, pour a glass of wine, then stick it away for a few weeks and try it again. She opened her tote on Dec. 23, then didn’t touch it again until Jan. 9. “It was amazing and fresh,” she said. She believes it will be great for people who go camping. But she said sales have been tepid so far, primarily because the package is so unusual and nontraditional. “It will pick up as people understand

“I think white wines will fly off the shelves when the weather gets warmer.” - Carol Sanford, wine steward at Yoke’s Fresh Market in Richland the benefits, no doubt,” she said. “I think white wines will fly off the shelves when the weather gets warmer. I wish all the wines were packaged this way.” Reddout said she noticed the same thing the first time she carried wine

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GOING GREEN totes. “It takes a little coaching,” she said. “The consumer needs to be assured. There’s a generation that thinks it’s just a cheap wine. We’re still overcoming the perception of screw caps. They just need encouragement.” Palencia said that in addition to groceries, he’s also receiving inquiries from restaurants that want to use the totes for more convenient by-the-glass pours. They can be particularly troublesome because if a bottle is opened to serve a glass, that wine will need to be discarded within three days if it isn’t empty. With the tote, there’s no waste. In addition to the four Yoke’s stores, Palencia also has shipped the wine to markets in Oregon and Idaho and is getting ready to deliver it to Seattle merchants.

uBUSINESS BRIEFS MSA, CH2M, WRPS receive green awards

Mission Support Alliance, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. and Washington River Protection Solutions were recently recognized as leaders in the procurement and use of sustainable information technology products by the Green Electronics Council and managers of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool. MSA purchased the products for use by contractors at Hanford, which will result in a savings of more than one million kilowatt hours of electricity, a reduction of 363.5 metric tons of primary materials and the avoidance of 1.6 metric tons of water pollutant emissions. EPEAT is a ranking system that helps companies compare and choose computers and office equipment based on their environmental attributes. The submission from the three Hanford contractors received a three-star award.

Program set for students exploring medical field

The Academic Advantage program, a new initiative pioneered by local oral surgeons, Drs. Todd Cooper, Tyson Teeples, Ryan Toponce and Brandon Reddinger, aims to provide students with detailed information about the health care field.

Palencia noted the same wines also are available in bottles for consumers who prefer the traditional packaging. As early as this fall, Palencia will be relocating his Vino La Monarcha brand to the wine village in downtown Kennewick on Columbia Drive. He originally thought it would be in July, but this winter’s snow set back construction, so he now is targeting August for an opening. La Monarcha is the second label for Palencia Wine Co. He took the name from the monarch butterfly, which migrates from Michoacan, Mexico, where Palencia was born. At the Kennewick location, he plans to showcase the alternative packaging, which he thinks has the opportunity to grow even bigger.

The program’s second event of the 2016-17 academic year is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 26 at Columbia Basin Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, 512 N. Young St., Kennewick. Local doctors and an admissions director from Washington State University Tri-Cities will cover topics including college admissions, the value of a career in the medical industry and how students can best prepare for a future in health care. The event is free and open to the public. Reservations must be made in advance at cboms.com/academicadvantage.

Pasco superintendent holding community forums

Pasco School District Superintendent Michelle Whitney is hosting three sessions of “Soup with the Superintendent: Listening Tour 2.0” from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 21, May 19 and June 19 at the Booth Administration building, 1215 West Lewis St. in Pasco. The informal discussions aim to provide parents and members of the Pasco community with opportunities to share their thoughts and concerns about the Pasco School District. Light lunch will be provided and translation services will be available. Call 509-416-7878 or visit psd1.org for more information.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Food Truck Friday kicks off third season with tasty new options in Pasco BY TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STAFF

Three new food trucks will join the Food Truck Friday lunch program in downtown Pasco: Hot Tamales, Fast & Curryous and Rex’ Top Shelf. Hot Tamales is owned and operated by Paulina Perez with a little help from her mom, Lupe. Perez has been selling Mama Lupe’s tamales since she was 6 years old. “It’s my mom’s passion for cooking that inspired me to start this business and a nod to her demand for freshness that makes all the difference in our tamales,” Perez said. Hot Tamales will initially sell three fresh varieties: pork, chicken and veggie. For half a dozen, pay $9.99 or bump it up to a dozen for $15.99 — both depending on the variety ordered. Hot Tamales products are made and sold fresh from an authentic family recipe that dates back to more than 100 years in the Michoacan region of Mexico with a few modern-day twists: they don’t use as much masa as others and there’s no lard to be found allowing them to boast that their tamales are not only super fresh but lard-free and gluten-free. Direct from Pasco Specialty Kitchen’s steamers to commercial warmers inside their white “mini-mini” van with its colorful logo newly painted on the sides, Hot Tamales plans to make deliveries, just give them until May for that to happen. “From my great grandmother Apolinar to my grandmother Rafaela to my mom, Lupe, and me —the tradition continues. Pasco Specialty Kitchen helped make this dream a reality. I’m so excited to be sharing a multi-generation recipe,” Perez said. Two other new food trucks and cui-

Hot Tamales food truck owner Paulina Perez serves pork, chicken or veggie tamales at Food Truck Friday in downtown Pasco. Her truck is a new addition to the lunchtime program. New Food Truck Friday hours are 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays.

sines join Food Truck Friday later in the month. Fast and Curryous, co-owned by David and Kavita Stenoien, and Rex’ Top Shelf, owned by Rex Richmond. Fast and Curryous will offer homemade curries and kabobs. Rex’ Top Shelf will offer a broad range of elevated American classics from his long-catering history. Think fresh-carved prime rib sandwiches topped with ultra-fresh greens and a lipsmacking, handmade sauce. Food Truck Friday’s veteran line-up includes Backyard Grub, Doggie Style Gourmet, Fresh Out the Box, Frost Me Sweet, Jiggy’s Bacon Burgers, and The Dovetail Joint (formerly The Glass Onion). Later in the season, Uncle Brothers Fish Fry will be dishing up their famous Southern-style red snapper and hush puppies and Swampy’s BBQ is expected

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to roll in. Food Truck Friday’s third season kicked off April 7. The program serves as a launching pad for many new food truck owners. As an incubator organization, Pasco Specialty Kitchen, a project of the Downtown Pasco Development Authority, provides technical assistance through the maze of permits and licenses required by local and state agencies to become a legal, operating food business.

Food Truck Friday, the original connoisseur of food truck pods in Pasco, has spawned additional programs around the Mid-Columbia, including Sunset at Southridge and private pods such as Amazon call center and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, as well as on the west side of the state. Mirrored after Food Truck Friday, Food Truck Tuesday is located in south Puget Sound in Tacoma as a result of a Washington Food Truck Association’s executive visit to Food Truck Friday program over a year ago. “We’re tickled that others see our food pod program as the one to emulate,” said Marilou Shea, Food Truck Friday’s creator, director of the Pasco Specialty Kitchen and board adviser at the Washington State Food Truck Association. “It’s a burgeoning industry that not only encourages collaboration but relies on it. It creates a win-win scenario especially for the micro-enterprises themselves, whether in downtown Pasco, across the river or across the state. Paying it forward pays off for food truck owners, their customers and our community.” New hours of operation are 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the same location, behind Viera’s Bakery on Fourth Avenue, between Lewis and Columbus streets in downtown Pasco.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Cantwell staffer named to TRIDEC leadership position BY TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STAFF

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell’s Central Washington director is TRIDEC’s third vice president of federal programs. David Reeploeg replaces Gary Petersen who retired last month from the Tri-City Development Council. The announcement was made at TRIDEC’s 54th annual meeting March 15 at the Red Lion Inn in Pasco. The vice president for federal programs acts as the primary interface between TRIDEC, federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy and Congressional offices.

Petersen retired March 3 after 14 years with TRIDEC. The vice president of federal programs position has been held by only two people, Petersen and the late Sam Volpentest, a longtime champion of the Tri-Cities. Reeploeg will be responsible for advocating for programs at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Hanford cleanup. He also will support TRIDEC’s positions related to a variety of federal issues affecting the Tri-Cities including: the Army Corps of Engineers activities related to analyzing the removal of the Snake River dams and possible re-conveyance of the Columbia River shore-

line to local control, and the Manhattan Project National Park. R e e p l o e g ’s first day with TRIDEC was March 27. Reeploeg is well known to the Tri-Cities and throughout Central Washington, accordDavid Reeploeg TRIDEC ing to TRIDEC officials. He has served as Cantwell’s Central Washington director for the past nine years

and previously worked for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. “TRIDEC is fortunate to have attracted someone of David’s caliber to fill this position. His knowledge of the issues and relationships with federal agencies and Congressional offices make him a perfect fit and will allow TRIDEC to expand its portfolio of federal involvement,” said Carl Adrian, TRIDEC’s president and CEO. Reeploeg is a graduate of the University of Washington. He and his wife are native Tri- Citians and live in Richland with their two young children.

uBUSINESS BRIEFS Yakima Valley vineyard tour slated for July 15

The Yakima Valley American Viticultural Areas annual vineyard tour is set for July 15. The day-long tour will show attendees how specific vineyards, farming practices and grower/winemaker relationships impact the final product. It will also compare how site, climate and farming techniques of two vineyard sites impact the wines made from grapes grown there. Lunch and transportation are provided. Tickets are $85 and available at wineyakimavalley.org.

Grocery Manufacturers group ordered to pay $1.1M

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Hirsch recently ordered the Grocery Manufacturers Association to pay nearly $1.1 million in costs and fees stemming from Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s campaign finance lawsuit. GMA was previously penalized $18 million for its violations of Washington law, the largest campaign finance judgment in history. The case arose from Ferguson’s investigation of the finances of opposition to voter Initiative 522, which would have required labeling of genetically modified organisms in food sold to consumers. GMA violated state campaign finance laws when it failed to register and report its political committee, which opposed I-522. GMA was the largest contributor to the “No on 522” political committee, however more than 30 members of GMA financed the opposition campaign but were not initially identified as individual donors. In 2013, GMA raised more than $14 million for a new “Defense of Brands” account. These funds came as a solicitation and were above and beyond regular association dues. PepsiCo, for example contributed nearly $3 million to the account; Nestle and Coca-Cola contributed nearly $2 million each. GMA then contributed $11 million of that $14 million raised to “No on 522.” In an effort to shield individual companies from required public disclosure and possible criticism, the money was listed as coming from GMA rather than actual donors such as Coca-Cola, Nestle and PepsiCo.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

Richland Fred Meyer begins $12M remodel to bring new services, selection Cork and Tap shop, online grocery service, Starbucks, expanded selections among additions BY ROBIN WOJTANIK

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Fred Meyer is looking to appeal to foodies with a multi-million dollar renovation of its Richland store that includes a revamped wine and brew shop, grocery pick-up service and a new Starbucks. The $12.4 million Fred Meyer store remodel is under way and expected to finish by mid-September. It’s the Wellsian Way store’s first remodel in more than a decade and it will transform the inside of its current footprint. The store opened in November 1981. The home department will decrease by more than a third, while the grocery department will increase by nearly half. Freddy’s will remain open during construction, but some sections may be inaccessible at times. The process will look like a “big jigsaw puzzle,” said Zach Stratton, Fred Meyer spokesman. While one portion of the store is closed to customers, items from that section will

be relocated elsewhere in the store. While the puzzle pieces are moved around, it’s possible some departments will offer a limited selection, but no entire department is scheduled for a temporary closure.

Freddy’s Cork and Tap

The Fred Meyer electronics shop will be replaced with a beverage shop called Freddy’s Cork and Tap. It will be accessible through the entrance near the home department, and electronics will be integrated into the rest of the store. The “bottle shop” is intended to resemble the interior of a sports bar, though no full drinks will be poured. Customers will be able to taste beers before filling a growler and choose from a more extensive selection of microbrews, wine and liquor. The new and improved beverage department also will offer samplings with craft brewers, wine makers or distillers who will highlight their products. Freddy’s Cork and Tap will feature its own dedicated registers so shoppers may

Richland Fred Meyer store manager Chris Meagher points out the sign detailing the changes coming during the 35-year-old store’s $12.4 million remodel. The project is expected to take six months.

quickly stop in to make purchases without venturing into the main store.

Curbside grocery pickup

Shoppers can avoid setting foot in the store altogether when Fred Meyer brings its “Click List” online grocery ordering program to the Richland store. The free service allows customers to

place an order in the morning and have their bagged groceries brought directly to their car by the afternoon. This is expected to be a first-of-its-kind offering for the TriCities, as Walmart grocery pickup and Amazon Fresh are currently unavailable in the region. uFRED MEYER, Page 33

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

uBUSINESS BRIEFS Kennewick store isn’t among JCPenney closures

The JCPenney store in Kennewick isn’t among the 138 nationwide to be closed. The only JCPenney store in the state facing closure is at Pilchuck Landing in Snohomish, north of Seattle, according the company. The store closures, in addition to the shuttering of a distribution facility in Florida and moving one supply chain facility in California, come as the company seeks to “advance sustainable growth and long-term profitability.” “We believe closing stores will also allow us to adjust our business to effec-

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

tively compete against the growing threat of online retailers,” said CEO Marvin Ellison in a statement. About 5,000 positions nationwide will be affected by the closures, which will happen in June. JCPenney is providing outplacement support services for eligible employees. Most affected stores will begin the liquidation process April 17. The closures will save the company about $200 million annually. In addition to the closures, the company initiated a voluntary early retirement program for about 6,000 people. The total store closures represent about 13 to 14 percent of the company’s current store portfolio, less than 5 percent of total annual sales and less than 2 percent of earnings before inter-

est, tax, depreciation and amortization.

Pasco ranked among nation’s top housing markets

Pasco was ranked as the best small city in America for its rising housing market. The list, put together by SmartAsset, a financial technology company, called Pasco an “agricultural powerhouse” and noted the region’s vibrant wine industry for why people have been attracted to the area’s economic activity. From 2011 to 2015, the population of Pasco jumped almost 18 percent, but over that same period housing stock grew 12 percent, meaning the housing demand may be higher than the supply,

the report said. Pasco saw an 11.24 percent increase in home values and nearly 19 percent increase in income. No. 2 on the list was New Braunfels, Texas. The other Washington cities on the list were Redmond (No. 8) and Sammamish (No. 18). To find the smaller cities, SmartAsset looked at data on home values, incomes, population size and housing units. Specifically, the data on each of these factors in 2011 and 2015, and then looked at the percent change. To see full report and methodology, visit smartasset.com/mortgage/risinghousing-markets-smaller-cities.

BUSH CAR WASH

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convenient locations all around Tri-Cities, which is why we are doing our best to have one of our washes in very busy traffic areas all around,” said Blake Bush, a partner, along with his brother T.J. and father Tim. Two Bush Car Wash facilities are located in Pasco, Richland and Kennewick also have one each. A sixth location is planned next year in Walla Walla. “We also pride ourselves in giving our customers an exceptional wash quickly so they can come get their vehicle cleaned and continue with all of the other stuff they have to do throughout the day. Once you enter one of our tunnels, you are out in three minutes. We have the best technology for car washes

offered today to do the best wash for our customers,” Blake Bush said. Tim Bush said his sons run the day-to-day operations of the car wash business, from hiring to training, to making sure customers leave with a smile. MH Construction of Kennewick is the general contractor. Wave Design Group of Kennewick is the architect and Elaine Mathes Interiors of Pasco is the designer. For more information, call 509-221-1590 or visit the facility when it opens. More information is available online at bushcarwash.com.

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION uBUSINESS BRIEFS Chaplaincy Health Care receives $5,000 grant

Chaplaincy Health Care received a $5,000 grant from the Three Rivers Community Foundation in April for providing behavioral health services to homebound clients. The money will benefit the Richlandbased agency’s medical family therapy program, which works with physicians to address the psychological needs of people affected by a life-changing illness or event. Illnesses such as ALS or Parkinson’s make travel precarious, if not impossible. Anxiety disorders also limit clients’ capacity to leave the safety their homes

provide, and clients are often dependent on caregivers and restricted in travel. In these cases, receiving behavioral health services is not possible without home visits. The grant money will be used to cover unreimbursed travel expenses, such as mileage and time incurred while providing care to the homebound. For more information about the program, contact 509-783-7417.

Golf tournament seeks sponsorships and teams

The Pasco Chamber of Commerce’s annual Sagebrush Scramble golf tournament is June 8 at Sun Willows Golf Course, with a 1 p.m. shotgun start. A variety of sponsorship packages,

ranging from $150 to $1,500 are available. Teams cost $400 per foursome, which includes free range balls, cart tee prize and a steak dinner. For more information or to register a team, call 509-547-9755 or email info@ pascochamber.org.

Military Chaplaincy Fund dinner auction is April 29

The fifth annual U.S. Chaplaincy Fund dinner auction Fiesta! is from 5:30 to 10 p.m. April 29 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Richland. Auction items include a week stay for 10 people at a home on Hayden Lake, original Thomas Kinkaid oil painting, wine and Silverwood theme park tickets. Proceeds help fund chaplains for the

military. Tickets are available for $25 at richlandkc.club.

Cancer center’s annual Run for Ribbons is May 6

The Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation’s seventh annual Run for Ribbons run/walk and RibbonFest health fair is May 6 at Richland’s Howard Amon Park. The health fair and registration begin at 8:30 a.m.; the run/walk starts at 10 a.m. The fair runs until 11 a.m. and is open to the community at no charge. Cost for the run is $25 for adults and $15 for children; prices increase $5 on day-of registration. Register at runforribbons.org or by calling 509-737-3413.

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO. 1225 ROAD 34• PASCO

The Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Yakima & Tri-Cities has expanded its Pasco warehouse. The project added more than 13,000 square feet of warehouse space and 8,000 square feet of additional office space. A Coca-Cola Freestyle soda machine and workout room were added for employees. The warehouse at 1225 Road 34 also built more loading docks to accommodate the arrival of more distribution trucks. The company plans to start distributing Coca-Cola products in the Moses Lake area, after it secures territory rights in the last quarter of 2016. The Dolsen family has managed the independentlyowned Coca-Cola franchise since 1972. The Pasco warehouse distributes packaged products to retailers, large and small, and provides Coca-Cola vending to hundreds of businesses throughout Benton and Franklin counties. It’s the third time Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Yakima & Tri-Cities has expanded its Pasco location since it opened. The first time was in the 1980s with an additional 20,000 square feet of space and the second time was in 1994 with an additional 10,000 square feet. The company went from distributing a handful of brands to dozens of carbonated soft drinks, water and juice brands.

The company’s distribution area includes Benton, Franklin, Kittitas, Grant and Yakima counties. The company employs 150 employees between the Yakima and Pasco warehouses. The Pasco warehouse employs 75 people. O’Brien Construction Co. in Kennewick was the general contractor for the $2.2 million expansion.

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REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION uBUSINESS BRIEF Osmond to give talk about overcoming adversity

Columbia Basin Hearing Center is hosting a talk on overcoming challenges and adversity by Justin Osmond on April 29 at the Red Lion in Kennewick. Osmond, a celebrity guest speaker, is the son of Merrill Osmond, the lead singer of Osmond Family singing group. He grew up with 90 percent hearing loss. His talk is from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at 1101 N. Columbia Center Blvd. Space is limited and an RSVP is required for the event. Call 509-736-4005.

uNETWORKING Local law firm adds shareholders

Smart, Connell, Childers and Verhulp has changed its name to Smart Law Offices, paying homage to founding partner Darrell K. Smart. Marcus Marcus Henry Henry, a Pasco native, has been promoted to shareholder. He works exclusively in workers’ compensation at the firm’s Kennewick office. Mariah Wagar, a Kennewick native, has joined the firm as shareholder Mariah Wagar and will work primarily in personal injury and wrongful death for the firm’s Kennewick and Yakima offices.

Moser named nonprofit director

Carol Moser has been named executive director of the Greater Columbia Accountable Community of Health.

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Moser has served as executive director of the Benton-Franklin Community Health Alliance since 2011. Incorporated in 2016, the 10-county Greater Columbia Accountable Community of Health helps communities advance the health of their populations. The organization is funded by the Washington State Health Care Authority as part of its Healthier Washington initiative.

Agriculture Forestry program announces graduates The Washington Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation will graduate 24 people from its 38th Leadership Program Class at a ceremony in Spokane on April 28. Graduates include Jensena

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017 Newhouse, Washington State University Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Service; Bjorn Gjerde, Senske Lawn and Tree Care; and Reid Klei, Ste. Michelle Wine Estate. Participants in the 18-month program completed 11 three-day seminars on critical topics, a seven-day seminar in Washington, D.C., and a two-week seminar in India and Nepal. For more information, and a complete list of Class 38 graduates, visit agforestroy.org.

Briggs earns AIF designation Cory Briggs, associate adviser with Petersen Hastings in Kennewick, has earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary designation from Fiduciary360.

The Fiduciary360 organization offers training, tools and resources to promote fiduciary responsibility and improve the decisionmaking process of fiduciaries. Cory Briggs The AIF designation signifies knowledge of fiduciary responsibility and the ability to implement policies and procedures that meet a defined standard of care. Petersen Hastings is a registered investment advisor and currently has nine AIF advisors.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Real Estate & Construction

Port, arts group sign pact for performing arts center’s future home Arts Center Task Force first must raise enough money to build it within 2 years BY TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STAFF

The future home of a Tri-City performing arts center will be at Vista Field in Kennewick — if the nonprofit can raise enough money to build it there. The Port of Kennewick and the Arts Center Task Force signed a letter of intent in March so the arts nonprofit can buy 2.2 acres at the center of Vista Field for $10,000. The task force has two years to raise the money. The Arts Center Task Force must show that 75 percent of funding to complete the Vista Arts Center is in hand or committed before the sale can be finalized. The port has agreed to entertain no other offers for the land for two years. The 800-seat Vista Arts Center will serve local, regional and smaller touring companies. It will feature a large lobby, art gallery and education space, catering set-up kitchen and beverage service and restrooms. Its footprint must be 30,000 square feet or bigger and include 200 or more parking spaces, according to the letter of intent. “This is the first private-sector investment identified for Vista Field and puts

a mark on the map for this transformational and catalytic investment,” said Tana Bader Inglima, deputy CEO of the Port of Kennewick, in a statement. The task force has launched a $200,000 fundraising goal to pay for a conceptual design by Seattle-based LMN architects, the start of its capital campaign and operational costs for the organization. With the exception of one part-time employee, the task force is an all-volunteer 501(c) 3 organization, which formed in 1993. Previously, the task force responded to a request for proposal from the TriCities Regional Public Facilities Board, investing in a market study showing the potential of a performing arts center in the region. Though the proposal was not put forward to voters, the need and market for a large-size performing arts center continues to be viable, members said. “Please understand the Vista Arts Center is not a public project. It will not be asking for a sales tax increase to become a reality. That makes it all the more imperative for the community and businesses to step up and help,” said Kathryn Lang, communications chairwoman of the Arts Center Task Force, in

More than two acres of land in the middle of the Port of Kennewick’s Vista Field redevelopment project could be home to the Arts Center Task Force’s performing arts center if the nonprofit raises enough money for the project. (Courtesy Port of Kennewick)

a recent letter to supporters. Donations to the project may be made at artscentertaskforce.com.

For more information, call 509-6198546 or find the group on Facebook.

Real Estate & Construction

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Report outlines needs, benefits of infrastructure investment Cities, counties, ports, private-sector employers make case for federal funding BY TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STAFF

As the new administration and Congress consider making major investments in the nation’s infrastructure, a coalition of Washington state organizations representing cities, counties, ports and private-sector businesses is making the case that Washington is a wise choice.

2 million

additional residents are expected to move to Washington state by 2040.

The state moves more than $70 billion worth of goods through its ports and contributes well over $300 billion annually to the U.S. economy, making the state’s infrastructure vital to the national interest, and yet Washington’s total infrastructure needs are estimated at more than $190 billion, according to

a recent report. The report, “Building the Economy: Infrastructure Needs in Washington,” highlights both the needs facing the state’s infrastructure, as well as the benefits to the economy that would come from making smart investments in roads, bridges, ports, energy and other areas. Benton County’s wine region would benefit from the investment, the report said. “The growing wine industry, especially in Eastern Washington, is critically dependent on irrigation and water infrastructure in the Columbia and Yakima basins to thrive,” the report said. Benton County boasted the highest wine production in the state in 2014, producing nearly 9.5 million cases of wine and has about 25,000 acres planted in wine grapes and another 5,000 acres planted in juice grapes as of 2015. The Odessa Aquifer project in Adams County also is highlighted in the report. The groundwater in the Odessa Subarea has deteriorated to a degree where farmers’ ability to irrigate their crops is affected. As much as $840 million annually in economic activity and 3,600 jobs

Crews work at the Interstate 182-Highway 395 interchange at night. Washington’s total infrastructure needs are estimated at more than $190 billion, according to a recent report outlining the state’s infrastructure needs. (Courtesy Washington State Department of Transportation)

will be lost when the aquifers decline to a point that they are no longer usable, the report said. The proposed water replacement program would supply 164,000 acre-feet of surface water from Banks Lake to irrigate 70,000 acres, which is currently being irrigated with groundwater. Potatoes are an important commodity in the region, worth hundreds of millions

of dollars each year and supporting two processing facilities that are major local employers. The Association of Washington Business (AWB), the Association of Washington Cities (AWC), the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC), and the Washington Public Ports Association (WPPA) commissioned the report.

uINFRASTRUCTURE, Page 30

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

INFRASTRUCTURE, From page 29 The report uses existing data on needs and illustrative projects from throughout the state to highlight investment opportunities in the critical areas of transportation, water, energy and communications. “We are anticipating a renewed commitment to infrastructure and this report lays the groundwork to position our state to take advantage of opportunities that arise,” said AWB President Kris Johnson. “This is an unprecedented partnership between our four organizations and it occurred because we recognize what’s at stake. Investing in Washington’s infrastructure will provide jobs and lead to a healthier economy throughout the state.”

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

The report outlines Washington’s many economic contributions to the nation’s economy, including a contribution of well over $300 billion. For example, the state is home to 10 Fortune 500 companies, moves more than $70 billion worth of goods through its ports each year, and is home to more than 7,000 small businesses. Underpinning the state’s growth and success is a vast and interconnected infrastructure system – and that is where Washington’s 281 cities and towns, 39 counties, and 75 port districts come into the picture. The report explains that ports depend on well-maintained highways, railroads and shipping channels. Cities and counties need upgraded water and wastewa-

ter infrastructure and transportation networks to serve existing and future residents and businesses. “The infrastructure needs in our state are great, and we need long-term and continuous investment to maintain our economy and prepare for natural disasters,” said AWC CEO Peter B. King. The associations estimate Washington state’s total infrastructure needs to be over $190 billion. Likewise, this level of investment is estimated to create 600,000 to 660,000 direct and indirect jobs. “One-time investment packages are great and help meet the most immediate needs, but sustained investment and managing the public assets with a longterm view is critical,” King continued.

He explained that underinvestment in infrastructure leads to increased costs, reduced income, reduced economic output and firms looking for other places to do business. “The fact is, people are moving to Washington State and we are poised for that growth,” said Eric Johnson, WSAC executive director. By 2040, an additional 2 million residents are expected to move to Washington. “Local agencies and the private sector have a long history of working together to prioritize infrastructure needs,” said Eric D. Johnson, WPPA executive director. “Washington State is ready for this investment.”

8350 W. GRANDRIDGE BLVD.•KENNEWICK A smart technology workspace for modern businesses and a chiropractic practice have opened behind Costco at 8350 W. Grandridge Blvd. in Kennewick. Connect Workplace occupies Suite 200 and features 28 private offices; co-working space for 16 people; one-day use office; two meeting rooms; copy room; lounge with kitchen; two self-service coffee bars; and a community managed reception area; oneperson private offices; two- to four-person offices; and co-working and virtual offices. Plans for one- to four-person offices are $800 to $1,500 a month. Co-working plans (open office) are $25 a day up to $229 a month. Virtual plans are $59 to $225 month. All plans include the use of the conference room and lounge. Connect Workplace was started by three small business owners who saw the need for world-class business support that not only saves money but brings the small business owner from a dark basement to a world of bright possibilities. Connect Workplace aims to facilitate relationships between members and the communities in which it operates. The company invites members to connect, collaborate, network and just have a good time with other Connect Workplace members and the surrounding community. Connect Workplace is putting together monthly and bi-weekly events and activities which

provide an opportunity to socialize with other likeminded people. Advanced Family Chiropractic, in Suite 100, is operated by Dr. Milo Thurber and Dr. Allen Liebing. The 3,500-square-foot office features a reception area with a children’s corner, a dedicated waiting area outside adjustment rooms, state-of-the-art digital X-ray room, private consultation spaces, three massage rooms with private hallway and entrance and a community classroom for instruction and education.

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

Students build tiny homeless shelters BY TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STAFF

Tri-Tech Skills Center students built a tiny homeless shelter for the Career and Technical Education Showcase of Skills Homeless Shelter Project contest on March 27 in Olympia. Those who competed in Olympia were, from left, Jose Muniz (Chiawana High), Ulises Rodriguez (Chiawana), Jared Booth (Kamiakin High), Jorge Jimenez (Prosser High) and Arianna Sumner (Hanford High). Not pictured is Logan Butler (Hanford). (Courtesy Kennewick School District)

Twenty teams of students from across the state — including a contingent from TriTech Skills Center in Kennewick — built tiny homeless shelters as part of a statewide competition. The Tri-Tech students disassembled and packed up a roughly 100-square-foot shelter they built for the state’s first Career and Technical Education (CTE) Showcase of Skills Homeless Shelter Project. Six students who led the project went to Olympia to reconstruct the shelter for the competition on March 27 to demonstrate their technical skills as they built portable, energy-efficient homeless shelters. The finished shelters will provide

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transitional homeless housing after they are moved to the Licton Springs site at 8620 Aurora Ave. N. in Seattle. “When students tackle hands-on, relevant projects, they learn better and more deeply. That’s at the heart of CTE and why we wanted to showcase this in front of both policymakers and the public,” said Eleni Papadakis, executive director of the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, in a release, noting the one-day demonstration project was within walking distance of the Legislature. Each team received a $2,500 stipend to pay for supplies. The shelters had to measure 8-by-12 feet and each had to include a door and at least one window.

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

THE LODGE AT COLUMBIA POINT 530 COLUMBIA POINT DRIVE• RICHLAND

The new Lodge at Columbia Point in Richland is scheduled to open in May. The waterfront hotel features 82 guest rooms and suites, each named for a winery in the surrounding area. Located at 530 Columbia Point Drive, the 62,773-square-foot hotel features rooms ranging in price from $159 to $429 a night. A gourmet breakfast buffet is included in the room cost. Tom Drumheller and Bob Nato are building the hotel. Drumheller is CEO of Cannon Beach-based Escape Lodging, which also owns Cousin’s Restaurant, TriCities; Cousin’s Country Inn and Restaurant, The Dalles Oregon; The Ocean Lodge, Inn at Cannon Beach, Oregon; and numerous other lodging properties and restaurants in Oregon and Washington. The Tri-Cities is primed for a boutique winerythemed hotel, hotel officials said. “We have some great chains in the area but Tri-Cities needs the boutique hotel to take lodging to the next level of ‘experience,’” said Wendy Higgins, general manager of The Lodge at Columbia Point. Vancouver-based Integrity Structures is the general contractor. Abbott Architecture, based in Woodinville, is the architect. For more information, visit lodgeatcolumbiapoint. com, email info@lodgeatcolumbiapoint.com, call 509713-7423 or find the hotel on Facebook.

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION FRED MEYER, From page 21 Store Manager Chris Meagher said orders can be made via an app and paid for ahead of time. When Click List customers arrive at the store, they will use parking spots reserved for grocery pickup. Customers then will simply press a button on a stand to indicate their arrival, and a store employee will bring the bagged purchases directly to the car. There is no fee to use the service but a $50 minimum order is required. Some Fred Meyer locations offer a nextday pickup service, but the remodeled Wellsian store will have same-day pickup. Stratton said the service is completely customizable in the same way a shopper would select their own produce. “If you order four bananas, you can specify that three should be yellow and one should be green, and your order will be fulfilled that way,” he said.

Responding to customer demand

Fred Meyer said the changes and improvements are being prompted by the demands of its customers, who are asking for more fresh produce, organics, meat and seafood. This includes an increase in the store’s nutrition center, with an expanded supply of vitamins, gluten-free products, bulk foods and locally-sourced brands. By positioning itself as a destination for Tri-City foodies, the store will offer an open counter for its meat and seafood, resembling a butcher shop. Customers can request a desired cut of meat and have their order filled on the spot. The seafood section also will greatly increase in size, growing its supply of fresh

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fish from a current three feet to 20 feet of refrigerated space. Fred Meyer won’t limit itself to providing ingredients needed to make meals at home, either. It will expand the choices of fully-prepared meals and more seating to dine on the spot. This includes a burrito bar, sushi counter and brick pizza oven for fresh meals prepared while customers wait. The bakery also will increase in size to include more artisanal breads and highquality desserts. The store also aims to meet the need of every customer, providing the option of buying just one roll or a dozen.

Starbucks returns

A Starbucks will return to the Richland Fred Meyer after the coffee shop closed a location on site last summer. The new Starbucks will be built inside the store, in the spot where a bank branch once stood near the southern entrance. It will offer indoor seating near the revamped deli. The former Starbucks outside the store operated alongside a hair salon, nail salon, dry cleaners and an annex of the Benton County Auditor’s Office. Fred Meyer officials didn’t expect any of these tenants to be affected by the remodel, and all businesses are expected to remain in their current locations. Fred Meyer Jewelers will remain in the same spot but will also undergo an extensive remodel, resulting in a whole new look. The store is aiming to create the feel of a “high end” department store at both the jewelry counters and in neighboring depart-

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ments. The pharmacy also will remain in its current location, but will double in size by expanding into the space behind the counter, an area currently not seen by customers. This will accommodate a consulting area so patients may sit down with a pharmacist and ask questions. The Playland child care area next to the pharmacy will be replaced by a larger floral department, including a floral counter with the opportunity for customizable arrangements. The Richland Fred Meyer will have the Workers remove shelving in the Richland Fred ability to provide flowers for Meyer as part of the store’s six-month remodeling large orders, like weddings, project. Store officials say the process is a bit like as well as smaller bouquets working on a big jigsaw puzzle. for prom or homecoming. The parking lot layout is expected to remain the same, though a few remodeled every 10 to 12 years and the spots near the auditor’s office and dry Kennewick location isn’t due for one yet. Exterior painting is already underway in cleaners will be reserved strictly for Click List customers picking up their online Richland, covering some of the tan walls orders. Store entrances will be reconfig- with an olive green. The store it will look most similar to is ured, but their orientations will not change. Even as the puzzle pieces move around the Spokane Valley location on East during the remodel, the registers will be Sprague Avenue. Remodeled departments located in the same place and the store will may open for use as they are available, including Freddy’s Cork and Tap and add more self-check out stations. After six months of remodeling, the Starbucks. In September, the Richland Fred Meyer Richland Fred Meyer will not resemble its former appearance, or even the updated plans to show off its entire facelift with look found at the Kennewick location on grand re-opening specials and gift card West Tenth Avenue. Fred Meyer stores are giveaways.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Real Estate & Construction

Popular property tax limit is working; lawmakers should leave it alone BY PAUL GUPPY

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

With so much commotion happening in our national government, it is reassuring to know one effective policy in our state is working every day, quietly and effectively, exactly as planned. That policy is based on the wise decision voters made in 2001 to enact a 1 percent limit on how much state and local officials can increase the regular property tax each year. This modest tax relief idea was so popular it passed with over 57 percent of the vote. Later, in 2007, the policy was confirmed in a bill passed by most lawmakers of both parties and signed by Democratic Gov.

Christine Gregoire. The policy applies equally to all 1,200-plus sets of taxing officials in our state. That’s a good thing, because every home and business is taxed by several jurisdictions at once. Some properties are hit by 10 different sets of officials, from the state, county and city to so-called “junior” tax districts for schools, parks and transit. It all adds up to the heaviest property tax burden Washington residents have ever paid, and it continues to go up every year. Opponents of the 1 percent limit predicted the sky would fall. They said police and fire services would go unfunded, health centers would close,

roads and bridges would fall apart, crime would surge. The opposite happened. Today, funding for local budgets is at record Paul Guppy highs, and Washington elected officials Policy Center take more money from us than at any time in history. The 1 percent cap works well because it applies to only one kind of tax, the regular— or base—property tax. Other fees and taxes are unaffect-

ed, and the law even lets officials increase the regular property tax as much as they want, if they ask voters first. Now some lawmakers want to take away a policy that is working well. One bill, HB 1764, was introduced to repeal the 1 percent limit and replace it with a 5 percent limit, a 500 percent increase in how much officials could raise taxes. That bill didn’t pass, but Democrats in the House have incorporated it into their budget proposal. Democrats say they think regular property tax collections should go up by more than 1 percent a year because they believe local and state revenues are not increasing fast enough. The budget proposal by Republicans in the Senate retains the popular 1 percent limit for existing taxes. Why is it that when elected officials feel they are short on money their first instinct is to increase taxes on the people? They seem to think cutting household incomes is more important than making hard decisions about how to spend existing rising revenue. They want to make their public work easier by taking more money from their constituents. In the next two years state revenues are slated to increase by $2.6 billion, or more than 6 percent, from all sources. Most working families would be delighted with yearly income increases of 6 percent. The property tax limit works as a modest brake on some state and local officials, who, in their incessant quest for more money, act as if the public never pays them enough. If the property tax limit is pulled back, the resulting burden will fall hardest on the poor, on immigrant families, on hourly workers, and on elderly people living on fixed incomes. What some officials don’t seem to realize is that whenever they raise taxes, they make their jobs easier by making life harder for everyone else. Washington’s 1 percent property tax limit is one of the most successful homeowner protection policies in the country. Without starving government, it is helping elderly people stay in their homes, helping young couples afford a home, and helping keep at least some housing stock affordable in many communities. Modest property tax limitation serves the public interest because it shows respect for a clear decision made by the people of our state, one that is proven by experience and was confirmed by a majority of lawmakers of both parties. The 1 percent property tax limit works; why not leave it alone? Paul Guppy is the vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center, an independent nonprofit think tank that promotes public policy based on free-market solutions. Visit washingtonpolicy.org.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION uNETWORKING Apollo receives lowest experience modification rate

Apollo Mechanical Contractors and Apollo Inc., based in Kennewick, announced it received an experience modification rate of .038, which is 69 percent lower than the statewide contractor rating, which makes the company the “construction contractor with the lowest EMR rate in the state of Washington for the eighth consecutive year,” according to a press release. EMRs are calculated using a formula that gauges cost of injuries and losses as well as future chances of risk and expected losses. The lower the EMR, the lower worker compensation premiums are. Washington state’s experience

modification factor is shown in WAC 296-17-855.

Pasco Lowe’s store volunteers honored

Washington State University Extension’s Master Gardeners of Benton and Franklin counties recently honored staff from the Pasco Lowe’s store for building and installing 99 community garden beds to help feed more than 100 local low-income families. More than 45 Lowe’s Heroes volunteers contributed time, money and supplies to build the eight gardens containing the garden beds over the past three years. It is estimated the garden beds save Pasco-area families $20,000 annually.

The Master Gardeners’ food garden team trains volunteers to be effective community educators for gardening and environmental stewardship.

CBC receives NSA designation

Columbia Basin College has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Two-Year education by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. The President’s National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace and the International Strategy for Cyberspace addresses the critical shortage of professionals with cyber security skills. Currently, 62 students are enrolled in CBC’s Bachelor of Applied Science in

Cyber Security degree program, which started in 2013. Certificates will be presented at a reception at the National Cyber Security Summit in Huntsville, Alabama, in early June.

City of Kennewick receives state stewardship award

The city of Kennewick recently received a stewardship award from the State of Washington Auditor’s office. The award recognizes the city’s outstanding leadership in promoting a culture of accountability for public resources and dedication to making government work better.

THE ORIGINAL PANCAKE HOUSE 3717 PLAZA WAY• KENNEWICK

The Original Pancake House in Kennewick opened in early April. The restaurant will be the first building in Erwin Plaza at 3717 Plaza Way in the Southridge area of Kennewick. It is directly in front of Trios Southridge Hospital, near the sports complex. The 4,500-square-foot eatery is designed to provide a comfortable, yet classy, environment for the community to enjoy, the owners said. The exterior is designed to appear like a clean, traditional home. The Original Pancake House will serve highquality, full-service breakfasts. It uses the freshest, highest quality ingredients and makes everything from scratch daily, including all syrups, batters and toppings. The pancakes are derived

using a traditional sour starter. The franchise owners believe there is no substitute for the finest ingredients and meticulous processes. The Original Pancake House is a locallyowned franchise with the intent and ability to integrate into the Tri-Cities community. One of the franchise’s core values is investing time and energy in the communities where it operates. The Tri-Cities is a unique place, given its self-sustaining economy, desirable weather and relative costs of living and it is a community many people are flocking to, the owners said. For more information, visit ophnw.com, call 509-572-3600, or find the business on Facebook.

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

FRESENIUS KIDNEY CARE COLUMBIA BASIN 6600 RIO GRANDE AVE.• KENNEWICK

Fresenius Kidney Care Columbia Basin has opened at 6600 Rio Grande Ave. in Kennewick. Fresenius Kidney Care Columbia Basin plans to offer the latest treatment options for patients with end-stage renal disease. This includes in-center hemodialysis treatments, with early, mid-day, evening and night chairs available. Fresenius also offers home training in peritoneal dialysis and treatment option classes. The new clinic features a wide open area with 12 chairs to provide hemodialysis treatments and one chair in an isolation room. It has three home training rooms and a large conference room for TOPS (treatment options) classes. The scheduled opening date is May 1. Fresenius Kidney Care provides treatments to more than 180,000 patients in the nation. The Costa Mesa, Californiabased Nelson+Morris is overseeing the construction as project managers, construction managers and general contractors. For more information, call 509-7837196 or visit freseniuskidneycare.com.

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Try these asset protection strategies to protect your nest egg BY BEAU RUFF

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

We make money and we want to keep it. But, potential creditors are lurking around every corner. Perhaps it’s a professional malpractice claim. Perhaps it’s a divorce. Perhaps it’s a car accident. Perhaps it’s medical bills. Perhaps it’s a business lawsuit. How can you protect these assets so your nest egg isn’t cracked? This area of advice is generally considered asset protection strategies, and this column explores some of the most common ways we can legally engage in asset protection. You’ll note that strategies such as hiding assets in an offshore bank account or hiding gold in the desert 10 feet under the ground are conspicuously absent from this list because purposely hiding assets is not a legal method of asset protection. The strategies listed below are legal. But, there is no magical method to completely protect every asset from every creditor. Instead, the different strategies each have different levels of effectiveness, convenience and ease of implementation. So, what tricks and techniques can we legally employ to protect assets? Read on.

Retirement accounts

For many families, their house and retirement accounts make up the bulk of the value of their estate. Washington law

generally provides that qualified retirement accounts and pensions are “exempt from execution, attachment, garnishment, or seiBeau Ruff zure by or under Cornerstone any legal proWealth Strategies cess whatever.” RCW 6.15.020. Accordingly, a simple asset protection strategy is to put more money into those retirement accounts that offer creditor protection. For 2017, employee contribution limits on most employer retirement plans are capped at $18,000 (or $24,000 for those over 50 years old). The total allowed contribution to such a plan bumps up to $54,000 with employer contributions.

Insurance

Washington law generally provides the proceeds of disability insurance (RCW 48.18.400) and the proceeds from life insurance (RCW 48.18.410) are exempt from all liability for any debt of the beneficiary existing at the time the proceeds are available for use. From inexpensive term insurance to more expensive whole life insurance (sometimes used in sophisticated estate planning), life insurance offers another

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option for protecting against not only an untimely death, but also potentially against creditors. Additionally, insurance in the form of an umbrella policy can help provide asset protection. It is usually priced inexpensively and provides liability coverage above the limits of your other insurance policies, and it can cover things like injury, certain lawsuits and property damage.

Limited Liability Company

Washington law allows an assortment of entities that can protect your assets. For example, corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs) and limited partnerships all offer liability protection so long as corporate formalities are followed (i.e. it is a real business with a business purpose and business operations). The protection offered by an entity (like an LLC) is protection that, if there is liability against the entity, that liability does not reach assets owned outside the entity. Of course, the assets inside the entity are subject to those creditor claims. But, assets outside the entity are generally protected. As a general rule, all business operations and rental properties should be put into some kind of entity because of the liability protection offered.

Domestic Asset Protection Trust

ostensibly protect your assets from creditors. States that have these types of statutorily-authorized trusts include Nevada, Alaska, South Dakota and others. In Washington, we have very limited options for a person to set up their own trust (a so-called “self-settled” trust) and to claim asset protection for the assets owned by the trust. As such, some planners turn to the DAPT friendly states, like Nevada, and establish the self-settled trust under the law of that state. The problem with this arrangement is that a Washington court is likely to apply its own laws to any controversy before the court and therefore would potentially allow a creditor to breach the protections offered by the other state. Though it offers limited protection from this author’s point of view, it does create an additional hurdle for a creditor.

Bona fide gifting

If you don’t mind giving up control, access, use and in any way reliance on your assets, then a bona fide gift could be an effective asset protection strategy so long as you are not making the transfer in violation of the Fraudulent Transfers Act of Washington under RCW 19.40.041 (essentially so long as you are not making the transfer in an attempt to outwit a creditor).

Some states purport to offer Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (DAPT) which

uASSETS, Page 40

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Businesses honored at regional chamber awards luncheon BY TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STAFF

The Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce announced its Business on a Roll Award winners during its annual meeting and awards luncheon in Kennewick on March 22. Winners were PorterKinney of Richland (10 or fewer employees), Smooth Moves of Kennewick (11 to 50 employees) and Visiting Angels Living Assistance Services of Kennewick (more than 50 employees). The awards recognize businesses achieving success in 2016. Award recipients are businesses demonstrating growth in revenue/income or employees; actively seeking involvement in the Tri-Cities community; and receiving recognition as a model business for others

through national or industry awards. All nominees had to be members of the chamber and could self-nominate. Other awards handed out at the ceremony included the regional chamberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Board of Directors S.T.A.R. award, which was presented to former board Chairman Ron Boninger for his service, time, attitude and reliability. Cindy Fredrickson of Colonial Life received the Tom Powers Ambassador of the Year award for her time spent volunteering with the regional chamber. Mid-Columbia Libraries and Washington River Protection Solutions were recognized for their support and financial contributions to the regional chamber. Mid-Columbia Libraries received the Community Impact award while Washington River Protection Solutions took home the Corporate Impact award.

PorterKinney of Richland won the Business on a Roll award in the 10 or fewer employees category. (Courtesy Rich Breshears of Breshears Photography)

Visiting Angels Living Assistance Services of Kennewick won the Business on a Roll award in the more than 50 employees category. (Courtesy Rich Breshears of Breshears Photography)

Smooth Moves of Kennewick won the Business on a Roll award in the 11 to 50 employees category. (Courtesy Rich Breshears of Breshears Photography)

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

uNETWORKING LeBlank, Dumas join INB

Terri LeBlanc has joined INB’s TriCity team as credit analyst II, and Stacy Dumas has joined as commercial loan assistant. LeBlanc has been in the local banking industry since 2007 and Dumas since Terri LeBlanc 2009. INB is a growing community bank with 16 locations in the greater Spokane area, North Idaho, the Palouse and the Tri-Cities. The company is cur-

rently occupying a temporary location in Richland on Spaulding Avenue, and will move into its permanent location on Grandridge Boulevard in early June.

Stacy Dumas

Solarity wins national awards Solarity Credit Union, which has a branch in Kennewick, received one of five customer experience Customer First awards from InMoment as part of its Red Shoes initiative. Solarity was chosen from more than 350 clients for

putting customers “at the center of everything they do.” Other winners of the award were Petco, Rite Aid, Tiffany and Co., and Caesar’s Entertainment. Solarity also was recently honored with a Diamond Award, and Category’s Best Diamond Award, which recognizes outstanding marketing and business development achievements in the credit union industry. Solarity Credit Union won the Diamond Award for best video, “Experience Extraordinary.” The collaborative video brought employees together to share their culture and core values in an innovative way, according to a release. Solarity also won the Diamond Award for its website, which represents an online branch to serve digital mem-

bers. Award winners were recognized at the council’s 24th annual conference held March 29-April 1 in San Antonio, Texas. Solarity Credit Union has more than $1 billion in assets under management. The co-op serves more than 54,000 members. Membership is open to everyone who lives, works, worships or attends school within a Washington State school district.

Fall earns transportation, risk designation

Kimberley Fall of Conover Insurance has earned the “Specialist in Transportation and Risk” designation from Great West Casualty Co. One of the largest truck insurers in the U.S., Great West provides insurance products and services to the trucking industry. To receive the designation, Fall completed more than 15 courses in topics including risk management and loss control methods, and passed written exams after each course. Conover Insurance’s transportation division has served the trucking industry for more than 30 years, and is a member of the Washington Trucking Association and Trusted Choice. The full-service independent insurance agency has roots back to 1908 and has offices throughout the Pacific Northwest.

ASSETS, From page 37 For example, federal law allows a person to gift up to $14,000 per year without any reporting requirements. Plus, neither the person giving the gift nor the recipient pays any tax associated with such a transfer. If you are making routine annual gifts to a child (for example) and later become subject to a bankruptcy, it is unlikely those gifts could ever be brought back into the debtor’s estate to satisfy creditors. Not only does gifting provide potential creditor protection, it can also be structured to reduce or eliminate the estate tax.

Holistic planning

Though there is no magic method to protect your assets, by utilizing a mix of the strategies discussed above, an individual can maximize his or her asset protection. Attorney Beau Ruff works for Cornerstone Wealth Strategies, a fullservice independent investment management and financial planning firm in Kennewick, where he focuses on assisting clients with comprehensive planning. The information presented in this material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax or legal advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal adviser.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

State reduces Cascade Natural Gas fine to $2.5 million Kennewick-based company says it is ‘committed to achieving compliance’ BY JOHN STANG

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Cascade Natural Gas agreed to a $2.5 million fine in late March for not having safety-related paperwork for much of its pipelines in and around Kennewick. If the Kennewick-based corporation accomplishes the required fix-it work on time, $1.5 million of that fine will be forgiven, according to the Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission, or WUTC. Originally, Cascade Natural Gas faced a $4 million fine before the company and state reached an agreement.

“Work is already well under way and we are committed to meeting the plan requirement.” - Cascade Natural Gas Cascade also must have a third party evaluate the company’s pipeline safety management program. The fine comes after Cascade Natural Gas did not produce paperwork to prove that slightly less than 40 percent of its 559.67 miles of high-pressure pipelines can handle the state’s 60 pounds-persquare-inch safety standard. That includes no paperwork for 22.12 miles out of the 53.34 miles of high-pressure pipelines in the corporation’s Kennewick district. There are percentages worse than the

Kennewick district’s. In Cascade’s Bellingham district, 56 percent of 105.5 miles of high-pressure pipelines could not be confirmed as safe. For Cascade’s Mount Vernon district, safety test records were missing for almost 53 percent of its 103.9 miles. The Yakima district could not prove the safety of 52 percent of its 50.5 miles of high-pressure pipelines. “Cascade Natural Gas recognizes the importance of having accurate records and is committed to achieving compliance through the settlement agreement. We view the settlement agreement as a compromise of each side’s positions, but one that assures continued public safety and allows Cascade to achieve the agreed upon milestones. Work is already well under way and we are committed to meeting the plan requirement,” the company said in a written statement. Cascade serves almost 200,000 residential and business customers in 68 communities throughout the state, including Aberdeen, Bellingham, Bremerton, Kennewick, Longview, Moses Lake, Mount Vernon, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Yakima. The problem dates back to 2010 when a Pacific Gas & Electric pipeline exploded in San Bruno, California, sending flames roughly 1,000 feet into the air, killing eight people and destroying at least 35 homes. Causes included bad welds, inconsistent thicknesses in pipes and poor record keeping, according to various reports. That explosion prompted WUTC staff to increase scrutiny of similar factors in Washington. During a spring 2013 routine inspec-

tion of a pipeline near Kalama, Cascade Natural Gas could not produce documents on what the “maximum allowable operating pressure” of that buried pipe should be. A few weeks later, the company could not produce documents on the “maximum allowable operating pressure” during a similar pipeline inspection at Bellingham. Suspecting that could be a systemwide issue, the WUTC requested that Cascade check all of its records pertaining to “maximum allowable operating pressures.” Cascade Natural Gas soon replied that it was missing such records for 28 pipeline segments in Washington. In

October 2013, these records were discovered missing in a WUTC inspection of a Cascade Natural Gas pipeline near the Columbia River’s eastern bank about eight miles downstream from Burbank. Six months later, the company told the WUTC that it lacked such records for 98 pipeline segments. In February 2015, Cascade Natural Gas agreed to turn in a comprehensive report on this issue to the WUTC by Aug. 12, 2015. It missed that deadline and turned in that report on Jan 29, 2016. In a legal filing, Cascade Natural Gas said the delay was due to a key person being unavailable. uFINE, Page 44

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

TRIOS, From page 1 The reductions were realized through attrition, or not rehiring positions when possible, changes to shift scheduling and hours worked, voluntary layoffs and layoffs. Of the 95 FTEs, 21.8 FTEs, or 23 percent, were involuntary layoffs. Trios has a total of about 925 FTEs. An FTE equals 2,080 hours worked in a calendar year. The cuts to the remaining 20 FTEs to reach Quorum’s suggested reduction of 115 FTEs are expected to be made over the next several months through additional attrition, hourly adjustments relative to patient volumes/need, and additional opportunities identified by employees. “We can be more efficient in providing care while preserving the quality and breadth of our services. I need to be very clear here: we will not cut corners when providing quality patient care and we will not cut corners when it comes to providing for the well-being of our patients and also our staff,” Cudworth said. Nevertheless, the layoffs were difficult, Cudworth said. “There’s nothing easy about this kind of work. There’s nothing good about this kind of work. It hurts. It is, however, necessary,” he said. No patient services have been discontinued as a result of work force restructuring. Positions affected range from management and supervisory roles to nursing, technician and clerical jobs. “Our employees are sad, fearful and some may be angry. We all feel this on a personal level. These are our friends, our neighbors and sometimes even our family

members. One thing we can agree on is we want to stay here to serve the Tri-Cities for decades to come and to do that we must make some changes,” he said. Affected hospital departments include ambulatory care unit/pre-operative services, central sterile, clinical engineering, foundation, health information management, laboratory, materials management, nutrition services, patient access, patient financial services, pharmacy, therapy services and volunteers. Affected areas within the Trios Medical Group include administration, medical staff services, oncology, pediatrics, physician recruitment, primary care, sleep center, urgent care and women’s health. So how did Trios get to this point? The Quorum report points to four areas adversely affecting performance: debt, aggressive market competition, provider productivity and work force efficiency. Trios is making $1.2 million a month in lease payments and has less than two days of cash on hand, when the industry standard is 120 days, according to Trios officials. The $1.2 million per month is for the 30-year lease for the new hospital and Trios Care Center at Southridge. Trios leases the hospital from Wisconsin-based C.D. Smith for about $800,000 per month. Trios has been in default of those payments since Jan. 1. The care center was financed via a separate lease with a payment of $390,000 per month. The lease holder is Physicians Realty Trust, also based in Wisconsin. Trios has no obligation to buy the facility after the lease term. A meeting is planned with C.D. Smith

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Trios temporarily closes Kennewick urgent care

The Trios Urgent Care Center at 3000 W. Kennewick Ave. closed April 9 to address intermittent staffing challenges there. Trios officials say the closure is unrelated to Trios Health’s current efforts to restore the organization to financial health. Over the past several months, this location has been without provider coverage sporadically due to illness and other absences, and could not accept patients during what would otherwise be normal business hours, according to a release. The temporary closure is intended to help avoid any further unforeseen inconveniences to patients, as well as curb inefficiencies in facility operations as and Trios’ other major lease holders in the near future to work on forbearance. Cudworth called it a “perfect storm” with no one single person or thing responsible. To address the financial crisis, changes currently in the works include negotiating acquisition/merger offers from four different organizations. Signed confidentiality agreements with the companies means Trios can’t comment on who they are, Cudworth said. Trios has assembled a merger/acquisition steering committee to pursue this. Filing for bankruptcy also is another real possibility, Cudworth said. The Quorum report said the financial crisis followed the construction of the new hospital and care center. The original hospital opened in 1952. More than 65 percent of hospital district voters rejected a 2007 proposal to build a new hospital. Trios maintains the facility is “much needed” in the community. “The Quorum report concluded that our operations were not sustainable without significant financial and operational adjust-

Trios continues recruiting efforts for additional providers at multiple urgent care locations. “The timing of our staffing and recruiting challenges for urgent care services is unfortunate,” said Lorie Orozco, operations director for Trios Medical Group, in a release. “But at the end of the day we decided that it was in the best interest of our patients that we temporarily consolidate our urgent care operations while we continue on with provider recruitment. This is not a permanent closure nor elimination of services.” Current providers at Trios Urgent Care Center—Central Kennewick, Dr. Sergio Flores and Susan Harp, ARNP, temporarily moved to the Trios Urgent Care Center—Columbia Center, at 7201 W. Grandridge Blvd., Suite 100 in Kennewick. ments,” said Marv Kinney, hospital district board president, in a statement. “We are actively course correcting as it is our intention to continue to serve the Tri-Cities.” Trios also is pursuing a $150 million loan from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to restructure its’ debt, but first must show six to nine months of financial improvement. “This is an extreme situation for a very important community asset. The board has taken what I think is a courageous view in saying this is a problem and how do we fix it. We start with understanding where we are and where we need to go and how we get through,” Cudworth said. Trios Health is the hospital district’s system of care which operates two hospitals: Trios Women’s and Children’s Hospital at its downtown Kennewick location and at Southridge. Trios Medical Group, with nearly 100 employed physicians and providers, includes practices and services at eight Care Centers and three Urgent Care Centers.

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Turning opportunity into reality for dynamic food, beverage industry BY GARY WHITE

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Nothing worthwhile happens easily or quickly. But, it does happen. A case in point is TRIDEC’s FABREO (Food and Beverage Retention & Expansion Opportunities) program. One doesn’t have to look far to realize the Tri-Cities is located in the middle of one of the most dynamic food and beverage regions in the world. After all, so I am told, we are the “Wine Capital of Washington State” as well as the “French Fry Capital of the World.” In 2014 we scratched our collective heads wondering how the industry represented manufacturing overall in Benton and Franklin counties. In 2013 food and beverage processing accounted for 45 percent of manufacturing companies, 58 percent of manufacturing wages and 68 percent of manufacturing employment in the two county market, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department. Obviously successful, was there anything TRIDEC could do to help the industry be even more successful? The best way to find out was to talk with the folks. In 2014, TRIDEC launched the Columbia Basin Food & Beverage Processing Survey, literally visiting 51 beverage and 21 food companies to get a better understanding of the local industry. Based on the survey’s findings, TRIDEC identified seven opportunities the community could address to minimize and maximize advantages: • Develop a Hospitality Program. In 2015 Washington State University Tri-Cities launched its Hospitality Business Management program. • Develop a Culinary School. In 2016 Columbia Basin College announced plans to build a culinary school at the Columbia Gardens Urban

TRIDEC’s Gary A. White, center, stands with Julia Son, left, and Teresa Hung, right, from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council at the 2016 FABREO Expo. (Courtesy TRIDEC)

Wine & Artisan Village in Kennewick. • Develop a Food Processing Training Program. This would be a business degree program with a specialty in the food and beverage industry. • Develop a Technical Skills Training Program. Columbia Basin College recently launched two Technical Skills Training Programs for the region’s food processors: Certified Production Certificate (CPT), which addresses the core competencies for higher skilled production workers, and Certified Logistics Certificate (CLT), which addresses the core technical competencies of higher skilled, frontline material handling workers in supply chain facilities. • Produce an event to showcase locally processed foods to buyers. The FABREO Expo was successfully launched in 2015 with a second event in 2016. The third annual FABREO Expo is scheduled for June 14-15 at the TRAC facility in Pasco. The expo is

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a trade-only event and all participants must be at least 21 years old. The expo has proven to be very successful in bringing food and beverage processors together with industry brokers, distributors, retailers, exporters and service providers from throughout Washington, Oregon and Idaho. • Develop a public relations program. This effort is targeted at community and trade media utilizing social media, e-newsletters and blogs as well as personal contact at industry events.

• Develop the Strategic Gateway Concept. The Strategic Gateway Concept takes advantage of the Columbia Basin’s location as the natural gateway between America and Asia for the food and beverage industry, focusing on Trade and Investment; Education, Research and Development; Packaging, Storage and Logistics and Food and Beverage Tourism. Two major steps have been accomplished: In 2015 TRIDEC entered into Memorandums of Understanding with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the People’s Government of Wulanchabu, Inner Mongolia, China. It started with simple observation. It proceeded to getting in my pickup truck and hitting the road — often a dusty, rutted road — speaking with 71 people whose passion is food and beverage, the future of the industry and the TriCities’ role in that industry. We took their “opportunities” and shared them with the community. The community, in typical Tri-Cities’ fashion, pulled up its sleeves, went to work and turned those opportunities into reality. Nothing worthwhile happens easily or quickly. But, at least in the Tri-Cities, it does happen.

Gary A. White is the director of business retention and expansion for the TriCity Development Council, or TRIDEC. Reach him at 509-735-1000, gwhite@ tridec.org.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

FINE, From page 41 WUTC staff concluded that the January report was insufficient, and the company submitted a new one on April 29, 2016. “Overall, staff finds that Cascade has demonstrated a lax attitude toward compliance that exposes the public to an unacceptable level of risk. As shown by the 2010 explosion in San Bruno, California, which killed eight people, inadequate oversight can have catastrophic consequences,” according to a WUTC staff report from July 12, 2016. “The large number of segments lacking (maximum allowable operating pressures) confirming documents raises obvious public safety concerns. But equally concerning is the change in Cascade’s data over time,” the WUTC

staff’s 2016 report said. The WUTC staff reported that Cascade provided it with four different figures on four different dates of how many pipeline segments lack documented results on pressure tests. That breakdown is as follows: • Sept. 9, 2013 — 28 undocumented segments including four in Kennewick, three in Walla Walla and four in Sunnyside. • April 17, 2014 — 98 undocumented segments, including 13 in Kennewick, two in Walla Walla and nine in Sunnyside. • Jan. 29, 2016 — 90 undocumented segments, including 10 in Kennewick, two in Walla Walla and nine at Sunnyside. • April 29, 2016 — 116 undocument-

ed segments, including 15 at Kennewick, two at Walla Walla and 12 in Sunnyside. “The fluctuations … call into question Cascade’s ability to provide accurate data. The shifting data suggests that Cascade does not know its system well enough to pinpoint exactly how many Washington high pressure pipeline segments it is operating with insufficient (maximum allowable operating pressure) confirming documentation,” the WUTC staff’s July 12, 2016, report said. The settlement agreement outlined the requirements and deadlines for forgiving the $1.5 million in suspended fines. These include: • $250,000 of the suspended fine would be forgiven if safety tests and

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paperwork are in place for 50 percent of the undocumented pipelines by Dec. 31, 2018. • $250,000 of the suspended fine would be forgiven if all of the safety tests and paperwork for the undocumented pipelines is completed by Dec. 31, 2023. • $500,000 would be forgiven if a review of all of Cascade’s high-risk pipelines is conducted with a mutually agreed-upon fix-it plan on any extra shortfalls is in place by March 31, 2018. • $500,000 would be forgiven if the third-party evaluation is completed by Dec. 31, 2017. This evaluation is to cover management’s commitment, engagement by all affected parties, emergency preparedness and documentation.

uNETWORKING Jeskey receives MSA safety award

John Jeskey, leader of Mission Support Alliance’s Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council and longtime employee and safety advocate at the Hanford site, is the recipient of the 2016 Kathryn A. Wheeler Safety John Jeskey Leadership Award. Jeskey helped start the HAMTC safety representative program 20 years ago and is dedicated to safety practices. The Kathryn A. Wheeler Safety Leadership Award is awarded each year to a member of the MSA workforce who demonstrates support of safety through worker engagement. It is named in honor of the late Ms. Wheeler, a longtime Hanford employee who was dedicated to the safety of her coworkers.

WSU Tri-Cities grad chosen to attend seminar in D.C.

Alejandra Cardoso, a recent psychology graduate of Washington State University Tri-Cities, was chosen as one of three representatives from Washington state to participate in the Council for Opportunity in Education’s National Policy Seminar in March in Washington, D.C. The seminar gives representatives of lowincome, first generation colAlejandra Cardoso lege students in the TRIO and GEAR UP communities a chance to talk with members of Congress and the president’s administration about the history and success of the support programs. Cardoso said the TRIO program at WSU Tri-Cities helped her succeed academically and led her to work as a crime victim advocate with the Support, Advocacy and Resource Center in Kennewick.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Pink snow mold damages region’s wheat fields Benton, Franklin county wheat farmers more concerned about late start to growing season BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz

Though a damaging snow mold has been spotted in some Eastern Washington wheat fields, local farmers aren’t expressing concern. Pink-tinged mold in fields of winter wheat and even in lawns of grass in southcentral and southeastern Washington has experts and farmers keeping a close watch. But in Benton and Franklin counties, farmers say they are more anxious about the late start to the growing season because of the winter’s extreme weather. Franklin County wheat farmers reported seeing the pink mold in conservation reserve program, or CRP, land and waste lands, but it has not been spotted in the wheat yet, said Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. Caused by the fungus Microdochium nivale, the mold attacks perennial plants and overwintering crops. Benton County farmers have seen some on side hills receiving a lot of snow that took a long time to melt, and also in CRP land, but nothing of concern, Hennings said. “They are more concerned about being behind in field work but they are behind in growing,” she said. CRP land is administered by the Farm Service Agency. In exchange for yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program agree to remove environmentally-sensitive land from agricultural production and grow species to improve environmental health and quality. There were no major concerns about snow mold or stripe rust voiced during a March wheat association board meeting in

which updates were given from each county, Hennings said. The statewide wheat association has 1,546 members. “Snow actually protects the wheat from harsh and cold weather. The downfall with a lot of snow is the snow mold in certain areas of the state. Stripe rust comes with an abundant amount of moisture,” Hennings said.

Important state commodity

Wheat is the state’s fifth top commodity, worth $600 million, behind apples, milk, cattle and potatoes, Hennings said. Washington farmers produced 157.2 million bushels of wheat last year. Total wheat farming employment equals 6,860 jobs statewide. For every dollar in revenue generated by wheat farming, 73 cents are earned by businesses supporting farmers. Offfarm purchases Tim Murray by farmers and Washington State their employees University plant add 28 cents pathologist more for a total of $1.01 in economic activity beyond farmers’ own sales, mostly in small towns where agriculture serves as a crucial anchor for businesses, Hennings said.

Snow mold uncommon here

Melting snow has exposed patches of injured wheat in parts of the state where destruction by snow mold is rarely seen, said WSU plant pathologist Tim Murray,

Furrows of bleached-looking leaves of winter wheat in a Prescott field were damaged by pink snow mold. Washington State University plant pathologist Tim Murray has been meeting with wheat farmers and examining their fields for signs of damage. Benton and Franklin county farmers say they are more anxious about the late start to the growing season because of the winter’s extreme weather, than they are snow mold. (Photos courtesy WSU)

who has studied the fungus for nearly four decades. He recently met with 20 growers in the town of Prescott to address their concerns about the mold’s effect on winter wheat. “Growers in this area have never seen this mold until now,” he said. “Its presence may have surprised me, but it really surprised them.” After examining a half-dozen fields in southcentral and southeastern Washington, Murray identified winter wheat damage ranging from nonthreatening lesions on leaves to underground crown decay that kills the plant.

“I was surprised to see how prevalent the damage was in some of the fields,” he said. “We’ll definitely be seeing some economic damage as a result.” He stressed that the extent can’t be tallied until soils are warm enough to reveal which plants could withstand the damage and which could not. A cold-loving organism that thrives under long periods of snow cover, socalled pink snow mold is more commonly seen in the higher elevations of northcentral Washington where snow blankets the ground for 100 days or more. uMOLD, Page 48

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Small business owners must speak up about Olympia tax talk BY KRIS JOHNSON

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Raising taxes on “the wealthy” might seem like a great idea until you realize that many of the proposals coming out of the state Capitol would apply to small business owners who don’t meet most folks’ definition of wealthy. For example, a proposed 66 percent increase in the business and occupation (B&O) tax on service-sector businesses would apply to hair dressers, child care providers and car repair shops. In many rural areas, these are among the last remaining businesses. Likewise, a proposed 7.9 percent capital gains income tax wouldn’t just apply to wealthy investors, but also to small business owners who, after years of hard work building equity in their business, sell their business to support their retirement. And, that’s just the start. So far, these proposals haven’t gained much traction. However, lawmakers are scheduled to be in Olympia until April 23 – plenty of time to enact taxes that impact employers across the state. And, there is a common belief that the Legislature will head into at least one 30-day special session, and possibly more. This means discussions about how to grow government spending through new and higher taxes are likely to continue for a while, even as revenue from existing tax sources continues to rise, thanks to a growing economy. In March, the state released figures showing revenue collec-

tions through 2019 are expected to increase by more than half a billion dollars over earlier projections. One way to influence the debate is for small business owners to speak up and share their stories about how new and higher taxes would directly affect them. The capital gains income tax proposal is a great example of where the employer story needs to be told. Billed as a tax on “the wealthy,” a Spokane restauranteur explained in a recent video that, as a small business owner, the sizeable capital gains income tax proposal would deliver a large hit on the sale of his restaurant, cutting deeply into his life’s savings – his retirement – that is tied up in his business. He’s not “wealthy.” He doesn’t have a 401(k) or pension plan. He has the selfcreated equity of his life’s work that has created countless jobs and contributed untold amounts of taxes to fund schools and services for our most vulnerable. While that’s just one example, it rings true for many of the small business owners across the state and rural economies that disproportionality rely on small businesses to create jobs. Worse, these tax proposals come at a time when only pockets of the state are seeing solid job growth, while the majority of the state is still struggling with chronically-high unemployment. In January, state job numbers show that 27 of Washington’s 39 counties had unemployment rates of 7.1 percent or higher – nine of those counties were above 9.1 percent.

At AWB’s first-ever Rural Jobs Summit on March 4, a bipartisan group of elected officials along with economic development, chamber of commerce and business leaders Kris Johnson from both sides of Association of the state pointed Washington Business to tax uncertainty as a big part of the problem with maintaining and creating jobs in rural regions. Compounding that, attendees said, is regulatory uncertainty and delayed permitting for projects that would create high-

uNETWORKING Williamson hired as program manager

Kirk Williamson has been named program manager for the BentonFranklin Community Health Alliance. A Tri-Citian since 1975, Williamson worked for Group Health for 23 years as community relations manager. A partnership of the Benton-Franklin Health District, Kaiser Permanente, Kadlec Regional Medical Center, Lourdes Health Network, PMH Medical Center in Prosser and Trios Health, the community health alliance started in

wage jobs where we need them most. There are many complex policy discussions ahead – from taxes to regulations – and we’re ready to have them. But, the best way to get to solutions that work for the entire state – every small town – is for small business owners talk about the real challenges they face, such as new and higher taxes, and what can be done to help them succeed and create economic opportunity. Together we can tell the story of what really makes Washington thrive. And together, we can bring shared prosperity and job growth to all 39 counties. Kris Johnson is president of the Association of Washington Business, Washington state’s chamber of commerce and manufacturing association. 1993 and addresses significant community health issues.

Vybe Salon employees receive certifications

Nikki Berglund, owner of Vybe Salon and Spa in Kennewick, recently became certified in Babe hair extensions and thinning hair. Haley Guse and Alysha Miller, semi-permanent makeup artists and brow specialists, are now certified in microblading, a technique used to define and reconstruct eyebrows by using a special pen to draw on individual strokes, with results lasting up to three years.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Horse racing fans gear up for busy season at Sun Downs in Kennewick Tri-City Horse Racing Association celebrates 30th year of racing at track BY JEFF MORROW

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

One of the three horse racing tracks in the Pacific Northwest opens for the season in Kennewick later this month. The annual race meet will run six dates over three weekends this spring – April 22, 23, 29, 30, May 6 and 7 – at the track at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Kennewick. The first race each day is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Highlights will include major challenge stakes races, and a celebration of the Kentucky Derby on May 6, in which fans can wager on the sport’s biggest race.

“Eastern Washington has a long history in horse racing, especially quarter horse racing. The commissioners want to keep it alive.” - Doug Moore, executive secretary of Washington Horse Racing Commission The challenge races are on the final weekend, either Saturday or Sunday. Winners of each challenge race, sponsored by the American Quarter Horse Association, will advance to the national finals this fall in Los Alamitos or Ruidoso Downs. Admission is $5 and parking is free.

30th anniversary

Nancy Sorick, who heads up the nonprofit Tri-City Horse Racing Association, said she never thought about a legacy when she and eight other horse racing enthusiasts took over running Sun Downs race track in 1987. “I guess we wanted to save the race track back then,” she said. “We didn’t want it to go away.” The association celebrates its 30th season of racing at the Kennewick track. Back in 1987, that local group of horsemen and women, owners and trainers approached Benton County about taking over running the track. The county didn’t want to be in the horse racing business anymore. “We went to the county and offered to take over the track, paying the bills with a $40,000 trust account,” Sorick said. Sorick is the only original member of the nine-person TCHRA still involved in the annual races. And that longevity of 30 years is pretty impressive, considering the state of horse racing in the Pacific Northwest. Over the last 30 years, tracks in Spokane, Yakima, Walla Walla, Dayton, Waitsburg and Les Bois in Boise have shut down. Only Emerald Downs in Auburn,

Portland Meadows and Sun Downs in Kennewick are still operating in the Pacific Northwest. “But the weather was so horrific this winter that Portland had to cancel several days of racing,” Sorick said. That bad weather did affect Sun Downs, which normally opens around Feb. 1 for trainers to prepare their horses. Instead, the track opened Feb. 15.

‘New barns are filled’

Both Sorick and Shorty Martin, Sun Downs’ racing secretary, who sets the racing lineups during the meet, expect a large field of horses this season. “All of our new barns are filled,” Sorick said. “The back side is probably threequarters full overall. I’d say that we have about 100 head of horses out there.” Martin expects at least 54 entries for the three challenge races. “And we should have 35 to 40 entries for the Pot O’Gold,” he said. The Pot O’Gold is the meet’s signature race, which usually features at least a $30,000 purse. It’s held on the final day of the meet. That’s music to the ears of the commissioners of the Washington Horse Racing Commission. “Our commissioners are fully in support of Sun Downs,” said Doug Moore, executive secretary of the commission. “Eastern Washington has a long history in horse racing, especially quarter horse racing. The commissioners want to keep it alive.” Sun Downs, Moore said, has a great history. “A lot of great trainers, horses and jockeys got their starts there,” Moore said. “From my perspective, that’s where people get their starts in the business, at tracks like Sun Downs. I equate it to a minor-league baseball system.” Horse racing also brings money to the community. During the race meet, the TCHRA employs 50 to 60 people, from program sellers to people working the wagering machines, to those working the gate. The last independent economic impact statement for Sun Downs was done in 2005. It reported horse racing brought in

The Tri-City Horse Racing Association is preparing for this year’s Sun Downs horse racing season, which will be April 22, 23, 29, 30, May 6 and 7.

$1.9 million to the community through hotel/motel stays, restaurants, feed stores, grocery stores and farming. However, that was when the season spanned 10 days over five weekends. Now with the meet at six days over three weekends, the economic impact may be less than in 2005 but it is still a big contributor to the local economy, officials said. “If we can be close to the last couple of years, we’ll be fine,” Martin said. “The last couple of meets have been successful. I

think we’ve averaged $61,000 in total (money wagered) a day these last few years.” Sorick has her usual goals for a great racing season. “Have a good, clean race meet,” she said. “And a lot of horses. And everybody comes out and enjoys the races. And they have a good time.” For more information, visit www.sun downshorseracing.com.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

The pink snow mold color’s intensity fades with exposure to sunlight. (Courtesy WSU)

MOLD, From page 45 But this winter’s pervasive snowy weather fueled the mold’s growth in lower elevations as well, said Murray, including in Walla Walla, Whitman and Columbia counties. “Snow protects winter wheat and other dormant plants from cold temperatures, which is a good thing,” he said. “But the snow cover becomes a problem when it stays on the ground for too long, which is just what happened.” In areas where the fungal disease is evident, snow had covered the ground 60 to 70 days. Although longer than most years, “it’s still not long enough to cause the kind of damage I’ve been seeing. It typically takes at least 100 days,” Murray said. Abnormally warm temperatures in November kept the ground from freezing before the first hard snow arrived, creating Paid Advertising

Is Your Portfolio “Healthy?”

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. If you can exercise regularly, you’ll help yourself feel better, control your weight and even reduce the chances of developing certain diseases. But why not extend the concept of “fitness” to other areas of your life – such as your investment portfolio? And to help maintain a healthy portfolio, you can draw on some of the same principles that apply to keeping your body in good shape. Consider, for example, one of the things that happen when you exercise – namely, your body uses more oxygen. As an investor, you may need your portfolio to get “oxygen” in the form of infusions of new investment dollars. If you stop putting money into your portfolio, you’ll need to rely on DUSTIN CLONTZ your existing investments to grow enough to help you meet your long-term goals, such as a comFinancial Advisor fortable retirement. Could that happen? Maybe, but you will likely be better off by investing consis(509) 943-1441 tently, year after year. And by spreading your contributions over a period of decades, you don’t have to come up with large sums at any one time. Another element important to exercise is the need to avoid injury. That’s why all sorts of athletes, both competitive and casual, stretch before they swing into action. Many of them also take other injury-avoidance steps, such as strengthening their “core” through abdominal work and increasing their flexibility through yoga. When you invest, you can be “injured” if your portfolio takes a hit during a market downturn. However, this type of injury will likely be much more severe if your portfolio is over-concentrated in just one asset class and the downturn primarily affects those exact assets. But if you own many different types of assets – stocks, bonds, government securities, and so on – you may reduce the impact of a downturn on your portfolio. Keep in mind, though, that this type of diversification can’t guarantee profits or help you avoid all losses. While exercise is essential to maintaining good health, it isn’t the only factor involved. You should also get regular checkups with a medical professional, who can run various tests to measure changes in cholesterol, blood pressure, heart function and other areas. To help ensure your portfolio is healthy, you also need to chart its progress over time. And that doesn’t just mean determining if you’re getting the growth you need, though that’s obviously of great interest to you. You also need to evaluate whether your portfolio has gotten out of balance, which can occur without your doing anything at all. To illustrate: If you start out with a certain percentage of one type of investment, such as stocks, and these stocks grow to a point where they now take up a bigger share of your portfolio, you may be taking on more risk than you had intended. Consequently, you should review your portfolio at least once a year to evaluate both its performance and its balance. Once you’ve compared where you are today with where you were a year ago, you’ll be in a better position to make appropriate changes if needed. Do what it takes to keep yourself physically fit – but also take steps to ensure your investment portfolio is in good shape. It’s vitally important to your future – and you can do the work without even breaking a sweat.

Member SIPC

3616 W. Court St. Ste. I, Pasco

509-545-8121

Travis Clifton

1813 George Wash. Richland

509-946-7625

Dustin Clontz

1060 Jadwin Ave., Ste. 325 Richland

509-943-1441

Growers advised to wait

Murray has spent 40 years helping to develop high-quality wheat varieties that mount a defense reaction against snow mold and other diseases that plague the crop in cold climates. Microdochium nivale is one of three fungi that cause snow mold in Washington. Murray advises growers to let a few weeks of warmer weather pass to assess the full impact of damage in their fields. At that point, they can decide whether reseeding will be necessary. More information about Washington wheat can be found at wagrains.org.

uNETWORKING

www.edwardjones.com

Ryan Brault, CFP®

a more hospitable environment for Microdochium nivale to grow. That, coupled with a longer-than-usual period of snow cover, gave it just what it needed to thrive. “The fungus is out there. As we’ve seen, when the weather allows it to take advantage of the situation, it does,” he said.

Jay Freeman 16 W Kennewick Ave., Ste. 101 Kennewick

509-783-2041

Shelley Kennedy, CFP® 767 Williams Blvd. Richland

509-946-7626

Terry Sliger 1329 Aaron Dr. Richland

509-943-2920

T.J. Willingham

1020 N. Center Pkwy, Ste. D Kennewick

509-735-1497

Crowder elected second VP of national group

Michael Crowder, Benton Conservation District board member, has been elected as second vice president of the National Association of Conservation Districts, representing more than 3,000 conservation Michael Crowder districts in the U.S. Crowder has an extensive background in conservation, agriculture and service, and manages farm operations in Washington and Illinois. He serves as national director of the Washington Association of Conservation Districts. Local conservation districts encourage wise stewardship of natural resources through voluntary programs and education.

WSU Tri-Cities enology student earns national honor

Connor Eck, a senior student winemaker at Washington State University Tri-Cities’ Blended Learning program, has been named a national Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, a Boston-based nonprofit working to advance public Connor Eck purposes of higher education. The fellowship provides learning and networking opportunities to teach students leadership and how to bring communities together for positive change. Eck was one of 273 students to be honored in 2017.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

TRANSPORTATION In This Section

Demand for drivers prompts Martinez Trucking to open school BY JEFF MORROW

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Transportation

Richland proposes $20 annual car registration fee Page 53

Business Profile

Popular food truck plans to open Marineland restaurant Page 60

The trucking industry has had a tough time finding qualified drivers over the last 10 to 15 years. So Martinez Trucking decided to do something about it by creating its own truck drivers’ school. It’s called the Martinez Technical Institute and it’s located in a new building at 2020 Garland St. in Pasco on Martinez Trucking’s lot near King City. “We started the school because we need drivers,” said Zenaido Martinez III, one of six family members working with the company. “Our trucks and our industry require a special set of skills. So we started the school. We need drivers. We’re always hiring all of the time.” Today, Zenaido III – everyone calls him Z – is the operations manager. Martinez Trucking has been a success story in the Mid-Columbia. The company was started by Zenaido Martinez Jr. with one truck 34 years ago in Basin City. Martinez and his wife, Dora, expanded to 15 trucks and moved the business to Pasco. Their children eventually joined the business. Brother Nathan Martinez is the service manager, while another brother, Stephen Martinez, is the logistics manager. A sister, Stephanie Coria, is the human resource manager.

Instructor Wayne Ellis teaches a group of truck driver students at Martinez Trucking’s new school, Martinez Technical Institute, in Pasco. Owners of the 34-year-old family-run business decided to start the school to train its own work force.

Over the last three years, Martinez Trucking has grown to include a fleet of 55 trucks. “But we need to get to 60 to 65 in a hurry,” said Z Martinez. Martinez Trucking averages 85 to 90 employees a year. Z Martinez said the company’s main job is moving agricultural products, which accounts for about 80 percent of its workload. That includes working with companies like Lamb Weston and Grimmway Farms. “Grimmway Farms out of Bakersfield (California) they moved up here because there were a lot of opportunities up here,”

said Z Martinez. “Their processing and packaging facilities are up here now. When we started working with them, we went from 200 loads a year to 6,000 loads last year.” The remaining 20 percent of Martinez Trucking’s business is hauling finished goods and miscellaneous equipment. It’s a good business, Z Martinez said. “The average (annual) salary for a truck driver is $65,000,” he said. “But I have guys who have made over $100,000. Our top guys usually are over $85,000.” But there have been challenges, too.

Business Profile

uMARTINEZ, Page 50

52-year-old Wood’s Nursery completes first-ever remodel Page 61

Kennewick UPS driver boasts 25 years of accident-free driving Tom Ravella said road safety starts with putting away phone, staying focused BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz

Around Town

WSU Tri-Cities holds annual college planning day Page 71

HE SAID IT “As you come into Richland, where 240, Stevens and Jadwin meet, we’re going to put a camera in that area.” - Alex Sanguino, Tri-Cities DOT project engineer Page 54

A Kennewick UPS driver gives thanks every time he safely returns from one of his daily road trips. Tom Ravella, 55, typically drives 350 miles a day between Hermiston and the Farewell Bend area in Oregon, five days a week. That’s 1,750 miles a week. He’s been driving for Atlanta-based UPS for 33 years and recently was inducted into the Circle of Honor, an honorary organization for UPS drivers who have achieved 25 or more years of accident-free driving. “I always wanted to be in the Circle of Honor. It was my goal when I started with UPS and it was a challenge. I want to get home safe every night,” he said. Ravella said he’s dedicating his 25 years of safe driving with UPS to his father, Thomas Ravella Sr., who passed away in April 2008. His father was a part of the Teamsters union,

and although he was not a truck driver, he introduced his son to the right people who pointed him in the direction of UPS. Ravella’s UPS uniform now features a special 25-year patch. He also received a leather bomber jacket from the company. Washington boasts 125 active Circle of Honor drivers with a combined 3,529 years of accident-free driving. Others from the Tri-Cities with the honor are Richard Klein, Jack Miller and Tom Peters, all of Kennewick. There are 2,114 total UPS drivers in Washington. “My thanks go to all of them for their dedication and focus and for the countless lives they’ve saved,” said Joe Braham, president, UPS Northwest District. “Their attention to detail has kept them safe and has helped improve Tom Ravella of Kennewick, a UPS driver for 33 years, recently was honored for 25 years of public safety.” accident-free driving. (Courtesy Jackie

uUPS, Page 54 Sharpe Images)

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

MARTINEZ, From page 49 “We’ve had substantial growth the last three years,” said Z Martinez. “We bought some equipment that’s needed some work. And we’ve had some driver error. “We had a high turnover rate,” he said. “The reason why, is we didn’t offer medical insurance. Now we do, and we don’t have very much turnover. If someone leaves, it’s usually because we want them to. We also had high maintenance costs. We were finding people were rough on the equipment.” And finding more qualified drivers has been a challenge, both locally and nationwide. Bob Costello, chief economist and senior vice president at the national American Trucking Associations, or ATA, worked with Rod Suarez, an economic analyst for the ATA, on a truck driver shortage analysis in October 2015. They found the average age of a truck driver in this country is 49 and 5.8 percent of all drivers are women. That’s what Z Martinez sees too. “Older drivers are retiring,” he said. “And the younger generation always thought that trucking just simply wasn’t that glamorous.” The report by Costello and Suarez also stated that in “2014, the trucking industry was short 38,000 drivers. It was expected in 2015 for the shortage to jump up to 47,500. If the trend continues, that shortage could be 175,000 by 2024.” Furthermore, the report states that “quality versus quantity makes it worse. Carriers are finding few eligible candi-

dates for jobs. In 2012, 88 percent of fleets said that most applicants were simply not qualified.” That’s what the Martinez family saw too. “Today’s truck driver has to be tech savvy,” said Z Martinez. “They need to know how to use a GPS and how to work an electronic log.” This is where the idea of a school came in—so Martinez Trucking could train drivers the way management wanted. “The idea actually started in January of 2016,” said Z Martinez. “It started out as ‘Let’s train our own guys.’ (Instructor) Wayne Ellis and Michael Harper, an employee, put together the curriculum. Within five months we had the curriculum established, tied in with (Washington State Department of Transportation) rules. “But one big advantage of having a school is we’re tied into a trucking business: ours,” he said. “A driver can get a CDL (commercial driver’s license) in four weeks.” Tuition is $4,350. MTI is the fourth truck driving school in the Tri-Cities. There’s another one in Grandview and another in Walla Walla. Columbia Basin College also recently invested in a $111,000 truck simulator for its revived Commerical Driver’s License certification program. “I do see the other schools as competition, but only because they may have a prospect at their school that we may want to have here,” said Z Martinez, who cautions students at the beginning of MTI

Transportation classes that they’re not guaranteed a job with Martinez Trucking. “Our main goal is to put you into our truck. The worstcase scenario is you’ll walk out of here a professional driver.” MTI has a job placement assistance program that’s partnered with Washington WorkSource, but it’s not an accredited school yet. “We plan to get it accredited. It’s a two-year process to meet the standards,” said Z Martinez. Currently, the school has eight students. Ellis and Martin Ochoa are the instructors, but Z Martinez said he’s already looking to add a third instructor. Students spend the first week attending classroom sessions. The next three weeks involve driving and more class sessions. “We have two 18-wheelers,” said Z Martinez. “The challenge for us is some of the students we were getting in the past were trained on a seven-speed. If you miss a gear with a truck carrying 100,000 pounds of product, you’ve got a problem. These trucks we have are 10-speed freighters, and they’re userfriendly.” Drivers who pass the course will meet the state requirements for the DOT. But if they’re hired to work for Martinez Trucking, they will have what Z Martinez calls “graduate school.” “They’ll need to learn how to drive our trucks,” he said. “We have 10-speeds, 13-speeds, Super 10s and 18-speeds. But most of the trucks we have are 10-speeds and 13-speeds.”

Z Martinez, who also said the company will have current drivers do continuous training, plans to have a ribbon cutting ceremony for the school in the near future. He said he’s also finding there’s another need in the industry: “Different companies have called us, asking for help in certification for technology,” he said. “Everyone needs more mechanics. So we may get more involved with that technology.” The need for people to work in the trucking industry is critical. Costello says now, more than ever, the economy needs more truck drivers. “Truck driving is vital to our economy,” Costello said in an email to the TriCities Area Journal of Business. “Without truck drivers, the economy would come to a grinding halt. Trucks move over 70 percent over all the freight tonnage in the United States. It is by far the largest mode of freight transportation. “Of course for now and the foreseeable future, we need a driver in the seat to move that freight. So without truck drivers, the economy doesn’t move.” Z Martinez and his family agree with that, too. “It’s the No. 1 way we move things,” said Z Martinez. “Trains are great, and we work hand in hand with them. But anything you can put on a trailer, we can move. The need has never been higher than it is right now. “We’ve gotta move stuff.” For more information, call Martinez Technical Institute at 509-416-2509, visit mti.live or find the company on Facebook.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Transportation

DOT spring projects include repaving, adding camera at intersection BY JESSICA HOEFER

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Cabin fever has broke. And with warmer weather, workers at the state Department of Transportation have been eager to get outside to start on projects to improve roadways and traffic flow in Benton and Franklin counties. “One project that we’re going to start on in the middle of April is on (Interstate) 82,” said Alex Sanguino, Tri-Cities’ DOT project engineer. “It’s about a mile from Benton City. (The project is) a paver. A mill and fill. That means we’re going to go out with a big grinding machine and remove a little under two inches of asphalt and put it back with new asphalt.” While repaving may sound like an inconvenience to drivers, it’s necessary to maintain the roadways. Plus, Sanguino said it saves taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run. “If the road is starting to crack, we need to replace that before the entire roadway fails,” he explained. “If we don’t do these lower-priced improvements now and we wait until it completely fails, it’s going to cost probably around 10 times that.” For example, while a mile of repaving will cost taxpayers about $100,000, he estimates a mile of construction after a roadway fails to cost about $1 million per mile to repair. “It’s preventative maintenance,” said Sanguino, who’s been with the DOT for almost two decades. “Making sure the top portion is in good shape and doesn’t affect the rest of the structure.” Members of the DOT’s materials department take core samples of roadways in question, sort of like a biopsy of the asphalt. “They assess it to see how far the cracks go,” he said. “It’s hard when you’re driving to see that. Once you see cracks when you’re driving, if you stop and look at it, you’d be surprised.”

Workers pour the approach slab for the bridge on Highway 395 northbound over the Lewis Street off-ramp in Pasco. (Courtesy DOT)

Roadways often need to be repaved 10 to 15 years after construction, he said. There are some projects on the docket that Sanguino remembered the DOT working on when he first started in 1998. The Richland office typically tackles three to 10 projects during the season, which ranges from March to mid-October. During the winter months, Sanguino’s crew finishes previous contract projects. But they also prepare for the future, planning out projects for the region. Washington has five regions, and Sanguino’s office is in charge of the southcentral part of the state, which spans from the top of Snoqualmie Pass all the way south. “At the end of each construction project, we have to do final records. We have to make sure all our pay items are in order and that contractors submit their paperwork,” he said. “It’s a long process, and a lot of paperwork.” There are temperature requirements for

asphalt, so during the cold season, crews also plan out spring projects. And this year, the Tri-Cities office has a full plate with at least 10 projects on the horizon. “There are a lot of little projects. Some are a pretty good size. Two are going to take a lot longer,” he said. One of the projects is a $6.5 million bridge on Highway 124 that will span about 160 feet. “If you go toward Walla Walla and cross the Snake River, 124 goes to the left, toward Dayton. You’ll go past Burbank Heights, and you’ll cross railroad tracks.

Right before you hit the tree farm. It’s the railroad crossing that’s had some issues,” he said. There’s a hump on the roadway crews want to tackle first. The crossing is a safety hazard and visibility is an issue, he said, which led the DOT to take on the project. “We’re just starting that. It’s going to help a lot with eliminating conflicts with the railroad. Once it’s built, there’ll be no more accidents with trains and cars,” Sanguino said. uDOT, Page 54

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

TRANSPORTATION

Tri-City Taxi moves from Pasco into new Richland building 37-year-old company keeping close eye on how Uber may affect its business BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz

The region’s biggest taxi company moved its operations from Pasco to Richland earlier this month. Mike Coyner has operated Tri-City Taxi for his mother since 2011, after taking over from his late father. His grandfather Harold Coyner started the company in 1980 in Kennewick. It moved to Pasco in 1990. Tri-City Taxi’s new home is on 2.5 acres on 2746 Kingsgate Way in Richland near the Horn Rapids development. Coyner is leasing the property with an option to buy within 24 months. The new 9,000-square-foot building will house Tri-City Taxi’s 34-vehicle fleet and 70 employees, of which 62 are drivers. The company’s drivers average 1.5 million miles a year, a dip from the prerecession high-water mark of 2.9 million in 2014. Coyner said the new building will allow him to consolidate his businesses under one roof. Besides Tri-City Taxi, he owns a handful of others. There’s TC Auto Care and Tires, which has provided vehicle and repairs for Hanford site contractors as well as personal vehicles, since 2013. And L&M Auto Sales at 4083 W. Van

Giesen St. in West Richland, which Coyner started in 2015. He expected to sell one to two vehicles a month at the car lot located where the former state liquor store operated, but sold 200 vehicles last year. “It’s been really successful,” he said. Coyner also is involved in commercial real estate in the Tri-Cities, as well as Yakima and Portland, as Haralmar Corp., a name he coined using his father, grandfather and grandmother’s initials. Tri-City Taxi moved into its new Richland building on April 9. As the dispatcher signed off on the last shift in Pasco, another signed on in Richland, allowing a seamless transition. “We offer our services 24/7. We don’t close,” said Alex Bedoya, who has served as the company’s operations manager for 11 years. “We don’t have a lock on the door. We haven’t closed since we opened in 1980,” Coyner said. It’s a season of change for the 37-yearold Tri-City Taxi, as Uber, a ride-hailing service that can be summoned from a smartphone, began operating in Benton County last year. Tri-City Taxi is watching how it’ll affect its bottom line closely. “We haven’t noticed an impact yet,” Bedoya said.

Alex Bedoya, left, and Mike Coyner stand in front of their new Tri-City Taxi building at 2746 Kingsgate Way in Richland near the Horn Rapids development. The company moved from Pasco to Richland earlier this month.

“We have no control over Uber and what’s going to happen,” Coyner said. But he said Uber can’t offer what his company can. He said customers don’t know what kind of driver they’re getting when they open the door and slide into an Uber car. At Tri-City Taxi, all drivers undergo random drug tests, extensive safety training, as well as first aid, CPR and defensive driver training, and the vehicles they drive are inspected to be in safe, working condition, Coyner said. They also undergo background checks that include fingerprinting. “We have to go further than most everyone else on the planet does. We have to have state and federal background checks,” Coyner said, explaining the company’s state and federal contracts require it. Using the local taxi service is worth the extra couple of dollars, Coyner said. The taxi boarding fee is $4.95 and then it’s $2.50 a mile. For a 10-mile trip, that’s about $30. Uber has about 100 drivers from the Tri-Cities who’ve applied to drive for the company or already are actively driving and they’re offering a thousand rides weekly, said Alex Diaz, territory manager for the region. He called the Tri-Cities a healthy market. Uber can pick up passengers in Benton County and in Richland, Kennewick and West Richland but not in Pasco, though it can drop passengers off anywhere, including Pasco.

The Pasco City Council recently approved a city ordinance to allow companies like Uber and Lyft to pick up riders in the city as long as the companies are licensed and individual drivers have submitted their fingerprints to verify their identity. But Diaz said, “We just can’t operate in a market that has fingerprint checks.” Tri-City Taxi’s traditional taxi service makes up 18 percent of the company’s revenue, Coyner said. Its biggest contract is with Ben Franklin Transit. The company provides Dial-ARide, Sunday service, Finley service and Trans-Plus services, picking up passengers from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. and averaging about 400 people a night. The contract provides for more than 113,000 passenger boardings, estimated in 2016. Ben Franklin Transit budgeted nearly $2.5 million for Tri-City Taxi services this year. Tri-City Taxi also is a state broker for the People for People program, providing Medicaid patients transportation. The state Labor and Industries department also uses Tri-City Taxi to drive injured workers to appointments and serves as a courier for several companies, including FedEx and DHL. In its heyday, the company had 250 employees and was doing contract work as far away as Spokane, the Yakama Nation and Umatilla Nation in Oregon. It’s now focused on serving the Tri-City area. uTAXI, Page 56

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Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Transportation

Richland vehicle fee to offset costs for bridge project, street improvements Proposed $20 annual car registration fee to generate $850,000 annually BY ELSIE PUIG

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Nobody likes to pay extra taxes, but Richland city officials say the one they’re proposing will benefit the city for years to come. The Richland City Council approved creating a Transportation Benefit District in March to collect money to improve city streets and build a $38 million Duportail Bridge. On April 18, city staff will recommend a $20 car registration fee as the source of funding for the district. If approved, $20 will be added to annual vehicle registration fees collected by the state Department of Licensing beginning in 2018. Roughly $12 will go toward street improvements and $8 for the Duportail Bridge project, said Councilman Brad Anderson. “I’m not a fan of increasing sales or property tax because once they are there, they’re hard to remove,” he said. The creation of the transportation district is expected to raise about $850,000, $670,000 of which will be used for the pavement preservation project, and will pay for an extra nine lane miles of improvements a year. The rest will be used to pay down the

bonds for the Duportail Bridge work. The city has committed to retiring the fee when the debt issued to pay for the bridge is paid. Anderson said that could take around 20 years, but it’s preferable to the alternative. “This is very important and critical not only for the city but also the greater area we live in,” said Anderson, who works in the private sector as general manager of Total Energy Management. He said that with a fleet of more than 50 cars, thes business will feel the effects of the fee, but it’s one he is willing to support. “I work for a business that has many vehicles on the road. Our community has always supported school bonds, but roads are such a critical component of our everyday lives. Businesses will benefit from it. The better your roads, the more people will drive through here, the better businesses will do, especially for an area that relies so heavily on sales tax income,” Anderson said. Pete Rogalsky, director of Public Works for Richland, said safer streets and increased connectivity between central Richland and the Queensgate Drive area is good for local businesses. “The street resurfacing all boils down to being responsible for and taking care of what you own,” Rogalsky said. “The Duportail Bridge will improve connectiv-

A $20 fee added to Richland residents’ annual vehicle registration bill will generate about $850,000 annually for the city’s Duportail Bridge project and to improve city streets. This rendering of the $38 million bridge shows where it will cross the Yakima River to connect Duportail Street. (Courtesy city of Richland)

ity, reduce congestion and improve travel safety. The city is growing and the traffic burden associated with that growth is being felt. (It’s needed) to address that growth and allow our local economy to continue to grow without gridlocking and making our lives miserable with congestion.”

Duportail Bridge project

The city plans to take out $2.15 million in bonds to pay for the bridge, Rogalsky said. The bridge over the Yakima River will include two travel lanes in each direction as well as bicycle lanes and sidewalks on each side. “The city has a vision for having more

activity and development in our downtown area, and we’re already seeing rapid growth in the Queensgate area, and the bridge as an area connector between the two will allow both areas to continue to develop and prosper,” Rogalsky said. Washington state’s Connecting Washington legislation, signed by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2015, will provide an additional $20 million toward the project beginning in July. Other secured funds for the project include nearly $2 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the water pipeline replacement and $2.15 million for preliminary engineering, environmental reviews and property acquisition. uBRIDGE, Page 56

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

UPS, From page 49 UPS’s 102,000 drivers log more than 3 billion miles a year, delivering nearly 5 billion packages annually. It’s a job that requires complete focus, Ravella said. “Our job is very dangerous. I’ve seen so many bad things happen on the road,” he said. One of the most frequent driver infractions he sees are distracted drivers. “Ninety percent of drivers are on their cellphone,” he said. “I’ve seen some truckers watching movies. They prop the screen up on their steering wheel.” Ravella spent 11 years as a package driver, hopping in and out of the UPS delivery trucks and handling hundreds of packages a day in Southern California. He’s spent the past 22 years as a feeder driver. He drives a tractor trailer that carries

UPS packages from the Hermiston package center to points beyond. The facility is centrally located to serve Portland, Seattle, Spokane and Boise. Farewell Bend is an exchange point with another truck traveling from Twin Falls, Idaho. He hauls a 105-foot rig made up of three trailers on 26 wheels carrying a maximum load of 105,000 pounds. “I enjoy driving — the freedom, of being in control and going where you want to go,” he said. To pass the time on the highway, he listens to satellite radio — classic rock and talk radio — or listens to audiobooks downloaded from Mid-Columbia Libraries. He also pays attention to the road and other drivers. It’s what’s got him safely from here to there for 25 years. This past winter’s snowy and icy condi-

Transportation tions halted UPS trucks completely for two days. On other snowy days, he’d chain up daily to get over the three passes on his route. Ravella said over the years he’s spoken to other experienced drivers who taught him that having a solid pre-trip routine is critical. Before each trip, Ravella checks his tires, suspension, connections between the trailers, oil, coolant, lights and heater/ defroster and makes sure his documents are in order. It’s a five-minute task but he said it puts him in the right frame of mind when he gets behind the wheel. “Our safety record on the road is fantastic company-wide,” he said. Globally, 9,349 active UPS drivers are members of the Circle of Honor. Collectively they’ve racked up 266,554 years and near-

ly 14 billion safe miles during their careers. That’s enough miles to travel to the moon and back almost 29,000 times. Ravella said another good defensive driving technique is to remember the five seeing habits. The tips start with the letters of the phrase, “All Good Kids Love Milk.” • Aim high in steering. Look up past your hood and 10 to 12 seconds ahead down the road. • Get the big picture. Maintain proper following distance. • Keep eyes moving. Scan, don’t stare. • Leave yourself an out. Keep space on all four sides of your vehicle, especially in front. • Make sure others see you. Turn on your headlights. Establish eye contact with other drivers and pedestrians. Use your horn. Ravella said he always assumes other drivers “are going to cut me off” when passing his truck so he drives accordingly. His other safe driving tip? “Stay focused and put your phone away. One wrong move can change your life, or end it.”

DOT, From page 51 Because of the scale of the project, DOT is allowing 165 days to complete the railroad crossing work. Other projects, such as the Umatilla Bridge, he said, where crews will replace part of the deck, will take about 300 days and extend into 2018.

Highway 240 traffic camera

Another big task on the horizon is called the Tri-City paver. The project is a combination of paving, adding signals and cameras. “As you come into Richland, where 240, Stevens and Jadwin meet, we’re going to put a camera in that area. A camera at Van Giesen (and) the Richland Airport — cameras just like on Snoqualmie Pass,” he said, explaining you’ll be able to go to the DOT’s website and see real-time traffic. “And we’re also going to repave from Van Giesen to Aaron Way.” Altogether the project will cost about $6 million. The Richland DOT has a call out for bids and hopes to begin work in June. Project costs are determined by how complicated the scope of work is. A long stretch of road repaving may cost less than a more difficult project that includes removing islands, side streets, intersections or bridge work. For the cable bridge project DOT is working on, for example, crews will remove all of the asphalt and replace it with new asphalt. The DOT tries to work around holidays and local events, such as Water Follies and Cool Desert Nights. Night work helps with traffic volumes because in some locations the DOT would have miles of backups if work was done during the day. Night work tends to be more challenging for worker safety, however, and can affect the quality of the project, so projects are only done in the evening when necessary. “We try to break up our projects into manageable sections,” Sanguino said. “You might get impacted every other year, but it’s a little impact rather than all impacted in one year. Do you want to be delayed ten minutes or two hours?”

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Transportation

People For People offers seniors rides across 12 counties BY JESSICA HOEFER

for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

Madelyn Carlson knows what drives seniors to lead longer, more productive lives. “If they don’t have transportation services—if they can’t access critical services—they’re going to be institutionalized much earlier,” said Carlson, CEO of People For People, a nonprofit committed to empowering senior citizens with resources, such as medical transportation. “And when they have to be displaced in an unfamiliar place and can’t participate in their community, their health declines more rapidly. I look at it as we’re able to maintain healthier individuals by keeping them in their home.” People For People has been around since 1965 and was originally founded as Yakima County Community Action Council with a focus on employment training services, Head Start programs and community action agency services. It began providing transportation in 1982. “Senior Services approached us and said, ‘We need someone who can provide transportation for our seniors to get to meals, to get to shopping,’ and we were able to get donations to purchase a couple of vans. That’s when we started providing transportation,” Carlson said. Whether a person is unable to drive due to health issues, such as impaired vision, or poor road conditions, or doesn’t have a valid driver’s license, People For People can get to remote areas to give seniors a ride to go shopping, or make medical appointments. “Just being able to have that reliable transportation to access health care is so important, not only for the ongoing cost of health care — because every missed appointment is a cost we all absorb — but to not delay treatment or diagnosis for cancer or ongoing kidney dialysis,” she said. “It’s vital that individuals are able to get access as quickly as possible. We have a high population that has diabetes, and they need to make sure that is monitored on a regular basis.” Carlson said many people on their routes live in rural areas with limited access to core services. The Community Connectors program provides

Viola Lawler is one of many seniors who have benefited from People For People’s transportation services in Southeast Washington. Pictured with her are drivers Gilbert Escobar and Jamie Mauldin. (Courtesy People For People)

transportation from Yakima to Prosser on a fixed route for a regularly scheduled trip. “We time it so we meet up with Ben Franklin Transit in Prosser so people can go even further to the Tri-Cities. We even had a grandma who lived in Selah use the Yakima Transit to get on the Community Connector to Prosser, and then get on Ben Franklin Transit to visit with her grandchildren in Pasco. She was able to do that for under $5,” said Carlson, adding that the Community Connector program offers free fares. There are also twice-monthly routes between Othello and Kennewick. People For People routes span across 12 counties, including Benton and Franklin counties. Altogether, the agency provides more than 132,000 passenger trips each year, traveling almost 900,000 miles between its 50 vehicles. The average cost per trip is $22 and includes gas, vehicle maintenance costs and salaries. People For People has an annual budget of $15.1 million, and the majority of that funding comes from federal, state and local sources. Only a small portion comes from donations, although Carlson said the agency gladly accepts donations of money and time. “The senior population is so giving,” she said, pointing out that although People

For People serves seniors, there are many elderly volunteers. Programs such as Yakima County’s Meals On Wheels, which is run by People For People, provides more than 92,000 meals a year. Volunteers help ensure seniors receive a nutritious meal, either at one of the six senior/community centers where meals are delivered, or through door-to-door delivery. Last year in Benton and Franklin counties, Senior Life Resources Northwest’s Meals on Wheels delivered 173,000 meals. It also serves seniors at

eight dining centers. Carlson said her agency has about 100 volunteers who help throughout the year in different capacities. Often volunteers get to know clients personally and can be instrumental in helping seniors maintain their independence. “If people are able to stay in their community with friends, family and church members, that is a supported environment for them,” she said. “We’re also able to save taxpayer dollars because they’re not having to pay for long-term health care.” Along with providing seniors with access to immediate medical care, People For People offers non-emergency medical transportation, which gives eligible individuals access to Medicaid services. “We are able to identify the most appropriate transportation for them. Whether it’s a bus voucher, gas voucher. We’re also contracting with providers to provide that direct service,” said Carlson, adding that the non-emergency medical transportation program is not just for seniors, but for individuals and children receiving Medicaid as well. For more information, call 2-1-1, a community line for anyone in need of services, whether it’s work force training, transportation services, senior services or to volunteer. For more information on People For People, including Community Connector routes and other transportation across Southeast Washington, visit the agency’s website at pfp.org.

Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • April 2017

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Three Rivers Convention Center 6 p.m. Social • 7 p.m. Dinner/Program Mark your calendar for this year’s exciting event, where another Tri-Citian will be honored for outstanding “Service Above Self ” and their commitment to “Building Community Through Service.” Reserve your table or tickets today. For reservations visit tricitianoftheyear.org or contact Wendy King-Hastings at 509-531-1135, wendyking1270@gmail.com. Individual reservations are $50 per person.

Online nominations for Tri-Citian of the Year accepted through March 26. Visit tricitianoftheyear.org for nomination form and information.

Keynote Speaker Lee Rhodes

TRANSPORTATION TAXI, From page 52 “We’ll probably be looking to see what contracts are out there. We’re staying within the Tri-Cities,” Bedoya said. Bedoya called the transportation industry a tricky one. “It’s really difficult to project what we’re going to be doing five years from now. We are at the mercy of funding, the economy — all those things,” he said.

Coyner is optimistic, citing the TriCities’ population growth. “We see the progress and move forward into the unknown and wait to see what happens,” he said, calling the move into a new building a new beginning. For more information about Tri-City Taxi, call 509-547-7777 or visit tctransportservices.com.

BRIDGE, From page 53 “The transportation benefit district is intended to add dedicated funding to the city’s street resurfacing project and the Duportail Bridge. The bridge has been very visible in its development for about ten years but it got really serious for 2015 when the state Legislature awarded us money through the gas tax package. Since that time, we became very committed to leveraging state money to start construction this year,” Rogalsky said. The city hopes to break ground on the project at the end of this year and finish construction in 2020.

Rogalsky said. “So between city staff and the city council we’ve been trying to figure out how to pull more money and from where so we can repave the streets in a more timely manner.” Rogalsky knows not everyone is thrilled about having to pay additional fees. The city held a public hearing Feb. 21 to gauge reaction about the transporation district’s proposition. “When you talk about raising taxes on people you always hear from people who don’t like that, but there has been some positive feedback as well,” Rogalsky said. “We’ve seen comments come through the city website — there are more negative messages than positive ones — but there is a significant group of people who do think it’s certainly time for bridge. It’s a mixed reaction.” Richland is one of 90 cities in the state to form a transportation district to pay for transportation infrastructure or to renovate existing ones. Rogalsky said that more than half of those cities have imposed a levy on the car registration to generate funding while others have used sales or property tax. The Richland City Council votes on the proposed fee during a meeting at 7:30 p.m. April 18 at Richland City Hall, 505 Swift Blvd.

Improving city streets

Funding for the city’s local pavement preservation program continues to be a serious issue for the city, Rogalsky said. The new transportation benefit district will provide dedicated funding to improve deteriorating street conditions, he said. Street condition surveys indicate that $3 million to $3.5 million is needed each year to maintain Richland’s streets in good condition. The city’s current annual budget for the pavement program is $1.2 million. “Right now with the funding we have available, we can only repave each street every 30 to 35 years and that is often not enough to ensure safe roadways,”

uNETWORKING Mares named director of Communities in Schools

Lupe Mares is Communities in Schools of Benton-Franklin’s new executive director. Mares began her journey with the group as site coordinator at Marcus Whitman Elementary in 2014 when the program was implemented in the Richland School District. Prior to that, she served with Commitment to Community in Walla Walla. Mares has a master’s in social work from Walla Walla University. Communities in Schools is a national drop-out prevention program that was founded in 1977.

Lee Rhodes’ personal and professional story is unique and inspiring. She started her company with the mission to help people heal. Today people all over the world are touched by glassybaby color, light and the money her company gives back to helping cancer patients. For more information visit glassybaby.com