Three Rivers Community Foundation awards grants Volume 15 • Issue 1 to 42 local nonprofits January 2016
Marketing
Mooreshots helps small businesses share message Pages 11-15
Real Estate & Construction
New affordable housing option in Kennewick Pages 21-27
Legal & Taxes
American Tax Consultants takes pain out of taxes pages 29-36
She Said It “It is becoming more clear at the federal level that nuclear will be a key component to meeting federal carbon reduction goals.” - Sen. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick page 19
By Loretto J. Hulse Pasco school children will continue to have a safe, nurturing after-school retreat thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Three Rivers Community Foundation to the YMCA at the Martin Luther King Center. The award was one of 42 grants totaling $152,899 presented to a variety of nonprofit organizations in the Tri-Cities Dec. 10. “The YMCA program at the MLK Center is a wonderful place for children to go after school for a healthy snack and get help with their school work. They can also do crafts and the soccer program, which involves the whole family, is awesome,” said Carrie Green, the Foundation’s executive director. The Three Rivers Community Foundation also gave $15,000 to the Lourdes Foundation in Pasco, $10,864 to the Grace Clinic and $10,000 to the Safe Harbor Support Center/ Friends Place, in Kennewick. The Lourdes Foundation runs a summer program for young children who have developmental and behavioral issues. “The children get help when schools are in session but then, in the summer, when the schools are closed, they tend to slide backwards and forget what they’ve learned,” said Green. “It takes them nearly until January to catch up again. Lourdes provides a summer program that runs through June and July that helps keep them on track, so when they’re back in school they don’t have that steep learning curve to overcome.” Grace Clinic plans to use its grant money to hire a mental health translator to complement the medical translator they hired with the help of a previous Three Rivers Community Foundation grant. “Yes, sometimes Hispanics can bring in a family member or friend to help translate, but unless that person knows medical terminology, it just doesn’t work out. Especially if your translator is your child,” Green said. Grants for several thousand dollars went to organizations that provide assistance to seniors, students, the physically and mentally disabled and gardeners. The Master Gardener Foundation of Benton and Franklin Counties received $2,000 to help fund their efforts to establish additional vegetable gardens in the Tri-Cities. uGRANTS, Page 3
Dennis Schoeneberg is 2016 with a new title: owner of Touchstone Jewelers in Kennewick. Schoeneberg, a gemologist, worked for the previous owners for more than a decade and purchased the store from them upon their retirement.
Touchstone Jewelers owners retire, gemologist rings in New Year with January re-opening By Audra Distifeno for TCAJOB Touchstone Jewelers, a one-stop jewelry shop in Marineland Village that customers have depended on since 1987, saw a change in ownership this month after longtime sibiling owners Mark Welsh and Sharon McAlmond retired. Gemologist Dennis Schoeneberg rang in the New Year Jan. 12 as new owner of Touchstone Jewelers LLC. The corporate structure was changed to satisfy state regulations and allow for a going-out-of-business sale, which culminated during the Christmas rush at Touchstone Jewelers in Marineland Village in Kennewick. “It’s been a real strong way to do this,” Schoeneberg said. “It allowed Mark and
Sharon to liquidate their merchandise and give their loyal customers extraordinary values that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.” Schoeneberg said it also allowed him to start fresh, with all new merchandise when he re-opened the store in January. Despite new product, the same familiar faces will continue to greet customers. “A lot of people were concerned about who we’d recommend since Mark and Sharon were retiring. It’s great that we’ll still be here,” Schoeneberg said. The newest employee to the team has been at Touchstone for six years. Schoeneberg said he will be adding two new team members, bringing the store’s number of full-time employees to six. uTOUCHSTONE, Page 26
HomeGoods plans new retail store at Columbia Center in Kennewick
By Mary Coffman A new HomeGoods store may be sprouting up at Columbia Center soon. An application has been made to the City of Kennewick to build a new 22,200-sq.-ft. HomeGoods store at 1321 N. Columbia Center, east of Old Country Buffet. HomeGoods is owned by TJX, which also owns the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls retail stores. TJX launched HomeGoods in 1992 to offer discounted home fashions, giftware, home basics, accent furniture, lamps, rugs, accessories and seasonal merchandise — think T.J. Maxx without any clothing. HomeGoods has been on an aggressive growth spurt in Washington state, opening
seven stores within the last few years. The retailer has stores in Federal Way, Silverdale, Issaquah, Lynnwood, Gig Harbor, Olympia, and recently opened a store in Spokane. The building permit was applied for on Dec. 4 and a site plan was previously submitted and approved. Representatives for Simon Property Group declined to comment and HomeGoods representatives did not return email and phone requests for interviews and information. HomeGoods has approximately 500 stores in 45 states and Puerto Rico. The average HomeGoods store employs about 60 full- and part-time employees.
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