CELEBRATING
June 2021 Volume 20 | Issue 6
YEARS
Isoray raises $50M to expand Cesium-131 cancer treatments By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
Inside
Focus Magazine: Agriculture + Viticulture in the Columbia Basin
Manufacturing
Pasco Machine prepares next-generation workforce for next 100 years Page A13
Real Estate & Construction
Pole buildings get new life as unique, affordable homes Page B1
NOTEWORTHY “You would be surprised at how many times weekly in the Tri-Cities you drive by hundreds of hives on a truck.” -Aaron Brink
of Brink’s Bees Page A28
Isoray Inc., the Richland company that makes radioactive seeds to treat prostate cancer, has raised more than $50 million through supplemental stock offerings in recent months, with most targeted to expand its reach to other types of cancer. Isoray (NYSE American: ISR) raised nearly $10 million in October to fund operations through a pandemicrelated slump and $45 million in February. The latter is funding clinical trials and other costs associated with bringing its proprietary Cesium-131 radiation treatment to brain, head and neck, Lori Woods lung, skin and gynecological cancers that can be treated with implantable radiation devices. “We see a lot of areas where cancer treatment is changing,” said Lori Woods, chief executive officer. Isoray produces medical Cesium-131 pellets from isotopes imported from Russia and has 62 employees, with 49 based in Richland. It seals Cesium-131 in titanium tubes marketed as Cesium Blu for implantation at tumor sites. Prostate cancer is its core business, with about 15,000 patients to date. For patients, the implantable approach – called “brachytherapy” – eliminates the traditional surgery-followed-by-radiation treatment path. The Cesium Blu seeds can be arranged by physicians to ensure they are placed exactly where they can deliver radiation treatment directly to the cancer, unlike external beam radiation, which passes through healthy tissue on the way in and out. Isoray believes its approach is the future of cancer treatment and expanding now puts it at uISORAY, Page A24
Courtesy Washington Wine Commission Washington wineries shipped nearly 1 million fewer cases in 2020, but the news wasn’t as bleak as it seemed. Four in 10 wineries posted growth and there were other causes for celebration as the industry worked through a wine and grape glut.
2020 wasn’t a great year for Washington wine. Or was it? By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
Northwest wine economist Chris Bitter painted a bleak picture when he recapped the state of Washington’s $8.4 billion wine industry in March. The state’s wineries shipped almost 1 million fewer cases in 2020. All sales channels – to consumers, to retailers, to distributors – fell in 2020, according to Bitter, of Vancouver, B.C.-based Vintage Economics. The Covid-19 pandemic bears some, though hardly all, of the blame. Washington
winemakers were dealing with a national glut of both wine and grapes even before coronavirus reached U.S. shores. “Going into the pandemic, the channel of distribution was full, even backed up,” said Vicky Scharlau, executive director of the Washington Winegrowers Association, which represents grape growers. Washington is the second largest producer of premium wine in the U.S. With more than 1,000 wineries and 400 vineyards, the state produces nearly 18 million cases annually, uWINE, Page A4
Leggari Products builds DIY juggernaut fueled by the power of social media By Kristina Lord
publisher@tcjournal.biz
With up to 100 orders leaving their Big Pasco warehouse daily, record revenue last year and plans to break ground on a new building later this year, Leggari Products’ owners are ready to take on the big boys in the epoxy coating industry. The scrappy Pasco-based startup, cofounded by Tri-City natives Tim Krumland and Tylor Svangren, keeps expanding – its product line, staff, facilities, vision – with no end in sight. They’ve got plans to engineer an automated packaging line for their proprietary products and break ground later this year on a building. They launch a merchandising line this summer. After all, you can’t be a YouTube sensation without the right gear. Leggari manufactures epoxy coating kits that can transform any hard surface, from countertops to floors and walls, into glossy works of art. They also sell kits that can improve pool decks and driveways. The company packages the materials
needed for each job into boxes for the do-it-yourselfers ordering the kits online. They also receive access to Leggari’s step-bystep video tutorials. These projects Tim Krumland are no longer reserved for trained contractors, the cofounders said. Anyone can do them. Those nervous about trying one for the first time can order a sample kit to bolster their confidence. Tylor Svangren “90% of the time, if they buy one of those, they buy a floor or countertop kit. Those have been a gold mine for us,” Svangren said. “We sell 400 to 600 sample uLEGGARI, Page A3
PLEASE DELIVER TO CURRENT OCCUPANT
Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business 8524 W. Gage Blvd., #A1-300 Kennewick, WA 99336
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PASCO, WA PERMIT NO. 8778
A2
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
A3
LEGGARI, From page A1 kits a month.” Kit sales have been booming since the pandemic kept people home and marshaled in a wave of home improvement projects. “When people stay home and watch YouTube all day, we sell a lot of products,” Krumland said. “Sales went up, and we were able to keep working because we were a manufacturing plant,” Svangren said. Leggari added 11 staffers in 2020. They have 23 full-time employees and its yearover-year growth reached triple digits. “We grow on average 350% a year. Right now, our growth from last year is about 238%, just from last year. Last year in revenue, we did about $6 million and are expecting to do $12 million in revenue this year,” Krumland said.
Humble beginnings Krumland and Svangren have been in business for about a dozen years. Before teaming up, Krumland was selling cars and trying to launch his own business. Svangren was doing concrete resurfacing work on pool decks and driveways. The two met to collaborate on a coating project and decided to go into business for themselves. “We just bootstrapped it. We ended up installing coatings to make money to pay for the venture. For the first four to five years, we didn’t end up selling products,” Krumland said. They discovered epoxy coatings and flew to a training session to learn more. They weren’t impressed with the coaching, but they were excited about working with resins. “We became very good at installing. We were known as best in industry at the time,” said Krumland, who often speaks in superlatives. One day Svangren strapped a GoPro to his head and filmed a counter coating project at his mother-in-law’s house. “We took epoxy – everybody said it couldn’t be done – and we coated a countertop and then we launched a video on YouTube and it went viral. We had hundreds of thousands of views within a few months. I think it’s in the millions now. People kept contacting us and asking us where to get our products,” Krumland said. They added more videos and the calls poured in, prompting them to create DIY kits. “This was go time,” Svangren said. “We basically invented the epoxy countertop kit. It’ll to go over any hard surface: wood, laminate, tile, granite, concrete.” Their first customer was a woman in Canada who installed it and loved it, Svangren said. “We knew it was a big deal if we could get the kits figured out and get a good supplier and market it,” he said. They began expanding their product offerings. “We decided to branch out to floors because the floors are very expensive to have someone do – $8 to $20 per foot to do a seamless high-end floor. We thought: Let’s sell homeowners materials for $2 a foot and save them $6 to $16 a foot and teach them,” Krumland said. Their website makes it easy to order materials. Homeowners choose their colors, product type, type in their square foot-
Courtesy Leggari Products A variety of epoxy finishes take center stage in Leggari Products’ Pasco warehouse. “We wanted it to have the look and feel of an art gallery because every kit installed is a unique representation of the installer,” said Tylor Svangren, co-founder.
age and then “a massive spreadsheet” on the backend determines what the customer needs.
Taking control A Facebook group shared one of their videos and interest took off. “Our sales went from 30,000 a month, to 90,000, then 150,000 the next month. It catapulted us,” Svangren said. Leggari had relied on other vendors to put the kits together and mail them. But they became increasingly frustrated because they couldn’t control the quality and timeline. They moved out of their small facility on Deschutes Avenue in Kennewick about a year and a half ago and into a 43,000-square-foot warehouse and nearby 11,000-square-foot office building at the Port of Pasco’s Big Pasco Industrial Center. “We had to take a loan when we started the manufacturing side of the company. We were turned down by three to four banks,” Svangren said. Washington Trust approved the loan that would fund their vision to pack their own products. “It was real revolutionary because you get a box, and it would be your primer, topcoat, your epoxy, your colors – in just a small box,” Krumland said. Eliminating outside vendors also allowed Leggari to safeguard the proprietary nature of its epoxy materials. “We discovered we made exponentially more money if we did the fulfillment and controlled the product,” Krumland said. “The other way we’re disrupting the industry is we’re going direct. We don’t have any distributors. We ship all over the world from here,” he said. Video stars Educational videos are a key piece of Leggari’s business plan. The company has uploaded about 500 videos to its YouTube channel. They film about three a week. Recent additions include a tutorial on applying epoxy on a
shuffleboard and on cornhole game boards. “The cool thing about our company is we have the world’s largest database of tutorials on decorative coatings,” Svangren said. They take the production seriously, too. A section of the warehouse has been tricked out into studio-quality space – there’s nine different sets – with high-definition cameras, lapel mics and lighting. They employ a full-time videographer/ photographer and two full-time video editors.
Contractors About 80% of their customers are DIYers, though contractors use Leggari products too, Krumland said.
They’re developing a 50- to 100-hour course to certify contractors, which they hope to roll out later this year. Svangren said contractors who pay for the Leggari training will have lifetime access to their video vault.
Leggari culture Warehouse workers use a scooter to zip across their massive World War II-era warehouse. On one side of the building is a half-court, to-scale NBA basketball court sporting the old Super Sonic logo (yes, they designed and installed the floor themselves), and a gym to rival any professional gym. It’s not unusual for the staff to play a uLEGGARI, Page A25
A4
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 WINE, From page A1 according to the Washington Wine Commission.
509-737-8778 Mailing address: 8524 W. Gage Blvd., #A1-300 Kennewick, WA 99336 tcjournal.biz.com
– STAFF – Melanie Hair CEO 509-737-8778 ext. 5 melanie@tcjournal.biz Kristina Lord Publisher 509-737-8778 ext. 3 publisher@tcjournal.biz Wendy Culverwell Editor 509-737-8778 ext. 6 editor@tcjournal.biz Tiffany Lundstrom Advertising Director 509-737-8778 ext. 2 tiffany@tcjournal.biz Chad Utecht Advertising Account Manager 509-737-8778 ext. 1 chad@tcjournal.biz Vanessa Guzmán Graphic Designer 509-737-8778 ext. 4 ads@tcjournal.biz
– UPCOMING – JULY Banking & Investments | Tourism AUGUST Science & Technology | Nonprofits Young Professionals specialty publication
– CORRECTIONS – • The Hispanic Academic Achievers Program awarded $79,000 in scholarships to 18 local high school seniors. The wrong acronym was used on page A2 in the May issue. • Neenan Archistruction’s name was listed incorrectly on page B8 in the May issue.
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 in guest columns and by advertisers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of staff, other columnists or other advertisers, nor do they imply endorsement by staff, columnists 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.
Not so bad Was 2020 as bad as it sounds? As the saying goes, “lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Yes, overall shipments fell – sharply – in 2020, but the industry found success by pivoting to curbside sales, focusing on wine clubs and other innovations. Four in 10 wineries increased shipments, according to Bitter. Royal Slope, near Quincy, became the state’s 16th federally recognized American Viticultural Area, or AVA. The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board (WLCB) said 2020 wine tax collections were unchanged at $26.5 million. Bitter called it a “respectable performance given the circumstances.” He also noted an 8% increase in wine shipments in early 2021, news that Eric Degerman of Great Northwest Wines discusses in the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business’s annual Focus: Agriculture + Viticulture magazine inserted in this month’s edition of the paper. Bitter highlighted two growth stories as a counterweight to the gloom of 2020. Seattle-based Precept Wines, the second largest brand in Washington with 30 labels, reported a 12% increase, according to Bitter’s research, which is based on WLCB data. Aquilini Wines, a newcomer to the Red Mountain AVA outside Benton City, successfully launched several national brands – Dixie & Bass, Be Human, Roaming Dog and 10,000 Hours. Steve Warner, president of the Washington Wine Commission, was euphoric about the successes eked out in 2020 and how the lessons learned will benefit the industry moving forward. Successful wineries that had depended on retail and tasting room sales embraced curbside pickups and packaged meals and wine for date nights. The WLCB loosened regulations to allow for curbside delivery and restaurant pickups. And Washington consumers responded to the commission’s Buy Local campaign efforts. In one sense, the pandemic served as a pilot for nontraditional sales that Warner hopes will persist now that restaurants and tasting rooms have reopened. “I was really proud,” he said.
Glut eases? Wa s h i n g t o n vineyards and wineries have struggled with a glut since 2016, when the state’s largest – by far – winery halted growth and moved to “reset” its business as supply outpaced demand. In 2016, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, a division of Altria Corp., moved to limit production and curtail grape purchases, leading to the glut that persists today. Ste. Michelle shipped 7.3 milCourtesy Washington Wine Commission lion cases in A glut of wine grapes is easing in Washington after 2020, down 12%, two years of lower-than-usual harvests. Washington according to its winegrowers produced about 179,000 tons of wine grapes in parent company’s 2020, far fewer than the 260,000 projected midway through fourth quarter and the growing season. year-end report. Ste. Michelle wrote off $411 million in and-demand perspective, 2020 production inventory losses and non-cancelable wine fell to 179,000 tons because of freezing grape purchases. The parent company’s weather, poor fruit set, damage caused by wine revenue fell 11% in 2020, to $614 the wildfire smoke that blanketed the region for weeks and other economic factors. million. David Dearie was appointed chief exScharlau, of the winegrowers associaecutive officer for Ste. Michelle on Nov. tion, said a lower-than-normal harvest was 1, 2020. Warner, of the wine commission, not good news for individual growers, who said he’s optimistic Ste. Michelle has reset typically have contracts to produce fruit for and remains committed to the state’s induswinemakers. Growers and winemakers are try. Ste. Michelle brands account for more in constant contact about grape quality and than half of all wine produced in Washingquantity, adjusting as the season progresses ton. The company backed the wine commis- to the fall harvest. Scharlau said the association encoursion’s work to establish a Washington-specific sustainability designation for wine, aged growers to use the pandemic and which will roll out later this year. slowdown in sales to review their grape “They want to see Washington wine portfolios. If a variety is struggling or is brands succeed nationally and internation- losing popularity with consumers, it’s time ally. They’re a very, very strong partner,” to switch courses. he said. “Get rid of and replace some of the weak Its difficulties unquestionably spilled players,” she said. over to wine growers. Warner, of the wine commission, said Typically, Washington wineries require the imbalance is easing after two years of about 220,000 tons per year, well below the state’s production capacity of more than lower-than-expected grape harvests. “What I’m hearing from growers is they 250,000 tons on 60,000 acres of vineyards. In a bit of good news from a supply- have buyers,” he said.
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 uBUSINESS BRIEFS Allegiant adds nonstop flight to San Diego
Allegiant Airlines launched a new nonstop flight to San Diego International Airport with a ribbon cutting and other festivities in May at the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco. The low-cost carrier offers Monday and Friday flights oriented to leisure travelers. The airline is charging $59 each direction online. Allegiant is one of four carriers serving the Pasco airport, along with Delta, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. Allegiant provides service to Las Vegas, Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona and seasonal service to Los Angeles.
Former employee buying Kennewick Barracuda Coffee
Barracuda Coffee is selling its Kennewick location to a former employee. Zach Case and his wife, Katie, will rebrand the coffee shop at 320 N. Kellogg St. as Traveler Espresso, a business they founded as a mobile coffee unit. The new location will be their first brick-and-mortar coffee shop. Traveler will use Barracuda’s coffee beans but the menu will change to include the new owners’ signature drinks. Barracuda owner Jake Shupe said the sale is expected to close in late June, with the Cases taking over July 1. The original Barracuda is at 2171 Van Giesen St. in Richland.
Conover Insurance joins HUB International
Conover Insurance has become part of HUB International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the world. Conover, which has offices in Pasco and Prosser, will operate as Conover Insurance, a division of HUB International Northwest LLC. HUB provides insurance coverage for property and casualty, health and life, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services.
Employing teens this summer? Know the law
The Washington Department of Labor and Industries reminds employers who hire teens for the summer that they must adhere to state law. Employers must have permits and other documents to employ minors and provide meal and rest breaks. Hours and duties may be limited based on the worker’s age as well as the work location. Go to lni.wa.gov.
July 2 is deadline to enter business grant drawing
Small businesses in the Tri-Cities can enter a drawing for grants offered by the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce and Washington River Protection Solutions through 5 p.m. July 2. The partners committed $30,000 in grants to local small businesses through the Small Business Incentive Program. Qualifying applications will be numbered and entered into a drawing, with 300 winners selected at random. Go to tricityregionalchamber.com/ small-business-incentive-program.html.
Fourth of July celebrations are back on
Fireworks are back on at Kennewick’s Columbia Park and Pasco’s Gesa Stadium. Gesa Carousel of Dreams and the city of Kennewick restarted the annual River of Fireworks display after the announcement Washington would reopen fully on July 1 from pandemic-related closures and shutdowns. The annual fireworks display is presented by Gesa Credit Union with support from Toyota of Tri-Cities, Retter & Company | Sotheby’s International Realty, Moon Security and Bruce Inc. It will be free to attend. Fireworks are launched from the Columbia River shoreline in front of the Columbia Park Tri-Plex driving range
starting around 10 p.m. Pasco’s Grand Old 4th of July Celebration includes a family bike ride on July 3 and a host of events on the day itself, culminating with the fireworks display around 10 p.m. Go to pasco-wa.gov.
$800 billion later, SBA shuts down PPP
The U.S. Small Business Administration has closed the Paycheck Protection Program to new loan guarantee applications after providing nearly $800 billion in economic relief to more than 8.5 million businesses and nonprofits. The economic relief program aimed to keep employees on the job during the pandemic. The program was one of eight disaster
A5
relief programs established by Congress during the Covid-19 pandemic. Go to sba.gov/relief.
Kennewick Farmers Market now open
The Downtown Kennewick Farmers Market began its season-long run June 3 and continues 4-7 p.m., Thursdays through October at 204 W. Kennewick Ave. In related news, the market is seeking a manager. Go to historickennewick.org/ work-with-us. The weekly market is organized by the Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership and is sponsored by Washington Trust Bank with Sit Means Sit Dog Training.
A6
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
DATEBOOK JUNE 17
• Columbia Basin Badger Club, “Tiger by the Tail: US - China Relations”: Noon-1:30 p.m. via Zoom. Details at cbbc.clubexpress. com.
JUNE 18
JUNE 23
• Coffee with Karl: 9-10 a.m., webinar with president and CEO of TRIDEC Karl Dye and guest. Facebook.com/tcdevcouncil.
JUNE 21
• Humanities Washington, “Storm Warning: Historic Weather in the Evergreen State”: 3 p.m., virtual meeting. Details at humanities.org/events.
JUNE 22
• Benton County Commission: 9 a.m. Details at co.benton.wa.us/ agenda.aspx. • Port of Kennewick Commission: 2 p.m. Details at portofkennewick.org/commissionmeetings.
• PNNL, “Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship Roundtable”: 9:30 a.m. via Zoom Details at pnnl.gov/events. • Franklin County Commission: 9 a.m. Details at co.franklin.wa.us/ commissioners/meeting.php.
• Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce, “Reopening Washington Virtual Luncheon”: Noon. More information at tricityregionalchamber.com.
JUNE 24
• Port of Pasco Commission: 10:30 a.m. Details at portofpasco. org/about-us/port-commission. • Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce, “Confident Compliance: Internships for Business 101”: 10:30 a.m More information at tricityregionalchamber.com.
JUNE 25
• Coffee with Karl: 9-10 a.m., webinar with president and CEO of TRIDEC Karl Dye and guest. Facebook.com/tcdevcouncil.
JUNE 28-29
• PNNL, “Energy Storage for Social Equity Roundtable”: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. via Zoom Details at pnnl.gov/events.
JUNE 29
• Humanities Washington, “Civil Conversation in an Angry Age”: 6:30 p.m., virtual meeting. Details at humanities.org/events. • Franklin County Commission: 9 a.m. Details at co.franklin.wa.us/ commissioners/meeting.php. • Benton County Commission: 9 a.m. Details at co.benton.wa.us/ agenda.aspx.
JULY 2
Coffee with Karl: 9-10 a.m., webinar with president and CEO
of TRIDEC Karl Dye and guest. Facebook.com/tcdevcouncil.
JULY 6
• Franklin County Commission: 9 a.m. Details at co.franklin.wa.us/ commissioners/meeting.php. • Benton County Commission: 9 a.m. Details at co.benton.wa.us/ agenda.aspx.
JULY 8
• Port of Pasco Commission: 10:30 a.m. Details at portofpasco. org/about-us/port-commission.
JULY 9
• Coffee with Karl: 9-10 a.m., webinar with president and CEO of TRIDEC Karl Dye and guest. Facebook.com/tcdevcouncil.
JULY 13
• Port of Kennewick Commission: 2 p.m. Details at portofkennewick.org/commissionmeetings.
VISIT TCJOURNAL.BIZ AND CLICK ON EVENT CALENDAR FOR MORE EVENTS.
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
OPINION OUR VIEW Our state’s powerhouse ag industry takes center stage in this edition By Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
June always brings a spring to our step at the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business as we explore the state of Washington’s agriculture and viticulture sectors for our annual Focus: Agriculture + Viticulture magazine. Find the standalone magazine inside this edition, along with a host of ag-related stories throughout the paper. We hope you find them as fascinating to read as we did to research, write and edit. Mark Schuster, who runs global manufacturing for Lamb Weston Inc., the frozen fry giant, is featured in our monthly Q&A column. We decided to have a little fun and ask Schuster, who managed Richland’s french fry plant before being promoted to his current post, if he has a favorite fry and a favorite sauce. He does – which you’ll find on page A21. The humble Concord grape tends to get overshadowed by its sexy wine grape cousins. But plenty of Eastern Washington acres produce Concords. Writer Eric Degerman takes a deep dive into the economics of growing Concords and what’s driving growers to convert to organic. People didn’t stop eating during the Covid-19 pandemic, but potatoes, onions, asparagus, cherries, apples and
hundreds of other products grown in our stretch of the Mid-Columbia had to find new ways to travel from farm to fork as consumer and shipping patterns shifted. Consider Washington’s sweet cherries. 2020 was a good year for domestic sales as homebound customers added them to their grocery orders. That worked well for growers because passenger planes that usually ferry cherries to Asian markets weren’t doing much flying. Cherries were not the only thing selling out in 2020. Bored Americans turned to online shopping for relief and managed to disrupt international shipping. A flood of shipping containers bring sneakers, electronics and other goodies to the U.S., then scurry back to Asian ports to pick up the next load without picking up U.S. products for the return trip. The imbalance left American exporters frustrated and demanding Congress provide relief. Despite the challenges, our state and region remain an ag powerhouse, and there’s no better time to reap the benefits with cherry and strawberry season upon us – and peaches, watermelons, apples and grapes not too far behind.
Columbia Basin Badgers seize a ‘Tiger by the Tail’ in June 17 trade forum The United States and China are engaged in what appears to many experts to be a battle for supremacy between the world’s two most powerful economies, perhaps with India as the prize. The Columbia Basin Badger Club’s June Forum: “Tiger by the Tail: U.S.China relations” will offer the perspective of someone who is on the front lines. Literally. Jim Mullinax could be described as an “old Asia hand” in the state department. Until last July, he was our consulgeneral at the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, China. The 35-year-old consulate was ordered closed by the Chinese government in retaliation for the U.S. closing the Chinese Consulate in Houston in a dispute over espionage and theft of intellectual property. At the state department, Mullinax
is currently deputy director of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Office in the Economic Bureau and the Coordinator of Kirk Williamson the Economic Columbia Basin Badger Club Bureau’s China Team. GUEST COLUMN He has spent most of his career in Asia, previously serving in Manila, Philippines; Surabaya, Indonesia; Taipei; Hong Kong; and Shanghai. Prior to his current stateside position, he served as economic counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. uWILLIAMSON, Page A8
A7
Will Washington’s new capital gains tax affect you? On May 4, Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law a new capital gains tax set to take effect Jan. 1, 2022. This law likely will not impact most people (as explained below). But, for some (the lucky?) the impact could be worth attempting to mitigate through planning. The key to this new law is not necessarily the tax for most people, but the exemptions and deductions from the tax. This column explores each in turn.
What is the tax? Starting next year, Washington will impose a 7% tax on capital gains in addition to any other taxes imposed by the federal government. For most people, the federal taxes on capital gains are currently anywhere from 15% to 23.8%. Accordingly, an additional 7% can make the tax as high as 30.8%. To complicate matters further, the Biden administration has proposed raising the federal capital gains tax as well. Because Washington has implemented this tax change and the federal government has simply proposed changes, this column will focus solely on Washington. Still, it’s worth keeping these potential federal changes in the back of your mind. Will I have to file a tax return? Yes, taxpayers owing tax under this the new law will have to file a return with the state Department of Revenue. The exact form has not been published yet.
Does it only tax long-term capital gains? Yes. Shortterm capital gains are not Beau Ruff taxed under Cornerstone this law. This Wealth Strategies presents a GUEST COLUMN scenario where the long-term capital gains tax rate can be higher than the ordinary income tax rate and perhaps prompt more short-term trades. As a reminder, long term means the asset is held longer than one year. What capital gains are excluded? Lots. The Washington capital gains tax does not apply to some big potential sources of capital gains. Notably, it does not apply to real estate sales and retirement accounts. The list of excluded gains includes another seven items, but the list gets a little too specific to apply generally to most taxpayers. For example, goodwill received from the sale of an auto dealership is exempted. What deductions are available? There are two big deductions available that will wipe out (in this columuRUFF, Page A12
Hydropower will anchor Washington’s energy future Although New Zealand and Washington are located a half a world apart, they have lots in common – beautiful seashores, majestic mountains, clear streams and lakes, and vibrant salmon and trout fisheries. Both are struggling to rid their air sheds of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases coming from the burning of carbon fuels (coal, natural gas, gasoline and diesel) in vehicles, home heating and electric power generation. New Zealand and Washington share the goal of becoming carbonneutral by 2050. The good news is both are endowed with lots of hydropower. Renewable, greenhouse gas-free power facilities account for over 80% of their electricity with the vast majority generated by falling water.
SHARE-SQUARE Submit a letter to the editor at tcjournal.biz.com
Don C. Brunell Business analyst
GUEST COLUMN
While each produce wind and solar energy, New Zealand receives 17% from geothermal wells, and Washington’s nuclear energy plant at Hanford provides 7% of our state’s
electricity. As both struggle to rid themselves of natural gas and coal power plants and gas- and diesel-propelled vehicles, the demand for electricity keeps accelerating. While Washington and New Zealand
uBRUNELL, Page A8
A8
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
BRUNELL, From page A7 are pushing hard to expand wind and solar farms, those sources are intermittent and depend upon daylight and wind. Battery storage technology is rapidly advancing, but the bottom line is wind and solar need to be augmented with hydro, nuclear, natural gas and coal. The greatest demand for additional electricity comes from electric vehicles (EV). Plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles accounted for more than 1 in 10 vehicle registrations in 2020, up from 1 in 30 in 2019. The International Energy Agency predicts that by 2030, there will be 125 million electric vehicles worldwide and many governments want every car and van to be zero emission by 2050.
The switch from gas-powered to electric also puts a strain on the environment. For every car on our roads to be zero emission by 2050, it will require nearly double the current total of annual world cobalt production, a 75% increase of the lithium output, and at least a 50% spike in the world’s copper mining and smelting. Currently, electric cars rely on lithium and cobalt batteries to run, which will undoubtedly be better for the environment than carbon. However, they aren’t entirely clean to produce and cobalt, in particular, is in short supply and brings challenges. “(T)he mining of cobalt is fraught with political issues. Sixty percent of cobalt comes from the Democratic
Republic of Congo where children as young as 7 years old are mining it. The mining process also causes terrible pollution in local rivers,” Renewable Energy World (REW) reported this spring. “Lithium deposits are also located near some of the most sensitive ecosystems in the world – The Amur River, on the border of Russia and China, the Andes Mountains (Chile) and the Salt Flats in Bolivia. Deforestation, water shortages and toxic leaks are unfortunately a devastating consequence of lithium mining,” REW added. As Washington and New Zealand push to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbonneutrality, they must do three things. First, they need to continue to modernize and improve hydro and nuclear
power to make both more efficient and productive, safer and more environmentally friendly. Second, they must not eliminate carbon-based fuels such as natural gas, coal and biomass without suitable reliable and proven replacements. Rather, they need to continue improve the efficiency of those plants and invest in research and development to further reduce pollutants. Finally, the strategy must be diversified energy sources to ensure that if one system goes down, there are replacements available. We need to remember that if it weren’t for coal and nuclear during last winter’s deep freeze in Texas, the entire electrical grid would have collapsed. That would have been catastrophic. Don C. Brunell is a business analyst, writer and columnist. He retired as president of the Association of Washington Business, the state’s oldest and largest business organization, and now lives in Vancouver. He can be contacted at theBrunells@msn.com.
WILLIAMSON, From page A7 “Tiger by the Tail: U.S.-China relations” begins at noon June 17. Attendees will be able to submit questions to Mullinax using Zoom’s Q&A box. All Badger Forums are presented on Zoom. To register, go to columbiabasinbadgers.com. Non-members pay $5; members pay nothing. Next up for the Badger Club on July 15 is a closeup look at immigration – legal and otherwise – and its impact on Benton and Franklin counties. Our speakers will be Congressman Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, immigration attorney Eamon Roach and Ivone Guillen of the Broetje Family Trust. Kirk Williamson is a founding member of the Badger Club. He currently serves as its president.
Connect with us! /tcajob /tcajob /company/tcajob
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
A9
A10
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
A11
L&I focuses on farm safety with new enforcement team
Nominate rising stars for 14th annual Young Professionals contest
By Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
By Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
The Washington state Department of Labor & Industries is focusing on worker safety on farms with the launch of a new 16-member inspection team. The Agriculture Compliance Unit includes 13 inspectors who will visit work sites and investigate complaints about compliance with workplace safety requirements for farms. The team also includes three people who will provide education and outreach to employers and employees. The team is led by Steve Yunker, a longtime safety expert for the state agency. It is expected to be in place by the end of the 2021 growing and harvest season. “The health and safety of workers is precious and must never be taken lightly,” said Craig Blackwood, acting assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). “We’ve made real strides toward improving safety in the agriculture industry in our state, but there’s a lot of work ahead. This new team will take our efforts to the next level.” Funding was approved in the state budget signed in May by Gov. Jay Inslee. The team reflects an increase in fatalities in 2020, an industry L&I called one of the “largest and most dangerous” on Washington. Workers operate heavy machinery and work with chemicals, live-
Learn more about the state of Washington’s agriculture and viticulture industries in the annual Focus: Agriculture + Viticulture magazine inserted into the June edition of the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business.
stock and in contained spaces such as silos. They also are exposed to inclement weather, noise and dust. L&I conducted 433 agriculture inspections in 2020 and cited employers for more than 500 violations. There were 14 farmworker fatalities in 2020, four more than 2019. Three fatalities were caused by Covid-19. The rest were the result of tractor rollovers and machinery-related incidents that L&I said could have been prevented. The team will work on a statewide basis rather than by region. “Having inspectors who are laser-focused on farming should go a long way toward saving lives, preventing injuries and decreasing lost labor time,” Blackwood said. L&I offers free resources to ensure compliance, including its WISHA 10 for Agriculture training and confidential, nofee advising. Go to lni.wa.gov.
The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business is accepting applications for its 14th annual Young Professionals contest. The annual program honors local professionals 40 and under for their professional and civic accomplishments. Since the program debuted, 112 exceptional young Tri-Citians in a diverse array of occupations have been recognized as the rising stars of the local business community. The nomination deadline is July 2. Candidates may nominate themselves or be nominated by their employers, friends or family. The judges include community members, former winners and the editors of the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. Candidates will be evaluated based on their career accomplishments and for their work to make the community better. The winners will be featured in our annual Young Professionals publication, which will be inserted into the August edition of the Journal of Business.
This is a month earlier than in the past, so don’t delay. Send in those nominations now. Go to tcjournal.biz/yp for nomination forms. Whether you’re nominating yourself or someone else, please be thorough since the application will form the basis for scrutinizing the nominees. The 2020 winners were Cinthia Alvarez Lucatero (Columbia Basin College), Brian Campbell (Campbell & Co.), Elizabeth McLaughlin (Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation), Neilan McPartland (Numerica Credit Union), Francisco Mendoza (Meier Architecture Engineering), Shelby Moore (Heartlinks Hospice & Palliative Care), Flavien Sawadogo (MMEC Architecture & Interiors), Dr. Jessica Schneider (Empowered Health Institute), Tracy Spooner (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) and Justin Toner (Basin Pacific Insurance and Benefits). Learn more about the most recent crop of honorees at tcjournal.biz/yp.
A12
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
uBUSINESS BRIEFS Cancer center tackles fear of recurrence June 25
The Kadlec Tri-Cities Cancer Center will address how cancer survivors can manage fears it will return with a virtual session from 3-4 p.m. June 25. The Fear of Recurrence session features Robb Dye, a licensed clinical social worker at the Portneuf Cancer Center in Pocatello, Idaho, and is being held in conjunction with National Cancer Survivor Month in June. The session will introduce four survivors who will share their unique experiences and the methods they used to manage the normal fears that follow treatment. The program is free but registration
is required. Call 509-737-3483 for more details. Go to tinyurl.com/survivorsevent.
Therapeutic riding center opens
Happy Trails Sensory Course, a fivestation motor sensory course for participants in Therapeutic Riding of Tri-Cities, opened with a dedication held in early June. TROT is a nonprofit that provides specialized programs such as adaptive horseback riding for children and adults with mental and physical challenges. The course, at 104 E. 41st Place, Kennewick, is a partnership between TROT and Leadership Tri-Cities. Go to trot3cities.org.
Golf tourney benefits Prosser Memorial
The Prosser Memorial Health Foundation holds its first-ever Wine Country Classic Charity Golf Tournament with a start time of 9 a.m. Sept. 10 at Black Rock Creek Golf Course in Sunnyside. Proceeds benefit Prosser Memorial Health programs. Golfers can register in teams of two or four with single players welcome as well. The entry fee ($200 for singles, $250 for twosomes and $500 for foursomes) includes a day of golf, lunch and prizes. Sponsors are welcome as well. Go to www.prosserhealth.foundation or email foundation@prosserhealth.org.
RUFF, From page A7
nist’s opinion) the tax liability for most people. First, there is a standard deduction of $250,000 (same for couples or individuals) against the taxpayer’s capital gains. Thus, if the taxpayer realizes $200,000 of capital gains, that amount is less than the deduction and therefore the taxpayer would not owe any Washington longterm capital gains tax. The second deduction applies to capital gains attributable to the sale of a qualified family-owned small business. To qualify, the family-owned small business must have worldwide gross revenue of $10 million or less in the 12-month period immediately preceding the sale. There is another deduction for charitable giving, but it appears rather muted. A taxpayer can obtain up to an additional $100,000 deduction against the Washington capital gains tax, but to achieve that deduction the taxpayer must effectively give $350,000 to a Washington-based charity. For example, if a taxpayer has $400,000 of qualifying long-term capital gains, to maximize the charitable deduction the taxpayer would have to give away $350,000 to a Washington charity. Then, the taxpayer would still be left with an approximate capital gains tax of $3,500 ($400K minus standard deduction of $250K and minus the charitable deduction of $100K multiplied by 7%).
Will the law survive? At least one lawsuit has been filed to challenge the new law. Additionally, a voter initiative could be on the ballot this fall to overturn the new tax. But, for now, it is the law of the land. Bottom line As a person starts to anticipate his or her individual potential liability, they must look both at what gains are excluded and the deductions available. As the average person looks to his or her holdings and related gains triggering events, I believe most people will be delighted to see that the new tax likely will not apply to them. Indeed, the Washington Department of Revenue estimates that by 2023, only 8,000 taxpayers would be subject to the tax out of a state population of more than 7.6 million. (See Office of Financial Management, 5096 S SB Multiple Agency Fiscal Note Summary.) By my calculation, that is less than 1/10th of 1% of Washingtonians. As stated above, for the vast majority of us, this new tax will simply not apply. Beau Ruff, a licensed attorney, is the director of planning at Cornerstone Wealth Strategies, a full-service independent investment management and financial planning firm in Kennewick.
Support your community Support local business
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING
A13
Pasco Machine prepares next-generation workforce for next 100 years By Kristina Lord
publisher@tcjournal.biz
A 100-year-old Pasco company is charting a course to ensure it can navigate another century by making a significant investment in its future workforce as manufacturers nationwide struggle to find qualified workers. Pasco Machine launched an on-site apprenticeship program this year to train its next generation of craftsmen. Jason Story bought the business, in downtown Pasco about a block from the Pasco Farmers Market, from his father 15 years ago, though he was a partner along with his dad and a previous owner for several years. “We’re the fourth family to own it,” said Story, who has worked there for 29 years. It’s still a family affair. His son is enrolled in the apprenticeship program, and his daughter is the pump shop office assistant. A nephew and second cousin also work there. “My dad built a good foundation in the sense that he was adamant about service – service, service, service. We’ve lived on that. And I feel like we’ve been blessed,” Story said.
Diversifying Over the years, Story, a trained machinist, has done most of the jobs at the shop, with the exception of accounting. “But we were a lot smaller then,” he said. Pasco Machine employs 50 people, 32 of whom are craftsmen. When Story took over the business, there were 10. Story, 49, didn’t plan on joining the family business as a teen. The Pasco High graduate wanted to make his own way in the world. “It was a dark, dingy, old nasty shop. It wasn’t very appealing back then,” he said. He started as a floor sweeper. It’s how a lot of employees get their start, including his kids. They sweep the floors, make deliveries and help with odd jobs.
Courtesy Pasco Machine Fabrication and welding are among the many services offered at Pasco Machine’s 20,000-square-foot facility at 518 W. Columbia St. in downtown Pasco.
Those who prove to be hard workers and good with their hands are the ones Story wants for the apprenticeship program. Over time, Story transformed “the full manual shop with OK machinery” into a diversified manufacturing and repair shop by adding new equipment, lighting and air conditioning and improved safety procedures. “I just wanted to be – simply put – the best machine shop around,” he said. “I knew we had to put money into the company to do it.” Adding specialized equipment, like a water jet and computer numerical control (CNC) machines, helped Pasco Machine
become more diversified. They offer a variety of manufacturing (reverse engineering or refabricating parts) and repair (pumps, conveyor assemblies, food processing equipment) services and stock a variety of materials. General manager Rick Perez said being vertically integrated to serve their customers is key to success. He joined the company three years ago, bringing 28 years of experience in the food processing industry, including about a dozen years at Lamb Weston and stints at other familyowned companies. “Our game plan is to progress with our customers. We want to streamline our processes. We want to be vertically
integrated. We have a water jet, we have a pump shop, a turbine and machine shop, CNCs – that’s vertically integrated. Being vertically integrated, as well as a vision to streamline what we’re doing, makes us a unique, strong competitor,” Perez said. The shop also manufactures parts wineries need and keeps them stocked, said Austin Chapin, territory sales manager. “Winery parts are hard to get,” he said. Pasco Machine’s primary customers are food processors. “30% of our work is pump related; 70% is machine work and fabrication,” Story said. One of its biggest customers is Lamb
uPASCO MACHINE, Page A14
A14
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING PASCO MACHINE, From page A13 Weston. Jim Kirkham, plant manager for Lamb Weston Pasco, called Pasco Machine an excellent partner the company has come to rely on for more than 30 years to support its maintenance craft departments. “One of their specialties is in designing and fabricating new components for our equipment. They are one of the few vendors we do business with that can service our plant needs 24/7,” Kirkham said. Pasco Machine staffs a rotating on-call team to serve customers around the clock. Team members get compensated well for being on call, carrying a company phone and being available to their customers, Story said. “We’re an emergency room for these people. Their sense of urgency becomes our sense of urgency,” he said. Kirkham also complimented the machine shop’s work quality and service speed. He said Lamb Weston has worked with the shop to redesign mechanical components that historically have high failure rates. “We have seen significant improvements with these efforts due to often Pasco Machinery’s creative solutions. Pasco Machine has and will continue to be a key partner in our business success,” he said.
Photo by Kristina Lord
Jason Story, owner of Pasco Machine, stands underneath his machine shop’s current sign while holding a much older one from the company’s earlier days. The business celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
Future workforce Manufacturers nationwide continue to struggle to fill critical jobs. As many as 2.1 million manufacturing jobs will be unfilled through 2030, according to a recent report published by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute. The cost of those missing jobs could potentially total $1 trillion in 2030 alone. It has been clear to Pasco Machine that it needed to find its future workforce from within. “The reason why the school started is because we could not find the craftspeople to do the job,” said Kelly Davenport, a territory sales manager who’s been with the company for more than two decades. Employees fresh from trade schools often can’t do the manual aspects of the job, Story said. “Without this school, I almost feel like there’s no next generation. Because what they’re teaching in schools now, it’s all computerized. While we’re computerized, a big piece of our work is still manual. And there’s always going to be a need for that,” he said. Tom Nix, a longtime Pasco Machine employee, runs the school and helped develop the curriculum. The school enrolls five students, including Story’s son Spencer. Students get paid to go to school, and they’re ensured a job after successfully completing the program. “We build them the Pasco Machine way,” Davenport said. “You know how hard it is to instill a sense of urgency in
uPASCO MACHINE, Page A15
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING
A15
50 GUNNERS is a networking group of local, trusted industry leaders who provide outstanding services and quality products.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT SANDY LANG Olin Homes olinhomes.com (509) 727-0213
Photo by Kristina Lord Students attending Pasco Machine’s school get hands-on practice during a recent class.
Building the American Dream Since 1962.
PASCO MACHINE, From page A14 people? It’s hard. We’re doing that from the ground up.” The company has made it a priority. “It’s been a six-figure investment in the last eight months,” Perez said. “A deep six-figure investment,” Story said. The school launched in February, though planning for much of it happened the year prior. “Here we study out of a book, but probably 80% of your instruction is hands on, on a machine,” Perez said. It’s also a classroom with a classic rock soundtrack, with “Bad to the Bone” blasting from the shop speakers on a recent day. In addition to bolstering its younger workforce, Pasco Machine recently sent a dozen people through a leadership training program. The work makes for a rewarding career, as no two days are the same, Story said. He’s proud of the benefits package the company offers, pointing to its “awesome
“Without this school, I almost feel like there’s no next generation.”
retirement program.” “It’s our goal if someone starts their career and finishes it here, they’re going to retire someday and they’re going to live just fine,” Story said.
Next 100 years Story’s goal is to set the company up for solid, sustainable growth “so it will transition on.” “Succession is big for us – setting the groundwork for a successful future for the younger people who are here. It’s never too early to start thinking that way. “We do want it to go for another 100 years. We want to be the best,” he said.
Sandra Lopez Tri-City Dental Care Andrea Poulson RAZR Restoration Zane Lane Smooth Moves, LLC Tonya Callies Windermere Group One Frank Prior 1st Priority Detail
KIM PALMER Perfection Tire
perfectiontire.com (509) 735-8330 Automotive and tire repair.
-Jason Story, owner, Pasco Machine
ADDITIONAL MEMBERS
George Hefter TCT Computer Solutions Tim Rosenthal Perfection Glass Robert Burges Burges Carpet Cleaning Justin Dodd Dayco Heating and Air
JEFF SPERLINE Sperline Raekes Law
srlaw.net (509) 783-6633 Personal injury and business law.
TIFFANY LUNDSTROM Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business tcjournal.biz (509) 947-1712 Business news and Senior Times publications.
David Fritch The Kenmore Team Mike Miller Miller Electrical Michael McKinney Riverside Collision Cindy Sams AAA of Washington Stephanie Brooks Body Compass Massage Jennie Oldham Kennewick Flower Shop Tim Mether Kestrel Home Inspection Services Jose Vasquez Swanky Lawn Care LLC
JIM CAREY Cruise Holidays
jimcareycruises.com (509) 628-9555 Cruise vacation planning.
Elsie Leman The UPS Store (Pasco) Kristi Kesler Hot Solar Solutions Cris King 4 Kings Construction Dawn King Spectrum Reach
TOM STRIDE Tritan Plumbing (509) 438-2214
Plumbing services and repairs.
Michael Thorn Cliff Thorn Construction Joe Klein McCurley Integrity Auto Dealerships Allyson Rawlings Rawlings Flooring America & Design
50gunners.com
A16
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
A17
A18
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING
A19
Manufacturing in the greater Tri-Cities is solid but hardly diversified $120,000
$100,000
$80,000
$60,000
$40,000
$20,000
19 20
18 20
17 20
16 20
15 20
14 20
13
12
20
20
11
10
20
20
09
08
20
20
07
06
20
20
05 20
04
$0
20
“new money” to the area. It won’t surprise anybody to learn that manufacturing here is firmly anchored by agricultural processing. D. Patrick Jones From 2019 Eastern data, we know Washington that about 5,790 University workers punched GUEST COLUMN a clock at agricultural processing plants. That represented 70% of all manufacturing jobs in the two counties. In no other Eastern Washington metro areas did agricultural processing loom so large among manufacturing activities. The closest was Grant County, at 48%. Agricultural processing in Yakima County took up 40% of all manufacturing jobs. Significantly, over the past decade, agricultural processing has become a bit more important, as it made up 68% of all manufacturing jobs in 2010. The predominance of agriculture in the manufacturing mix here is understandable, given the bounty of field crops, animal husbandry, orchards and vines in the two counties. It is good that much of this bounty doesn’t leave the area at the farm gate. Think of potatoes becoming french fries, grapes becoming wine, fresh beans becoming frozen ones. At a certain point of concentration, however, a worry about diversification starts to creep in. Modern portfolio theory and common sense point toward an optimal mix of activities where one sector doesn’t completely dominate. It’s a risk reduction strategy, although it appears unlikely that the foods produced here will not fall out of favor anytime soon. From a longer-term perspective, it strikes this observer that the growth of other manufacturing industries
Average Annual Wage
Unique among nearly all Eastern Washington population centers, the greater Tri-City manufacturing sector doesn’t land in the top five sectors. By headcount, it usually ranks fifth in Eastern Washington. Should we be worried? Perhaps. Perhaps not. One reason for the difference from neighboring economies lies in the presence a large sector known as Administrative & Waste Services. Benton-Franklin Tends data shows slightly more than 9% of the workforce in the two counties fell into this sector in 2019, the most recent full year of data, placing it fifth. Its share of the Benton County workforce was considerably higher, at 11.4%. This category refers to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford cleanup work. A major argument made for manufacturing rests in the wages it pays. They are typically quite high. But in the Tri-Cities, as Trends data reveals, the highest paying of the largest five sectors, by headcount, is Administrative & Waste Services. Its 2019 average annual wage was nearly $78,000. This result places it far higher than the next-ranked of the top five sectors, government. The displacement of manufacturing by this sector isn’t a bad problem to have. Especially since manufacturing wages here are considerably below those of Administrative & Waste Services: about $59,000 in Benton County and $45,500 in Franklin in 2019. These results are only slightly above the annual average for that year for the entire economy, according to Trends data. On the other hand, manufacturing claims the virtue, along with tourist-based activities, as a complete exporter, here defined as shipping product beyond the borders of the two counties. Very little manufactured products in the Tri-Cities stay in the Tri-Cities. As an exporter, manufacturing’s revenues come entirely from outside the area. Put differently, its revenues represent
Benton & Franklin Counties - Health Care and Social Assistance Benton & Franklin Counties - Agriculture Benton & Franklin Counties - Retail Trade Benton & Franklin Counties - Government Benton & Franklin Counties - Admin & Waste Services Washington State - Manufacturing
Courtesy Benton-Franklin Trends
will help reduce risk. And perhaps raise manufacturing wages. What might these be? If we follow the strategy of building on existing industries, they could be electronic device and fabricated metal manufacturing jobs in Benton County. On the east side of the Columbia River, they could be jobs based on nonmetal mineral production. Of course, others might enter the mix via recruitment of new industries to the two counties. Perhaps some of the coveted “advanced manufacturing” firms might show on the banks of either county. Recruiting manufacturing plants is hardly easy. But it does happen, and the U.S. Southwest has, according to recent coverage in the Wall Street Journal, captured 30% of recent manufacturing jobs created in the entire country. Automobile assembly, computer chip fabrication and medical devices have all recently appeared on the manufacturing scene in the states of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Proximity to California doesn’t hurt. Nor does the cocktail of state and local
incentives these states pour out to potential investors. But workforce matters and to this observer, the greater Tri-Cities can tout its labor. Cost of living likely is just as competitive here as in the Southwest. And cities there can’t claim a leg up on Benton and Franklin counties when it comes to annual days of sunshine. I’m not suggesting that diversifying the manufacturing base will be easy. But I hope it will become a point of conversation here. The reshoring phenomenon of U.S. manufacturing is happening. Supply chains will become shorter. How can the greater Tri-Cities contribute to and profit from these positive developments? D. Patrick Jones is the executive director for Eastern Washington University’s Institute for Public Policy & Economic Analysis. Benton-Franklin Trends, the institute’s project, uses local, state and federal data to measure the local economic, educational and civic life of Benton and Franklin counties.
A20
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING
Manufacturing, technology sectors provide solid foundation beyond pandemic The coronavirus pandemic has shown us how easy it is to take things for granted. Family barbecues, baseball games and kids going to school are just a few examples. As some of our old way of life comes back, it’s worth noting another thing that’s easy to take for granted: Washington’s strong manufacturing and technology sectors. A new AWB report shows how these two areas provide a reliable foundation for our state’s overall success, from great paying jobs to billions in state revenue. As state and federal lawmakers work to help us bounce back from Covid-19, it’s critical to support policies
that help these sectors thrive. Manufacturing alone employed more than 300,000 workers in 2019, which Kris Johnson is 9% of the Association of state’s nonfarm Washington workforce, the Business report by High GUEST COLUMN Peak Strategy shows. These jobs pay well, with average wages of more than $81,000 per year. And these jobs are located in every
county in Washington, highlighting that manufacturing is vital and alive in the state The employers that support these jobs are often small family businesses that anchor our communities. Vaagen Timber makes cross-laminated timber products in Colville. Spokane’s Hotstart Thermal Management designs and manufactures engine heating systems and other products. Callisons in Lacey is a leading supplier of mint oils and flavors. And SEA-LECT Plastics in Everett is an injection molding manufacturer with a strong apprenticeship program. The report also shows that technology is a quickly growing sector with
Summer time is just around the corne
r
has you covered!
more than 276,000 workers in 2019. And there are 12 Washington counties with at least a thousand technology workers. These industries are critical for state revenues as well. Manufacturing and technology accounted for more than $6 billion in direct and secondary tax payments to the state budget in 2019. That’s about half of what our state spends on public education in a year, and more than twice what we spend on higher education. And these industries undoubtedly helped maintain Washington’s state budget over the past year. A recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that Washington is No. 1 among 50 states in terms of revenue growth since the start of the pandemic. Let’s not take this for granted. And let’s focus our energy on creating the right conditions so all employers can succeed and create jobs. This means infrastructure to get goods to market and workers to their jobs, virtually or in-person. Workforce training, support for small businesses, expanding broadband availability, regulatory reform, and keeping our state competitive are also high on the list. As vaccinations increase and we emerge from our Covid lockdowns, let’s remember that Washington’s manufacturing and technology sectors continue to provide a solid foundation for our future success. And we look forward to building on that foundation by helping Washington meet the state’s new goal of doubling the number of manufacturing jobs by 2031. Kris Johnson is president of the Association of Washington Business, the state’s chamber of commerce and manufacturers association.
uBUSINESS BRIEF Vit plant completes first commissioning test
Our $59 AC tuneup provides peace of mind and cool comfort all summer long!
Call 509-586-7613
to make your appointment today!
A-ONE REFRIGERATION & HEATING, INC. 910 N. 20th Avenue | Pasco, WA 99301 service@aonerefrigeration.com Lic. # AONERHI125M5
Treating low-activity waste at Hanford is a step closer after the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, known as the vit plant, team completed the first commissioning test associated with the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste Facility, or DFLAW. The test involved one of the 37 remoteoperated cranes inside the facility and was the first for any system. The test proved that a bridge crane can reach components and lifting points of the six vessels used in the process that will immobilize liquid tank waste in glass form, aka vitrification. Follow the vitrification story at the Journey to Melter Heatup website, melterheatup.hanfordvitplant.com.
No paywall at
tcjournal.biz
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING
Q&A Employees you oversee: 5,000 What is your current role? How long have you been in it? Where are you based? Where do you spend most of your time? My current role is to lead global manufacturing and global engineering for Lamb Weston. We currently have 15 facilities in North America and four international facilities (located in China, Argentina, and two in Australia). I moved into this role about a year ago and am located out of our Supply Chain corporate office in Kennewick, but I do travel to our different locations throughout the year. What is Lamb Weston and what is its footprint in the Tri-Cities? Lamb Weston is one of the world’s largest suppliers of frozen potato products. We make about every kind of potato product you can think of: french fries of all different cut styles, sizes and flavors, hash brown patties, shredded hash browns, roundabouts, roasted and mashed potatoes. We also have our own farm, dairy, frozen warehouse, packaging center and vegetable production facility. Our products are served in over 100 different countries in sit-down restaurants, drive-thru chains and in homes with our retail brands. We have a strong presence in the Tri-Cities with two potato production facilities (Richland, Pasco), a batter facility (Pasco), Technical Center (Richland), Innovation Center (Richland) and our Supply Chain, Engineering and Ag Services headquarters (Kennewick). Lamb Weston employs 1,900 people in the Tri-Cities. Why should people in the Tri-Cities care about food processing and frozen potatoes? Our products have a large economic impact in the area, all the way from the potatoes the local farmers grow, the ingredients and materials we use, transportation, warehousing and our great employees. The products we make right here are
MARK SCHUSTER VP Global Manufacturing Lamb Weston
enjoyed by people all over the United States and the world. What is one characteristic that you believe every leader should possess? A leader needs to support, trust and believe in their team. The power of a team that is operating in a good culture of support is amazing. What is the biggest challenge facing business owners/managers today? Would that have been your answer prior to the Covid-19 pandemic? The ability to react to change. The pandemic certainly has thrown a lot of changes our way, some with very little notice. That is when the team really shines as they use their skill and passion to solve problems for our customers. Before the pandemic this would have been the same answer, but with different types of changes that were coming our way. One thing that hasn’t changed is those businesses that can adapt and thrive during change will be successful. If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your industry? One thing that has come from the pandemic is more people are aware of what a supply chain is. It is a complicated process that starts with a raw material that produces a finished good that ends up with in the hands of a customer. When there are interruptions to that process you can end up with shortages of the goods that you want to buy. My hope is that this visibility will continue to drive continuous improvement in the industry’s supply chain and encourage people to pursue careers in the food manufacturing business. What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time? There is an old phrase that states “people are born a leader,” I actually disagree with that. Whether you are a new or experienced leader, you must work hard at it. That means you are always learning from other leaders around you, which does not mean they have a title but
rather they act like a leader. You also need to learn about leadership from reading books, talking to people and self-reflecting to learn from your leadership successes and opportunities. Who are your role models or mentors? It started with my parents and grandparents that gave me early life leadership lessons. As I entered the workforce with Lamb Weston, I found some of my best role models were the team that works on the equipment. They know that equipment and process better than anyone, and they know how to work as a team across different departments. This was a great start to my leadership journey with Lamb Weston. How do you keep your team members motivated? I like to keep a positive and creative environment. The work is hard, and the team puts out great effort every day, so we make sure to pause and celebrate success. We also like to have fun and be creative as we look forward with our continuous improvement mindset. How did you decide to pursue the career that you are working in today? I was a business major from Washington State University, and after graduation I was looking to join a Tri-City company. At the time I knew very little about food manufacturing and the global scale and opportunities it has. But I knew Lamb Weston was a well-established company that had a great reputation, and when offered a position in operations, I decided it would be a great place to start a career. Over my 25 years with the company, it has enabled me many opportunities in
Office Furniture • Supplies Large Format Printing Space Planning • And More!
Shop online at www.brutzmans.com 509-735-0300 2501 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Richland, Washington
A21
Modernizing Tri-City workplaces since 1946
Mark Schuster
different departments, including moving to Inner Mongolia, China, with my family to start up our first international plant. How do you measure success in your workplace? We always start with the safety of our people, that is the first thing we talk about because nothing is more important than that. We then talk about the quality of our products, to make sure we are servicing uSCHUSTER, Page A22
A22
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING SCHUSTER, From page A21 our customers the right way. We then look at the efficiency and costs of our facilities and use a zero-loss mentality to find where our opportunities are.
Courtesy Lamb Weston Mark Schuster runs Lamb Weston Inc.’s global french fry manufacturing operations, so he knows a thing or two about french fries. This waffle-cut, skinon beauty is his favorite.
What do you consider your leadership style to be? I would consider my style to be positive and collaborative. Growing up playing sports gave me a great foundation of team and the impact a positive environment can have. That sense of team and family is what drew me to Lamb Weston, and it is what has kept me there for my entire career.
How do you balance work and family life? I really work to keep my evenings open so I can be very engaged in family activities. One way I do that is I am an early riser, so sometimes when extra work needs to be done, I can do that in the mornings before everyone else wakes up. This has enabled me to be very involved in whatever my kids are doing. What do you like to do when you are not at work? I love to watch, coach and cheer on any activity my kids are doing. We spend a lot of time around sporting events and we love it. I am also very active with Washington State University which includes as a fan watching games, helping put on events for the Cougar Athletic Fund, or as a board member of the WSU Alumni Association. Go Cougs! What’s your best time management strategy? Organization is key for me, and I find it helps me stay focused on the right things. I have found different tools and techniques to help keep both my shortand long-term projects on track. Best tip to relieve stress? A phrase we have used many times during the pandemic is to “control what you can control.” This keeps your focus and attention on what you, and the team, can directly act on and have a positive impact. This helps reduce the stress that can come from things you have no control over. What’s your favorite book? A book I read many years ago, and have read it several times since is “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard,” by Chip and Dan Heath. It is about leading change and how to get it to stick. I had a mentor tell me about their strategy of reading the same impactful book every couple years to remind yourself of the lessons and to reflect on them in your current situation. I have found that to be impactful advice with this book, as it has been helpful to read the book again and apply it to my current situation. Do you have a personal mantra, phrase or quote you like to use? For years I have used a phrase from a safety program: “Work safe. Home safe.” It is a simple but effective way to remind us all why we want everyone to work safe every day. We all have reasons and people that are waiting for us at home, and that is why we must always look out for ourselves and each other every day. Waffle, curly, straight, wedge, crinkle or dipper? Ketchup or Catsup? Ranch – yes or no? I joke that I haven’t met a fry I didn’t like during the 25 years of my career. But if I have to narrow it down to one, I like a skin-on waffle-cut fry. It has great potato flavor in a unique shape. They are so good that no sauces are needed, but if you decide to dip, they are perfect for picking up the flavors of your favorite sauce, which would be ranch for me.
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING
A23
Manufacturing shortages show there are no safe harbors The past year and a half has not failed to provide society with various crash courses on industry and science. During March and April 2020, our first lesson was on the unreliability of lean supply chains during the Great Toilet Paper Shortage. It seems appropriate that we have now come full circle with a lesson on the difficulties of bringing supply chains back online with a rapidly opening economy. Supply chain management is not intuitive at first glance. My first interaction with the science was back in the day when I was watching reports on infantry-fighting vehicle manufacturing in Pennsylvania. The Obama administration was discussing cuts to the military budget, and vehicle production was on the chopping block. What caught my attention was the facility owner explaining that the long-run costs of shutting down the plant could be greater than the shortterm savings. Sidestepping the manufacturer’s natural interest in continuing production of Bradley fighting vehicles. This caught my attention – the idea of losses being better than savings. Sounds like absolute insanity to financial planners. But it is true! In the short run (however you define it), it may make more sense for a business to continue production so long as its average revenue for a product is greater than its marginal cost. For a nation, this means it is often more efficient to let military manufacturing continue during peacetime than it is to re-create industries from scratch during wartime. This brings us to today’s manufacturing shortages. For starters, the term “shortage” is probably more headline-grabbing than necessary. When I order books from Amazon and then cancel my order, I don’t proclaim I have a shortage of novels when I finally realize I want to read something new. Similarly, the current scarcity in everything from semiconductors to lumber has more to do with poor industry demand forecasts than the perceived resource scarcity a word like “shortage” conjures up. In an entire article on the challenges
Have an event coming up? Submit to: bit.ly/tcjournalevents
of a microchip shortage in the car manufacturing industry, the Wall Street Journal only devoted a single sentence to the Nicholas Haberling fact automakers Community First canceled microBank & HFG Trust chip orders early GUEST COLUMN in the pandemic because they didn’t expect demand to pick up so quickly. Auto manufacturers, lumber mills
and other industries didn’t heed the advice of our Bradley fighting vehicle manufacturer: don’t interrupt the supply chain. However, I don’t think we can blame manufacturers for that decision. We all operate in a world of uncertainty, and few could have imagined (or committed to investing the tens of millions of dollars necessary) that within the first year of a global pandemic we would have multiple vaccines and an opening economy. Columnist George Will often says, “There are no safe harbors in politics.” As a society we have quickly learned
there are no safe harbors when it comes to economics and decision making, only tradeoffs. With that in mind, I don’t think we are in the worst of all possible harbors. I much prefer the harbor of vaccines, temporary manufacturing shortages and (hopefully) transitory inflation to the harbor of two- to three-year lockdowns that the manufacturers predicted. Nicholas Haberling is a partnership advisor for Community First Bank | HFG Trust in Kennewick.
Internet at light speed Make your business more productive and profitable with faster, more reliable internet. 503.294.5300 | lsnetworks.net
A24
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING
ISORAY, From page A1 the vanguard. “It is very personalized. We can personalize to exactly what the doctor wants for that particular patient and that particular cancer,” Woods said. The company holds four U.S. patents that cover the process of making Celsium-131, making it the world’s only manufacturer. It touts Cesium-131 for its one-two cancer-killing combination of high energy and a short half-life. Cesium-131 hits cancer cells harder and dissipates faster than rival isotopes such as Iodine-125, the company said. Cesium-131 has a 9.7-day half-life, delivers 90% of its the dose in 33 days and is undetectable in the body after 97 days. In contrast, Iodine-125 has a 60day half-life, takes 204 days to reach 90% of the dose and is undetectable in the body after 600 days, according to a May presentation to investors. Oncologists like brachytherapy because they can deliver higher doses to the cancer site than they can with external beam radiation. “We use it all the time in prostate cancer,” said Dr. Sherry Zhao, a radiation oncologist at the Kadlec Tri-Cities Cancer Center in Kennewick. Brachytherapy lends itself best to cancer sites surgeons can access without major procedures, but she said there is a need to explore more options. Isoray, she said, has a cult following among doctors. “I personally have friends who use only the cesium seeds.”
Investors are critical Investors have a critical role to play as Isoray moves to treat additional types of cancer. The October offering that raised $10 million improved its cash position in 2020 after sales dropped. In the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, fewer people visited doctors, leading to fewer cancer diagnoses, treatments and demand. Woods called the stock offering Isoray’s equivalent to a Paycheck Protection Program loan. The company concluded a federal PPP loan was not appropriate for it. But it faced the same loss of business as most other businesses. “We needed that money to break even as a company,” she said. It returned to the market for a second offering in February when it spied an
Courtesy Isoray Richland-based Isoray Inc., which makes Cesium-131 pellets to treat prostate cancer, has raised more than $50 million in supplemental stock offerings as it looks to expand to treat brain, head and neck, skin and other cancers.
opportunity to raise money to support its expansion plans. The capital markets turned bullish for small companies such as Isoray, aka “micro caps.” Isoray has a market cap of just $113 million, with shares trading at about 86 cents in early June. According to Kiplinger, the small-cap Russell 200 index outperformed the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite for the year through mid-April. “I took the opportunity to say we have an opportunity to raise money to execute on our strategy to take the company to a new level,” Woods said. The board agreed.
Two aces Isoray has two big advantages as it looks to deploy its Cesium Blu product to blast more types of cancer. In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration approved Cesium-131 to treat all malignant cancers, not just prostate cancers. That means it does not have to pursue fresh approvals for each new line, although new procedures and devices are subject to approval. Too, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, is piloting a change in how it reimburses cancer treatment, which Isoray believes will drive interest in its lower-cost approach. For instance, CMS is expected to provide a flat reimbursement of $20,000 for prostate cancers, making low-cost options such as Cesium Blu more attractive. It does have to demonstrate that its
seeds are appropriate for other types of malignant cancers. It is working with GT Medical Tech on marrying Cesium-131 with GT’s GammaTile Therapy product to treat brain cancer, with commercialization efforts underway. As with prostate cancer, brachytherapy could tackle malignant brain tumors faster and with less stress to the patient. Surgeons remove the tumor, then implant the Cesium Blu seeds in the spot where it was removed to tackle any cancerous cells left behind. Normally, the patient would go home after brain surgery, recover, and then return for additional radiation therapy. Brachytherapy is a “one and done” approach. “That’s huge because a lot of these patients aren’t feeling great anyway,” she said. “We’re super excited about the opportunities to impact lives of patients with brain tumors.” In another study, researchers at the University of Cincinnati are using a combination of Cesium Blu and Keytruda to treat recurrent head and neck cancers. Head and neck cancers are another potentially important market. It’s a tricky area to treat because critical physical structures – the spinal column and throat – pass through the narrow confines of the neck. Protecting healthy tissue when there is not much to spare is even more critical, particularly if cancers return. As it eyes additional treatments, Woods said Isoray will not retreat from
its core business. Prostate cancer is a $600 million “industry,” with most early-stage cancers considered highly treatable. The American Cancer Society estimates one in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. The American Cancer Society projects an estimated 250,000 new cases in 34,000 deaths in the U.S. this year. That is a 30% more than normal and is attributed in part to the pandemic and delayed medical care, which delayed diagnoses. “It was surprising to us how much lack of access has really affected things,” she said. “In some cases, hospitals were just flat out overwhelmed.” While not every prostate cancer patient is a suitable candidate for Cesium 131, Isoray says its treatment is effective for most. “There’s lots of clinical support to show Cesium-131 is the right treatment for most patients,” she said. Breast cancer is not currently a good candidate for the Cesium Blu approach. Woods explained that the fatty nature of breast tissue means the seeds tend to slip around instead of staying put at the cancer site, lessening the impact. Woods said the company is looking for solutions that will treat breast cancer without creating secondary cosmetic issues like puckering and indentations. “We haven’t found exactly the right thing yet,” she said.
Pandemic affects supply chain Isoray sources isotopes from a commercial reactor in Russia. It previously used a U.S.-based reactor but found the Russian isotopes were less expensive and purer than the American counterparts. Woods, who has visited the supplier on many occasions, said she is not concerned about relying on Russia. It has been a reliable partner that welcomes being paid in U.S. dollars. “They have been good partners. They have never missed a shipment, not before or during Covid,” she said. The pandemic did force it to adapt how the isotopes traveled. Commercial flights were canceled, prompting it to develop fall back positions. It shipped via other carriers and cargo flights, which drove up costs, something she said appears to be temporary.
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
MANUFACTURING LEGGARI, From page A3 game of PIG or shuffleboard after lunch. The co-founders also like to treat their crew and families to movies and a big Christmas party. Krumland points to these perks as key to creating Leggari’s culture. “You have to really love people like family. That’s how you create a good culture. You have to treat them like your son or your daughter. You have to love on them the same. You have to forgive them the same. Give them the same grace,” he said. Leggari also offers Bible study every Thursday. Workers begin each work day with a prayer. “We’ve come to find out that the employees are everything, really. If you can find good employees, and take of them, they’ll stick around and they’ll work hard for you,” Svangren said.
What’s Leggari mean? What’s the story behind the Leggari name? It’s a good one, and Krumland likes to tell it. “We wanted something that was highend. We thought everything we like comes from Italy so let’s make it sound like ‘Ferrari,’ ” he said. He was flipping through a Ducati brochure, looking at their Italian motorcycles. He stopped at the word “leggaro,” to describe lightweight bikes and Leggari was born. “It didn’t matter what we called the company, we had to turn to the name into something,” Krumland said, pointing out it’s what Häagen-Dazs did. The ice cream company’s name is a made-up word but its ice cream is to die for. Merchandising Leggari’s new merchandising line – run under the new Leggari Printing LLC arm – aims to build name recognition. Turns out when you become a YouTube sensation, people want to dress like you. “We have over 600,000 subscribers. We should have over a million subscribers by early next year. You can just wear a shirt
A25
and people want to know where to buy the shirt,” Krumland said. They will sell T-shirts and sweatshirts, possibly adding hats later. It will be fullblown operation, complete with a shirtfolding machine. “There’s a huge demand. It’s a quartermillion dollars a month, just in our market because of how big our following is,” he said.
Bright future The co-founders have several other projects on their to-do list, including engineering an automated packaging line. Svangren is excited about another new product they’re developing — a UV tolerant resin that won’t discolor in sunlight. Krumland said they hope to start building their new world headquarters within the next year, estimated to be 80,000 to 100,000 square feet. This new building would include a full basketball court. “Because why not?” Krumland said. Indeed, why not? They’ve come a long way from backbreaking installation work, to taking pay cuts to keep employees on the payroll during the lean years, to being rejected for business loans to expand. Today, Krumland’s role is the business development side. Svangren does almost all the research and product development and gives the tutorials. They want to stay in the Tri-Cities. “We’re Tri-City boys, homegrown boys,” Krumland said. And what better place to chase their dream than their hometown? They want to start competing with the coating industry’s “big boys,” Krumland said, explaining there are some million- and billion-dollar corporations in the industry. Will the market sustain them? “Oh yeah,” Krumland said. Neither has any doubts.
Courtesy Leggari Products The Leggari Products team manufactures, assembles and prepares shipments from a World War II-era warehouse in the Big Pasco Industrial Center.
Chris Hetterscheidt sticks labels on sample kit jars.
Photo by Kristina Lord
A26
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
How to talk to vaccine-hesitant workers By National Association of Manufacturers
Now that all American adults are eligible for vaccination and largely have easy access to vaccines, it’s even more important to convince those still on the fence about getting their shots. To help manufacturers convince their hesitating employees, The Manufacturing Institute has partnered with the Center for Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida on a research study about how manufacturers can overcome hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy can be driven by a range of factors, including lack of access to vaccines, uncertainty about the process or incorrect or confusing information, the
study showed. It outlined five steps to encourage manufacturing workers to get vaccinated: • Communicate from a place of trust. Manufacturing leaders should communicate frequently and transparently about vaccination policies and rates within the facility. • Help remove barriers to getting the vaccine. Employers should make it easy to obtain the vaccine and make employees feel supported in their decision to get it. That may mean communicating in the languages their workforce uses, helping employees make appointments and offering time off for recovery if needed. • Highlight trusted messengers. Lots of vaccine skeptics are also skeptical of out-
siders, so employers should enlist trusted local authorities, civic leaders and peer influencers to share information. • Customize tactics to appeal to the community. There is no one-size-fits-all message, and it’s important to reach those from different backgrounds with different ideologies. For some people, it’s important to talk about reaching herd immunity or protecting the most vulnerable. For others, it’s more effective to talk about the vaccines’ role in protecting their own families and loved ones, or themselves. • Address fears at an individual level. Listen to individual concerns, and guide people to a useful solution. More information at NAM.org/This IsOurShot.
MANUFACTURING uBUSINESS BRIEFS Juice bar opening at Southridge
Just Juice, a cold press juice bar, will open in June at the Cynergy Centre building, 4309 W. 27th Ave., Suite 101, in Kennewick’s Southridge neighborhood. Just Juice leased 1,704 square feet from the owner, Hutton Settlements. Jason Goffard of Kiemle Hagood represented the landlord in the transaction. Just Juice, an organic juice chain based in Houston, Texas, did not respond to a request for comment on its Kennewick plans.
West Richland to add another traffic signal
West Richland is getting its second traffic signal on Van Giesen Street – but it’s not clear when it will be complete. The installation at South 38th Avenue and Van Giesen Street near Brick House Pizza is expected to begin in June. The work includes the traffic signal, moving overhead power underground and reconfiguring the sidewalk ramps to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The work is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2021. Manufacturing delays of key traffic signal equipment associated with the Covid-19 pandemic could delay project competition until spring 2022, according to a recent city newsletter. The city council awarded the $540,000 project to Sierra Electric in April. The project is being funded from a $500,000 grant from Benton County’s Rural County Capital Fund and $40,000 from the city’s transportation impact fees collected from new development.
New paint fee to fund state recycling program
A new fee on paint purchases will pay for a statewide paint recycling program. The new program, operated by PaintCare, a nonprofit, will allow households and businesses to recycle leftover paint, stain and varnish. PaintCare is providing more than 200 drop-off sites across the state, including seven in the Tri-City area, which include paint retail stores and locally-managed government facilities. Washington’s paint recycling program was made possible under the paint stewardship law (SHB 1652), passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2019. The fee on the sale of new paint funds paint collection, transportation, processing and public education. The state fee is the same as in neighboring Oregon and varies by container size: no charge for a half pint or smaller; 45 cents for larger than half pint up to smaller than one gallon; 95 cents for one gallon up to two gallons; and $1.95 for larger than two gallons up to five gallons. To find recycling locations, go to paintcare.org/drop-off-sites. Go to paintcare.org/WA for more information about the program.
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 uBUSINESS BRIEFS Future public market announces name, contest for logo
The developers of the Tri-Cities’ first year-round public market have announced its name – Osprey Pointe Marketplace – and a contest to design a logo for it. The winner will receive $1,000 and bragging rights. “We want the logo to truly encompass the area, so one requirement of the design will be to include a local landmark,” said James Sexton, president of JMS Construction/JMS Development. Sexton has a development agreement with the Port of Pasco to launch the
marketplace, along with the equivalent of a small city on port-owned waterfront in east Pasco. The marketplace seeks a logo that will effective online, in print and on signs and versatile enough to be to be resized and work in color and black and white. All entries must be submitted by July 15 via email to info@jmstricities.com or by mail to: Osprey Pointe Marketplace, 904 Ainsworth Avenue, Pasco, WA, 99301. Entries may be submitted electronically or by hand. If sketch art is selected as the winning logo, a professional graphic designer will be chosen by Osprey Pointe Marketplace to recreate the design in electronic format.
Chaplaincy discontinues behavioral health services
Chaplaincy Health Care, a Richlandbased nonprofit providing hospice care, grief support and spiritual comfort, discontinued its behavioral health program, effective May 31. Chaplaincy Behavioral Health served the Tri-Cities community since 2013 and aimed to meet the mental health needs of the underserved Medicare and Medicaid populations. The decision to close the program is a result of the inability to build and sustain a solid counseling foundation and business model that could effectively impact the needs in the community without overburdening the financial resources of the agency.
A27
“We sincerely regret this decision but the growing needs in our hospice program require that we reprioritize and focus on hospice and hospice related services. The impact of this decision on staff, clients and providers is very real to us and we will do everything we can to make the transition as supportive as possible,” said Bob Rosselli, interim executive director. Clients in the behavioral health program were notified by mail the week of May 3 about the program closure. Current patients are encouraged to call Chaplaincy Health Care with any questions or concerns. They can be reached at 509-783-7416, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
A28
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
BUSINESS PROFILE
Beekeeper pollinates Northwest crops, sells varietal honey By Robin Wojtanik
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
In just a few short years, Aaron Brink went from an annoyed homeowner, frequently stung by bees while mowing, to a commercial beekeeper who laughs off daily stings while tending to hundreds of beehives. “I’m immune to bee stings,” said Brink, owner of Brink’s Bees. “I got into the bees as a hobby, not a business.” But the hobby proved to be a good business. Today, Brink’s Bees offers pollination services to farmers in Oklahoma, California, Oregon and Washington, and honey sales at local farms. One coffee shop consumes an entire 40-pound bucket of honey weekly. Brink manages 45 million bees across about 200 hives placed around the Tri-Cities. He describes it as a “small” operation compared to commercial pollinators. His honeybees pollinate many of the apples, cherries, pears and other locally grown crops. “For all the crops we love to eat, anything that has color or vibrancy in the supermarket, honeybees helped pollinate,” Brink said. “They help provide about 40% of the food supply, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.” Brink said commercial pollination is a competitive industry. He’s one of about 2030 companies in the Tri-Cities. The path into commercial beekeeping began in 2015 in Oklahoma when Brink had a hive in the soffit of his home. The
bees would become agitated when he worked in the lawn. He called pest control to have it removed. He was advised to call a beekeeper instead out of concern over declining honeybee populations. A professional beekeeper would destroy the hive but encourage the bees to make their home in a new hive box. Brink decided to attempt the job himself when he was quoted a $1,200 fee. It would have been money well spent. “That was an awful, awful mistake. I got stung quite a bit,” he said. But he succeeded in removing the bees and posted about it on social media. Within a couple of weeks, friends were asking for help relocating bees at their homes in southwest Oklahoma. He soon found himself with a side job as a beekeeping hobbyist. Brink figured he might break even by dabbling in bee removal, beekeeping and honey sales. He already owned a gym, which provided a ready-made site to sell his honey, alongside nutrition supplements. By the end of the first year, Brink had 15 hives that collectively produced 1,000 pounds of honey. He sold out.
Realizing he had done more than break even, Brink expanded his reach. By the following year, he was managing 50 hives. He kept reinvesting in the business, growing it to hundreds of hives, each with about 50,000 honeybees. He turned his focus on pollination services to farmers. “The pollination season starts about the first of JanuPhotos courtesy Aaron Brink ary here in the Tri-Cities, and in Oklahoma, we’re prepar- Commercial beekeeper Aaron Brink tends to ing the hives for transport hundreds of hives around the Tri-Cities, providing to California for the almond pollination services to local fruits and creating varietal honeys for sale in small batches. crop,” Brink said. “We bring the hives to a central location Within a month, the hives are clipped to inspect them and ensure they’re large onto pallets, loaded in a tractor-trailer and enough and healthy enough to make the covered with a net to travel on the freeway trip. If a hive isn’t large enough, you don’t uBEEKEEPER, Page A30 get paid for the pollination.”
BUSINESS PROFILE
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
A29
Richland sisters find sweet success with Layered Cake By Jeff Morrow
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Richland sisters Elena Gavin and Concetta Gulluni admit they were never good friends as teenagers. Being 3 ½ years apart in age, they had their own friends. But now, as business partners in Layered Cake Artistry, 117 W. Kennewick Ave., Suite 110, in downtown Kennewick, Elena, 41, and Concetta, 38, have become the best of friends. Well, for the most part. There was the Great Éclair Incident of 2019 that got Gavin banned from the kitchen for a while. But more on that later. The two have found tremendous success, despite having to survive a pandemic which forced them to turn on a dime at times to survive. And they’ve gotten noticed by customers as well as other organizations. It has been an interesting four years since the business first started.
Their start The sisters grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, where their grandparents owned a popular Italian bakery, called Calabria Bakery. Their own parents met there while working. Their uncles and aunts worked there, and then so did the grandkids. The sisters would go on after high school to embark on different vocations — Elena worked in sociology and in hospitals; Concetta was a geologist and went to
Photo by Jeff Morrow Elena Gavin, left, and Concetta Gulluni, stand in their Layered Cake Artistry store.
law school. They went from Vancouver to Michigan to the Tri-Cities, acquiring husbands along the way, getting their American citizenship, and sponsoring their mother to come to live with them after their father died. But it was Concetta who decided in 2017 that she wanted to go back to making pastries and cakes, and she tried to convince Elena to be her partner. Elena originally was just going to do social media.
“But I saw how things went with her first Valentine’s Day pop-up,” Elena said. “She got zero sleep, and I saw how insane it was.” That night, at their mother’s home for dinner, Elena found Concetta curled up on the floor in the living room, fast asleep. At that moment, Elena decided to join her sister full time in the business. “The thing with Concetta, I’m so proud of her. She can do anything she sets her mind to doing,” Elena said. “She was a
geologist for one of the largest mining companies in the world. She went to law school. I saw the potential in my sister. So, I took over the business side of things.” They began by using the Walter Clore Center in Prosser, but couldn’t store anything there. They would gather their ingredients and equipment into the van, drive from their south Richland homes, make their pastries and cakes, clean up, load the car and go home. It made for long days. When the Red Mountain Kitchen opened in 2019 in downtown Kennewick, the sisters moved their operations there, and were able to store their equipment where they leased kitchen space. They worked out of there while eyeing an empty building just a block east on Kennewick Avenue. It took a year to renovate. “The last thing this place was a pizza place,” Elena said. “It was empty for two years. There were holes in the roof. But we saw the potential.” They stripped the floor down to the original concrete, found the original brick walls and uncovered a skylight. “We knew from pretty early on that if we opened a brick-and-mortar shop, it would be down here,” Elena said. “Downtown Kennewick has the charm of an old main street. We love the old historic buildings, the walkability and the community down here. The relationships, friendships and bonds between all the small business owners is really special. We’re all rootuCAKE, Page A31
A30
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
BEEKEEPER, From page A28 like any other truck shipment. “You would be surprised at how many times weekly in the Tri-Cities you drive by hundreds of hives on a truck,” Brink said.
Bees on the move Brink’s hives are part of millions shipped to central California each year, as beekeepers are paid hundreds of dollars per hive for the pollination service. “At that point of the year, almost 100% of the United States’ honeybee supply is in California for the almond population,” Brink said. “They need that many, and it continues to grow year after year.” Brink’s bees complete their work on the almonds by early March and then travel to the Tri-Cities. “From late March to early May, they’re pollinating all the stone fruits and apples,” Brink said. “Generally, they’ll be in cherries for one week, and then we move them to apples and then we move them to pears. The majority of the operation, we’ll move their hives out of the orchards and they’ll go to honey production yards throughout the Tri-Cities, the county and the Pacific Northwest.” Honey is big business Brink specializes in varietal honey. He offers a wide range of floral flavors, with the taste of the honey impacted by the blossom the bees pollinated. His bottled honey can range in color and flavor, whether it came from spring or fall wildflowers, lavender, or blackberries. “I feel like a lot of the general public loses out on what honey could be, and the different tastes there are,” compared to the
imported mass market clover honey typically sold in stores. Honey is big business in Washington, as the state’s commercial beekeepAaron Brink ers produced 3.63 million pounds of honey last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The crop was valued at $9.2 million, a nearly 50% increase over the previous year. The amount of honey produced by Washington’s 98,000 bee colonies is greater per colony compared to nearby Idaho and Oregon. It is not as great as Oklahoma, where Brink said his hives average about 200 pounds of honey yearly per hive, compared to about 50 pounds for hives in the Tri-Cities. Washington hives averaged 37 pounds in 2020. At this point in the calendar year, Brink’s bees have mostly finished their pollination role in the Northwest. Many are shipped back to his home state. “When they go to Oklahoma, we put them out for honey production in the cotton and sesame crops. I might see my Oklahoma bees once a year when they come back here. They work year-round,” he said. Brink works year-round as well, spending up to eight hours a day on hive management in addition to his full-time job as a manager for UPS. “There are wonderful rest periods throughout the year. By the end of October, we’re completely done. We don’t manage,
Parkview’s Annual Car Show is almost here!
Father’s Day Car Show
For residents and families at Parkview Estates
Parkview is honoring fathers, Thank you for grandfathers and all you do ! great-grandfathers this month.
Visit us!
Stop by to learn more about our specials this month for dad.
(509) 734-9773
Visit our website for more information 7820 W. 6th Avenue • Kennewick, WA
www.Parkviewslc.com
Independent/Assisted Living and Respite Care
Courtesy Brink’s Bees Aaron Brink got into beekeeping when a hive made its home on his property. Today, Brink’s Bees manages 45 million bees in 200 Tri-Cities hives and provides pollination services as well as honey.
we don’t open the hives. They’re going to survive through the winter,” he said. But until that time, the management includes efforts to strengthen the hives and prevent swarming. “The hives have grown so much that the old queen wants to leave and take half the hive with her. We manage them by splitting the hives so one hive becomes two, or we take bees and frames and move it to a weaker hive,” Brink said. The goal is to keep each hive on an even keel heading into honey production so the bees don’t target another hive or its queen. The bees produce honey during the summer, which acts as fuel to get them through the winter. Brink’s hives are located on landowner’s property, usually about 16 hives every two square miles to allow enough opportunity for foraging. The property owner gets the benefit of potential pollination and usually a case of honey at the end of the year. Hives are in place at Haven Flower Farm in Kennewick and SunKissed Lavender Farm in West Richland. Both sell the honey. “I partner with local businesses that do charcuterie boards, and wineries, to work on pairings, instead of producing large quantities of bulk honey,” Brink said. His honey is also available at Richland’s Barracuda Coffee and Kennewick’s The Gathering Home. Local Pumpkin, a Pascobased natural grocery delivery service, offers it as an add-on to subscribers.
Hive sponsorships Brink offers bee-minded business own-
ers the chance to sponsor a hive for $500. “It not only helps with our local pollination, and the honeybee supply, it allows us to have a little bit of community outreach and gives those businesses exposure,” he said. Sponsor dollars pay for new equipment, hives and bees, and the ongoing management. Sponsors don’t have to touch the hives, but their company’s logo is added to the hive box. Bee sponsors are mentioned on social media and the owners can visit “their” hives if they wish. “If they want to come out, I have suits they can get in,” Brink said. He typically wears only a veil to handle the hives, but if he notices the bees are testy, he’ll wear a full suit for protection. Brink expects a “very rough” year for honey production in 2021 due to limited rain. Bees are threatened by loss of habitat, pesticides, herbicides, pests and disease. “Nationally we lose about 40% of bees every winter. It’s our goal as commercial beekeepers to contain that loss each year. Some years are worse than others, but that’s the national average.” Brink said the public can help by allowing for some of the native pollinators’ foraging favorites – like dandelions – to remain. “That has a very dramatic effect on how healthy the hives can be,” he said. To sponsor a hive, contact Aaron Brink at 580-305-0538 or brinksbees@gmail.com.
Happy B ir Happy A thday! nn and Just iversary! Because! Celebrate every special occasion with a flower delivery. 509.582.5123 604 W. Kennewick Ave.
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 CAKE, From page A29 ing each other on and are quick to lend a hand when needed. There is no place we’d rather be.” The Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership noticed what they did too and awarded them the Downtown Kennewick Revitalization of the Year award at its annual celebration on April 28. The award recognizes the efforts of those who work strenuously and tirelessly at revitalizing properties and storefronts in the downtown Kennewick area. “The renovations that (they) undertook were big and bold on design, while still maintaining a timeless elegance and cozy charm,” said Stephanie Button, executive director of the HDKP. “This project transformed not only the block it is located on but upped the stakes and standards for the rest of the downtown in the best way possible.” They’ve been at their current location for a year and a half. Things were looking great. They moved all their stuff from Red Mountain Kitchen to the new building on a rolling cart, had their soft opening in November 2019, and the grand opening in January 2020. And then the pandemic hit.
The battle Concetta and Elena shut down in March 2020, pivoting their business to a deliveryonly model. “We felt bad for our employees,” Concetta said. “We were worried about paying our bills, and we had a lot of deposits to refund, especially for weddings. We ended up with money not coming in, and a lot of money going out.” All private rentals of the facility either stopped or were canceled. “The rules kept changing (during the pandemic),” Concetta said. “But we took time to develop our website and were doing online ordering. Weekly pickups got us through. Holidays got us through.” And they’ve been on the rebound ever since. Lines out the door on Valentine’s
Day and Mother’s Day were noticeable. There are six part-time employees in the business. One staffer helps Elena with customer service at the front of the house, another takes care of running the venue for events, and four others help Concetta in the kitchen. The pair never intended their business to be a retail store. It was about taking phone orders and online orders for weddings and events. But they’ve cut back on weddings, and they’ve added retail days on Friday and Saturday — the only days people can walk in off the street to purchase their products. “We discovered we actually like retail,” Concetta said. “And we do fewer weddings. So, our original plan has flipflopped.” Saturdays are like community get-togethers at Layered Cake Artistry. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. But in an ode to their roots, when they were allowed to have pop-ups in someone else’s brick and mortar, they invite other businesses to hold their own pop-ups in their store — businesses that sell flowers, coffee, home goods, juice and plants. It’s usually a steady flow of customers during those four hours. The sisters expect business to keep growing. They’re bringing back some of their classes — for cake baking, building and decorating. “And we just decided to do private events again,” Elena said, “for Sundays, Mondays and after business hours.” The facility can and has been used for Christmas parties, baby showers, bridal showers, business meetings, private dinners and other celebrations.
A partnership of success The key to their success, Concetta said, “is separation of duties.” That was learned in the earlier mentioned Great Éclair Incident of 2019. “Concetta is chill in the kitchen. It’s her happy place,” Elena said. “I, on the other
A31
hand, get anxious in there, and drive her up the wall.” One day in the kitchen, Elena felt the color of the eclairs they were making were a little bit off shade. Concetta said they were fine. The differences in opinion turned into an argument. And then, “We had a blowout incident,” Concetta said. Things were thrown at each other, and Concetta banned Elena from the kitchen — although every once in a while she may still help out. Concetta is the creative force in the kitchen. Elena makes sure the bills are paid and many of the details are taken care of. “Elena doesn’t miss a lot of things,” Concetta said. “EvCourtesy Layered Cake Artistry ery detail is right on, whether A pink and lavender cake by Layered Cake it’s every cake order is done Artistry in Kennewick features vanilla cake, correctly to when something raspberry compote, raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream and white chocolate ganache. needs to be delivered.” In other words, they comanswer for us both is we absolutely love plement each other. That’s a long ways for the two when food.” “And,” added Elena, “food is love.” they were teenagers, sisters but not friends. Search Layered Cake Artistry: 117 W. KenNow, they’re doing something they both love and that has brought them closer. newick Ave., Suite 110; 509-579-0299; They love greeting and talking with layeredcakeartistry.com Customer service orders via phone or their customers on those Saturdays. It’s a online can be made Tuesday through Satsense of community. urday. Retail hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. “For me, it’s the ability to create something,” Concetta said. “The common Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
A32
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
CELEBRATING
Is there room for low-income housing at Kennewick’s waterfront?
Page B5
YEARS
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Tri-Cities loses TerraPower advanced nuclear plant to coal site in Wyoming
Page B8
June 2021 Volume 20 | Issue 6 | B1
Pole buildings get new life as unique, affordable homes By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
The Tri-Cities is becoming a center for Instagram-worthy barn-style homes after a pair of Tri-City entrepreneurs with a big social media following built one for themselves. Olivia “Liv” and Tanner Berg converted an old pole barn on their Kennewick property into a family home. The process was so rewarding – and interest from followers so strong – that they created a business to help others follow their lead. Back Forty Building Co., which launched in 2019, provides plans and metal building kits to people who want something other than a traditional “stick built” home. It has 40,000 followers on TikTok and the ability to sell its designs in all 50 states. Pole buildings kitted out as living space for humans go by any number of names – “barndominiums,” “barndos” and “shouses” (shop houses) are some
Photo by Wendy Culverwell Jennifer and Jacob Hamilton stand with their children, Cylee Wood and Liam Hamilton, in their airy bardominium or shop house (“shouse”) in a pole building near Benton City. They love the low cost and spacious surroundings.
that get used in the Tri-Cities, where pole buildings are common. Back Forty produces up to 100 build-
ing designs a month and has nine projects in various stages of development in the Mid-Columbia. Liv dreams of developing
a small barndominium community to promote the concept. Ricky Walsh, a retired Richland firefighter and union executive, built a 1,000-square-foot home in a pole building for his mother, Diane, on his property off Dallas Road in unincorporated Benton County. The 30-by-40-foot home has all the comforts of a traditional home – a front porch, plenty of windows, full kitchen, a bedroom, walk in closet, fireplace and carpets. In a nod to the rural setting, Walsh installed a trendy barn door for his mother’s private bathroom. The house shares a well with his home but has its own septic system. Walsh considered several options when his mother, now in her 80s, was ready to leave her much larger home in Hermiston two years ago. He considered a manufactured home but was inspired by the shop uBARNDO, Page B6
Wave Design Group needed space. Its client had office space for rent By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
A Tri-Cities architectural and engineering firm was bursting at the seams when the owner’s wife spotted an obvious solution. Christelle Walker-Prickett advised her husband, Harvey, to lease space in the building he was designing for Tri-Cities Insurance Professionals in Pasco. Harvey Prickett, president and principal of Wave Companies, took his wife’s suggestion. In September, he will move the business from its overflowing Kennewick quarters to the airy 6,335-square-foot second floor above the insurance company at 9425 Sandifur Parkway, near Camping World. Prickett said his wife knew the insurance company designed its new building with space to lease and she knew he liked
the building, with its modern vibe, glasswalled elevator, warm wood features, atrium and first-floor coffee shop. This summer, the insurance company, the three Wave architectural and engineering companies and their 23 employees will join another tenant, Rāǎn Coffee, in west Pasco. The move provides space to grow as Wave caters to demand for its growing multifamily housing services and from the nuclear industry. Prickett is thrilled his firm will work in a building it designed. “I’m pretty jazzed about that,” Prickett said. “The new building is open but with more amenities like a big break room, a large deck, a much bigger conference room.” Moving to Pasco puts Wave closer to clients for its Wave Quantum subsidiary,
Courtesy Wave Design Group Wave Design Group will lease space in a Pasco office building it designed for Tri-City Insurance Professionals. Owner Harvey Prickett credits his wife with suggesting he move his growing business into the two-story modern building at 9425 Sandifur Parkway.
which serves federal and nuclear contractors in Richland. “We look at the location as advantageous for us,” he said. “This is faster onto the highway and to our Hanford clients.”
Like Wave, Tri-Cities insurance Co. outgrew its old quarters near downtown Pasco. Co-owner Gerald Tobias said the owners planned to build for themselves and prouWAVE DESIGN, Page B2
B2
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
WAVE DESIGN, From page B1 spective tenants for about five years. They chose Wave for its commitment to contemporary design to help modernize the company’s brand. Tobias said he was inspired by his sister, an architecture student who introduced him to what an office can be. The firm plans to use the foyer as a community gallery for local students. “Our vision was to have something different, that the Tri-Cities didn’t have, particularly in Pasco,” Tobias said. Wave’s other major project is a $1 million transportation facility for Hanford Mission Integration Services, the U.S. Department of Energy’s new site services contractor at Hanford. The L-907 complex will serve as a fleet service building where the new contractor will consolidate maintenance and service for autos, trucks and large buildings in a single location. The work is part of a growing practice that seeks work from DOE sites across the country. The Wave group also includes its core architectural design business as well as aMOTIF, which sells products architects and designers specify in their projects. Prickett said being able to source design elements in house means they don’t get dropped from projects. The new Pasco office, for instance, has a petrified moss wall at the entryway that was sourced through aMOTIF. As the firm prepares for its big move, Prickett discussed Wave’s roots in the Great Recession, its future designing for both public and private clients and his perspective on the architecture of the Tri-Cities in a
Courtesy Wave Design Group Wave Design Group designed Skyhous for TMT Homes. If approved, the 48-unit luxury condominium will bring ultra-contemporary design to the upper slopes of Little Badger Mountain in Richland.
recent wide-ranging interview.
Roots in a Recession Prickett was working as an architect in Alaska when the housing bubble burst in 2007, setting off the Great Recession. When work dried up, the Prickett family moved to the Tri-Cities to be closer to family and friends and a climate they loved. Prickett opened Wave in Kennewick in 2009 as a sole proprietor. Business was slow to start, but grew as a housing-led crisis gave way to prosperity. Locally, that is fueled by Department of Energy spending at Hanford and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Business took off with the addition of Wave Quantum to focus on the Department of Energy and nuclear services. “There are a lot of rules to follow, but if you follow them, you can do well,” he said.
AMOTIF came later to supply architectural materials it specifies in its projects to keep them from being pulled out for lack of availability.
Influence on Tri-Cities Wave’s work is on display across the Tri-Cities. Recent examples include the Kenmore office buildings, near Steptoe and Gage in Kennewick, the sharp roofs of Roaster’s Coffee shops, Bruchi’s restaurants, Country Mercantile and countless apartment and multifamily projects. Prickett said a Mediterranean style dominated the Tri-Cities when he first arrived. The area’s wineries and tourism industry borrowed design flourishes from their European counterparts, but it never sat well with Prickett, who prefers cleaner, contemporary designs. Googie, the futuristic style born in postwar California and epitomized in Washington by the Seattle Space Needle, is the closest thing the Tri-Cities has to indigenous architecture, he said. The attentiongrabbing midcentury modern style is found at Richland’s Uptown. Designers are moving away from the heavy European look, he said, approvingly.
“What’s happened is people here have decided our winery culture doesn’t need to look like it came from Tuscany,” he said. J. Bookwalter Winery’s $4 million addition at its south Richland winery and restaurant is a telling example. Wave designed the sleek structure, which is taking shape along Columbia Park Trail at Windmill Road. “We’re keeping the vibe what it is. It’s not grounded in Tuscany. It’s grounded in the uniqueness of Bookwalter. That makes it a lot of fun,” he said. Owner John Bookwalter said he needed a practical building but soft enough to complement his restaurant, tasting room and winery, which are on the same property. The result is a mostly rectangular building with windows, decorative flourishes and an ornamental wall to blunt the impact of the main wall. “The way I think about what we tried to design is how I think of Washington wines,” Bookwalter explained. “Washington wines don’t fit into a construct of just Bordeaux or California. We’re somewhere in the middle. It’s up to us to decide what that looks like.” Prickett and client TMT Homes are pushing the limits of “modern” with a residential project proposed for south Richland. Skyhous, a luxury condominium project, is going to the city of Richland for a conditional use permit in June. If approved, it will add 48 ultra-modern units to the upper slopes of Little Badger Mountain, near the Friends of Badger Mountain’s newest summit trail. Skyhous features a flat, compact building style with concrete and glass, rooftop decks, water features and a slope-hugging layout. Guests and residents will reach the upper floors not by elevator but by tram. “When I first moved here, that would not have been a possibility,” Prickett said.
The real innovation is the way we treat you. VA Loans • FHA Loans Conventional Loans Purchase or refinance Locally owned 509.737.2000 innovativemortgage.org 7015 W. Deschutes, Ste. B Kennewick NMLS MB 35988
MARK RUNSVOLD
Loan Originator/Branch Manager 509-430-4456 | NMLS #118101
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
B3
Kennewick medical office complex gets makeover By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
A medical office complex in downtown Kennewick is getting a makeover to appeal to tenants who do not need a hospital across the street. The Kennewick Medical and Dental Center faces the former Kennewick General Hospital across Auburn Street and provided office space for hospital-adjacent businesses such as doctor and dentist offices, a laboratory and a pharmacy. The old hospital is now owned by Trios, in turn owned by LifePoint, and is emptying out. Most hospital functions moved to the new Trios Southridge Hospital in western Kennewick. The Trios Women’s and Children’s Hospital, chiefly a birthing center, soon will leave too. Trios will consolidate the women’s and children’s functions at Southridge in 2022, when the $21 million first phase of its birthing center addition is set for completion. The old hospital is a candidate to house, a behavioral and addiction recovery center, but the office complex is not counting on it to generate demand for space. It is proceeding as if the hospital remains dark, said David Fritch, the commercial broker with Tri-Cities Holdings LLC, who is helping reposition the collection of brick buildings for a new, if uncertain, future. The effort got a hand from the city of Kennewick, which connected Auburn to
10th Avenue in May after Trios Health donated the land for public use. Auburn previously dead ended in front of the hospital and medical offices. The now-open intersection adds drive-by traffic to the street. The property is being rebranded as the Auburn Center and features 21 office suites in six buildings in the 800 and 900 blocks of South Auburn Street. It was built in phases between 1955 and 1980, with the final two-story buildings opening last. The buildings were sold as condos with a shared a parking lot. The ownership group shrank over time as doctors and other medical providers retired and sold their real estate. By the time Dr. Raymond Sjerven retired in 2019, only four businesses remained in the center, including an outpost of the Tri-Cities Laboratory network. The property suffered from a lack of visibility and an informal ownership group. The makeover includes formalizing the condominium association and a special assessment fund repairs and a new blackand-white color scheme to unify the look of the property. Fritch signed on first as a broker and then an investor after he worked to move from there to western Kennewick. He saw “a tenant for lease by owner” signs in the Auburn complex. There was little interest at first, he said. The pandemic brought office leasing to
Under the age of 40? Giving back to the community? Work or live in Benton or Franklin counties? Excelling in your career? 14th Annual
Now accepting applications! Go to tcjournal.biz/ yp Deadline is Friday, July 2.
Traci Jao, 2013 winner
In the August issue of the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business, we will highlight the 2021 Young Professional winners in a specialty publication that will be inserted into the Journal. These business savvy individuals are local, rising stars who distinguish themselves in their careers and make a difference through charity work, leadership and community involvement.
Sponsorship opportunities available For more information and pricing, call 509-737-8778. Tiffany ext. 2 or Chad ext. 1. Advertising deadline is July 20, 2021
a standstill in early 2020. But Fritch together with investors Dave Richards, Anderson Lizarazo and Franco Vallejos saw an opportunity to bring low-cost office space to a busy corner of eastern Kennewick. They bought into the property as both individual investors and as a group. Photo by Wendy Culverwell “There’s nothing on the market at this David Fritch, a commercial broker and investor, is helping price point,” he said. the ownership group of Auburn Center, formerly the Tenants started Kennewick Medical and Dental Center, plot a future that signing on – a tax does not include having a hospital across Auburn Street in downtown Kennewick. preparation business, a nutrition the neighborhood has much to recombusiness, a fitness studio. He anticipates a mix of retail and mend it. Red Apple Market, Burger King, a professional tenants with a health carerelated bent. He hopes to lease the 821 gas station and medical buildings occupy building, formerly Cork’s, as a pharmacy, all four corners at 10th and Washington noting that the closest pharmacies are on Street to the east. Kennewick High School Highway 395. A 3,000-square-foot suite is listed on to the west is getting a major makeover LoopNet, a public-facing listing site for and residential developers have been accommercial real estate, with an asking tive in the neighborhood as well. rent of $4.80 per square foot per year, or Fritch prefers rescuing existing proper$14,400. ties to developing new ones. While the hospital’s future is cloudy, “I really like redevelopment,” he said.
B4
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
B5
Is there room for low-income housing at Kennewick’s waterfront? By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
The Port of Kennewick’s efforts to revitalize a stretch of the downtown waterfront are being called into doubt over a last-minute addition to the concept: low-income housing. The port wants to incorporate low-income and other supportive housing at The Willows, the 6.55-acre former manufactured home site on Clover Island Drive, near the Columbia River and Duffy’s Pond. In late May, the port agreed to collaborate with the Kennewick Housing Authority on a $2.4 million application to the federal Build Back Better program to install infrastructure at The Willows, which has been a trailhead parking lot near Columbia Drive East since the manufactured homes were removed. It is unclear if the partnership will come to fruition. The Biden administration and Republican leadership were negotiating the size of the package when discussions collapsed in early June, leaving its future in limbo. Nevertheless, the port envisions a partnership that would commit it to supporting residential development catering to individuals and families in transition from poverty following the pandemic, seniors and homeless and at-risk veterans. It also would have four level-two electric vehicle charging stations. The port is not committing additional funds to match the hoped-for grant. Instead, it committed the $24 million it already spent to improve Clover Island and create the Co-
Photo by Wendy Culverwell The Port of Kennewick is partnering with the Kennewick Housing Authority to apply for a $2.4 million infrastructure grant through the Build Back Better program. While the infrastructure package was in limbo in early June, the addition of lowincome housing to the Kennewick waterfront plan is roiling the neighborhood.
lumbia Gardens Urban Wine & Artisan Village. The Willows connects to Clover Island by way of a causeway and to Columbia Gardens by way of a paved path along Duffy’s Pond. Commission Chair Don Barnes and Commissioner Tom Moak, who also serves on the Kennewick Housing Authority Board, voted to support the Housing Authority partnership. Moak noted the port doesn’t have money to install the water, sewer, power and other utilities the site needs to develop. Commissioner Skip Novakovich, who said it is an inappropriate use of high-value real estate, abstained and later asked the commission to consider rescinding the resolution. The decision has complicated the port’s
attempt to win support for its master plan to guide development in what it calls the Kennewick Historic Waterfront. The plan is meant as a high-level guide for future development of the port-owned properties, including Clover Island, The Willows, Columbia Gardens and Cable Greens at the foot of the cable bridge. Broadly, it guides commercial and recreational development, with nods to residential uses on all four sites. A June 8 hearing about the master plan served as an outlet for supporters and opponents to weigh in. Three area business leaders agree the TriCities needs more affordable housing and support city-led efforts to develop property on East 10th Street. The Willows isn’t the
right spot, they said. Lampson International, the heavy-lift crane company, has been in business at its Columbia River waterfront site for 75 years. The company and the family that owns it appreciates the positive changes taking place, said Kate Lampson. The Willows is not the right location for residences, she said. Mark Blotz, general manager and partner of the Clover Island Inn, said low-income housing is the wrong use for the island’s gateway. The inn brings in tourists, pays taxes and has more than 50 employees and a $1 million-plus payroll, he noted. “I strongly feel it should not be at the entrance to Clover Island. I would hate to see us go backwards,” he said. Carrie Lundgren, a real estate agent, and her husband, Doug, bought Cedars Restaurant on Clover Island in 2019. Carrie called The Willows prime real estate that should be developed with recreation in mind to bring the community to the neighborhood. Supporters note the master plan contemplates residential development on the waterfront. Affordability should be part of the calculation, they said. Kirk Williamson of the Benton Franklin Health Alliance noted the “crying need” for affordable housing across the Tri-Cities. The mixed-income Willows vision is something the alliance would support, he said. Final approval of the waterfront master plan is pending a review of the public comments by Makers, the port’s consultant.
B6
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Photo by Wendy Culverwell Ricky Walsh, a retired Richland firefighter and current union official, built a 1,000-square-foot shop home for his mother, Diana, for $65,000 at his property in unincorporated Benton County. Diana Walsh loves the barn door that separates her bedroom and bathroom.
BARNDO, From page B1
buildings that dot his neighborhood. He chose a pole building with wooden trusses and had it erected to the west of the home he and his late wife built decades ago. Walsh, who trained as an architect and learned construction from his grandfather, did most of the construction, though not all. “I can hang drywall but I’m 61 and I don’t want to,” he said. He estimates it cost $65,000 to build – less than it would have cost his independent-minded mother to live in an assisted living center for a year. His mother’s barn house was such a hit that his daughter, Jennifer Hamilton, wanted one for her young family as well. Father and daughter created a 2,600-square-foot version on Ruppert Road, where he owns six acres and is also developing an event venue in a pole building. The Hamilton family’s three-bedroom, three-bathroom home cost less to build than a conventional suburban home. Lower costs and rural settings are key selling points, said Liv, who with her husband brings the evangelical spirit of a convert to barndominium living. They can be a cost-effective way for people who want to live on acreage. That was the dilemma she and Tanner faced when they bought land in Kennewick for their future home about six years ago, at the same time they created BlankSpace. BlankSpace was an urban Kennewick gathering spot that fostered creativity, community and a series of popup businesses. It has since closed. They planned to build a dream home, but worried about the $500,000 mortgage. “We were definitely maxing out our debt-to-income ratio at 25 to build a big, beautiful home,” Liv said. The property came with a 40-by-80-foot pole barn that caught her attention. “Naturally, I was like, we can turn that into a house,” she said. The Bergs jumped in, bringing no special expertise to the project. But they were creative and interested and learned as they went about building a home inside a structure intended for industrial and agriculture use. They spent the cash they had saved for their home and acted as their own contractors. The result was a mortgage-free, com-
fortable home in a relaxed rural setting and most important, no debt. A roll-up garage door, airy interior and concrete floors hint that it is not a typical home. In a recent post, Berg highlighted the differences when she invited her TikTok followers to describe living in a “barndominium” without using the term. She kicked it off with a video starring her young daughter, Oakley, participating in activities that would not fly in more traditional settings. Oakley rides her bike on the cement floors. She cradles a chicken at the dining room table and hugs a goat and a horse in the living room. The message was clear: The Berg home is spacious and durable enough to welcome barnyard pets. “We became experts at this type of dwelling,” she said. The couple had not intended to make a business, but after they closed BlankSpace and traveled, the questions kept coming. “People are looking at affordable options for home ownership,” she said. Back Forty clients want to be self-sustained, to live on the land. They may buy land and need a way to live comfortably even if money is tight. “A barndominium can be the answer to that,” she said. The couple drew on their previous business experience to make a go of it. Their first hire was a full-time drafter to convert her designs into blueprints that are specific to metal buildings. The company’s plans can be stamped in all 50 states, signifying they were prepared by a qualified professional. “We draw steel-specific plans. There are few companies in the U.S. that can do that,” Liv said. Back Forty provides designs and, for customers who want it, metal building kits. It works with steel building manufacturers around the country. It is a happy marriage that ensures the designs that go to the manufacturers have enough detail the accommodate residential touches. A plan for a wood-framed home don’t automatically translate to a metal-framed one, Liv said. Most customers buy plans and enlist their own manufacturers. Follow Back Forty Building Co. at backfortybuildings.com and on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION uBUSINESS BRIEFS Registration open for Fall Home Show in Pasco
The Home Builders Association of Tri-Cities is accepting registrations for its 2021 Fall Home Show, to be held Oct. 1-3 at HAPO Center in Pasco. Exhibitor guides have been mailed to members and previous exhibitors. Digital copies are available at hbatc.com. Call 509-735-2745. HBA members receive a $100 discount on booth rentals.
Trios birthing center project tops out
Layton Construction hit a major milestone in construction of the Trios Family Birthing Center at Trios Southridge Hospital when it placed the final steel beam – topping out the project. Layton and Trios employees celebrated the moment after signing the beam before it was placed. The $22 million project is the first phase of construction, which will result in moving the Trios Family Birthing Center from the former Kennewick General Hospital in downtown Kennewick in 2022. With the final beam in place, crews are working on the exterior perimeter before they begin to pour concrete flooring. The 23,300-square-foot two-story addition is being built above the first-floor surgery department, with connections to the second and third floors of the current hospital. The project includes renovating nearly 10,000-square-feet within the hospital.
The addition adds two dedicated rooms for Caesarian section deliveries, six labor/ delivery/recovery/postpartum rooms and a 10-bed critical care nursery. The hospital’s licensed bed count will increase to 111 from 74, once the 37 beds currently housed on Auburn are moved.
WSU leaders secure naming rights to Tri-City campus
Washington State University President Kirk Schulz and WSU Tri-Cities Chancellor Sandra Haynes secured naming rights for the college’s new Collaboration Center academic building in Richland with sizeable donations. Schulz and his wife, Noel, committed $50,000 to name the “Noel and Kirk Schulz Academic Support Lounge,” while Haynes donated $25,000 to name the “Sandra Haynes Collaboration Space in Honor of First-Generation Students.” The $30 million, state-funded project will offer eight teaching laboratories, two classrooms and an atrium when it opens this fall on the WSU Tri-Cities campus. For more information about the project or additional opportunities to sponsor rooms and equipment, contact Jaime Heppler, jaime.heppler@wsu.edu or by phone at 817-243-6019.
Pasco begins much-awaited overpass project The city of Pasco has begun its longawaited Lewis Street overpass project. The city held a groundbreaking ceremony in early June to celebrate the project, which will carry Lewis Street
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 across the BNSF Railway tracks on a modern bridge with pedestrian and bikefriendly features. The 1937 underpass will be retired. Funding is from the Connecting Washington program, Washington’s Motor Vehicle Account, the Transportation Improvement Board, federal grants and city contributions. Cascade Bridge LLC was the winning bidder with a $22.3 million proposal to construct the bridge. Construction is expected to be completed in the fall of 2023.
Here’s one way to brighten an empty Sears store
Simon Property Group, the parent to Kennewick’s Columbia Center mall, is doing something interesting with the empty Sears in a mall it owns in Burling-
B7
ton, Massachusetts. The retail landlord converted the space into a “restaurant gallery” with tenants such as Fogo de Chão. While there are no indications Simon has similar plans for its empty Sears spot in Kennewick, it offers a hint to ways the property owner is getting creative about filling large, empty spaces. The Burlington mall property in Massachusetts debuts its restaurant gallery this fall with four restaurant tenants, including a sandwich shop and a Shake Shack. Too, Simon created a one-acre greenspace outside the old Sears for the gallery. Sears closed its 160,000-square-foot Kennewick store after it filed for bankruptcy in 2018, Al Urbansky of Chain Store Age wrote about the restaurant gallery project in the online retail publication.
B8
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Tri-Cities loses TerraPower advanced nuclear plant to coal site in Wyoming By Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Bellevue-based TerraPower, founded and helmed by Bill Gates to develop safe, carbon-free power, has selected a coal plant site in Wyoming for its nextgeneration nuclear project. TerraPower, together with partner PacifiCorp and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, announced its “Natrium” technology will be built at the site of one of PacifiCorp’s retiring coal plants in Wyoming in early June. The decision is a disappointment in the Tri-Cities, which was under con-
sideration for the project in late 2020. Energy Northwest, one of TerraPower’s partners, proposed building the reactor at Site 4 near the Columbia Generating Station north of Richland. TerraPower along with Marylandbased X-energy each received $80 million in initial funding with the promise of $3.2 billion over the seven-year course of development from the U.S. Department of Energy in October. Each is bringing advanced nuclear projects to the market, though the technology differs. TerraPower is teaming with GE/Hita-
chi, on a 345MW sodium-cooled reactor. Energy Northwest is a partner to both and proposed two unused sites near its 1,200-megawatt power plant north of Richland. While TerraPower is building in Wyoming, X-energy is partnering with Grant County PUD and Energy Northwest to build its X3-100 reactor north of Richland. Energy Northwest supported TerraPower’s decision in a prepared response to questions about the announcement. Energy Northwest said it will contin-
ue to support TerraPower and wants the Natrium plant to succeed. While it hoped to host the plant, a spokesperson said the intent was to bring the project to commercial operation. PacifiCorp was included in the application and was the intended outlet or “off-taker” for the power it generates. “Siting the plant in PacifiCorp’s territory and utilizing a retiring coal facility, with existing transmission and infrastructure, makes sense and we support the decision,” Energy Northwest said
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
B9
Hermiston readies industrial park that could bring 250 jobs, $70M investment By Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
The city of Hermiston breaks ground July 7 on work to extend utilities to prepare the South Hermiston Industrial Park, known as SHIP, for future tenants. At full buildout, SHIP will feature 16 parcels ranging from 1.5 to 20 acres. It is expected to attract up to $70 million in private investment with future tenants employing up to 250 people. It will offer easy-to-develop parcels to smaller, light industrial businesses that serve the Hermiston area’s large agriculture and industrial operations. “These new shovel-ready lots will make it much easier for small, light industrial operations to set up,” said Mark Morgan, assistant city manager, in a press release announcing the project. The $2.5 million utility project includes extending roads, water, sewer and power service to the park, which is west of Highway 395 near the Walmart Distribution Center. Work coincides with construction of the Meyer Distributing warehouse. The private 179,000-square-foot auto parts distribution center will anchor SHIP and is expected to open in the fall with
70 full-time employees. Indiana-based Meyer Distributing is a nationwide specialty auto parts distribution and logistics firm. Funding for SHIP includes a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, $1.2 million from a Local Improvement District consisting of adjoining property owners, $250,000 from the city of Hermiston and $50,000 from Umatilla County. The groundbreaking will be held at 12:15 p.m. July 7 on East Penny Avenue, off Kelli Boulevard. The SHIP utility project includes: • Paving streets and installing water and sewer lines to Southeast 10th Street between Highway 395 and East Penny Avenue. • Paving and installing water and sewer lines to a road spur that will extend from Southeast 10th into Port of Umatilla property. • Completing paving on Southeast Campbell Drive to East Penny. • Installing underground power through Port of Umatilla property to connect with existing power systems on Highway 395.
News directly to your inbox
Courtesy city of Hermiston The city of Hermiston breaks ground July 7 on a $2.5 million project to bring utilities and roads to the South Hermiston Industrial Park, known as SHIP, which could attract $70 million in private investment and 250 jobs.
Thank You
Through your contributions and support, the Tri-Cities Sunrise Rotary Scholarship
Golf Tournament raised over $25,000 toward our scholarship fund! We couldn’t have done it without each one of you!
Ultra Premier Sponsors Perkins & Zlatich, CPAs P.S. / Chinook Home Health Care
Premier Sponsors CO-Engergy / Conover Insurance / Evelyn Walkley / PayneWest Insurance Pacific Steel / Mr. Electric / Moon Security / Basin Pacific Insurance & Benefits Community First Bank / Treasure Valley Coffee Retter & Company - Sotheby’s / RDO Equipment / Desert Food Mart Legacy Jiu-Jitsu Academy / Kadlec / Perfection Glass / Northwest Elder Law Center Berkshire Hathaway Home Services - Your Home Team
tories Top S
Local and real estate news delivered monthly.
Subscribe to our e-newsletter at tcjournal.biz
Major Sponsors Tippett Company / G2 Construction / Cougar Cave Expresso Edward Jones - Ryan Brault / Northwest Farm Credit Services Suzanne Feeney / Nanette Walkley / Safeguard Tee and Green Sponsors
Home is where you park it. Find your dream RV today!
(509) 545-0101 clickitrvtricities.com
Baker & Giles, PS Rena & Dez Gama Innovative Retirement Solutions, PLLC BMW of Tri-Cities Routh Consulting Engineers Jiffy Car Wash CG Public House Sunrise Rotary Educators Karyl & John Whiteley Dorothy Driver Tate Architecture Milne Nail Power Tool & Repair Go Huskies - In memory of Don Miksch Warren Tate “The Original” Northwest CPA Group PLLC Inland Northwest AGC Wright’s Desert Gold Motel & RV Park
Innovative Mortgage Bill Robertson Nissan Ringold Refrigeration Interwest Technology Systems Canyon Lakes Golf Course Stan Johnson Jim Guzek - See3Slam Daryl & Jan - Sunrise Rotary Sylvan Learning Kennewick/Richland Mascott Equipment Dura-Shine Clean Umpqua Bank NobleWealth Management Harmony Yoga & Wellness Washington Trust Bank Pratt & Co. Construction
A special thank you to all the teams that participated, the donors of the great raffle prizes, the volunteers who worked the event and the staff at Canyon Lakes Golf Course!
B10
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 uBOARDS • Alison Colotelo, a senior research scientist and project manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has been selected for the Hydropower Foundation’s advisory board. She is the only representative from a national laboratory on the 11-member foundation body. Other advisory board members represent regulatory agencies, utilities, hydropower facilities and private investment firms. • Columbia Generating Station stakeholders, representing 92 utilities in six states, elected member utilities and individual officers to the nuclear power plant’s participants review board. The three utility-appointed participants elected for a three-year term to the nine-member Nuclear Energy Participant Board are Jane Van Dyke, Clark Public Utilities; Pete Simonich, Missoula Electric Cooperative; and Sid Logan, Snohomish County PUD. The PRB also elected Stu Nelson, Franklin PUD, as chairman; Sid Logan, Snohomish PUD, as vice chairman; and Ron Gold, Mason PUD 1, as secretary. Officers serve a one-year term. Nelson has been a member of the board since 2007. The PRB reviews Columbia’s annual budget and fuel management plans, as well as nuclear construction and purchases of more than $500,000. • Greg Cullen, Energy Northwest’s vice president for energy services and development, was elected to serve a three-year term Greg Cullen on the Northwest Public Power Association board, which represents and serves consumer-owned, locallydriven utilities in the western U.S. and Canada.
uAWARDS & HONORS • Monyay Green, Lourdes PACT Team supervisor at Lourdes Counseling Center in Pasco, has been recognized as the hospital’s 2021 Monyay Green Mercy Award winner. The Mercy Award recognizes one employee from each of LifePoint Health’s hospitals who profoundly touches the lives of others and best represents the spirit and values on which the company was founded. Each hospital winner will be considered for LifePoint’s 2021 companywide Mercy Award. The companywide winner will be announced this summer and honored during a ceremony in August in Nashville. Green is serves on the Great Columbia Behavioral Health Regional Advisory Board, Hot Spotters and Continuum of Care Committee. He also continuously represents Lourdes at various community meetings. In 2008, Green
was one of the recipients of the Lourdes Mission Award, which recognizes five Lourdes employees each year who live the Lourdes mission and values and inspire those around them to do the same with support, encouragement and challenges. • Michelle Clary, a senior wealth advisor with Piton Wealth of the Thrivent Advisor Network in Kennewick, has received Michelle Clary the 2020 Voice in Philanthropy Award from Thrivent Charitable Impact & Investing in Minneapolis. She is one of 57 financial advisors nationwide to be recognized. Selection for the award is based on total outright and deferred charitable gifts made by Clary’s clients through Thrivent Charitable in 2020. Additionally, she is a member of Thrivent Charitable’s VIP-Hall of Honor, which is awarded when clients’ cumulative charitable gifts to Thrivent Charitable exceed $5 million. These gifts will benefit a variety of local, national and global charities according to clients’ wishes. • The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada has awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in financial reporting to Benton County for its comprehensive annual financial report for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2019. The report has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, which includes demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report. This is the 16th consecutive year that the county and the auditor’s office have received it. • Robert Franklin, assistant director of the Washington State University Tri-Cities Hanford History Project and teaching assistant professor of history, is part of a history film focusing on the Manhattan Project that was recently nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Daytime Non-Fiction Special.” “The Manhattan Project Electronic Field Trip” was produced by the National WWII Museum based in New Orleans. The 70-minute film, available on YouTube, focuses on the three major sites instrumental in the Manhattan Project, which developed the technology and produced the plutonium and uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs: Hanford; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
uRETIREMENTS • The West Richland Police Department announced four retirements: Detective Clark Boyer, 24 years of service, retired March 31; Officer Nick Letourneau, 21 years of service, retired April 23; Police Records Supervisor Tammy Davenport, 16 years of service, retired May 7; and Sgt. Terry Boehmler, 26 years of service, retired May 31.
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 uDONATIONS • The One Hanford Feeding Families Fundraiser held April 19-30 raised $47,200 to fight hunger in the Columbia Basin. Hanford prime contractors and their labor union partners supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford site hosted its second annual online fundraiser to help Second Harvest respond to continued elevated demand for basic food needs due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Donations were used to help Second Harvest source and distribute healthy food to children, families and seniors facing hunger through its partner food banks, meal programs and mobile market distributions. Organizations involved in the fundraiser included Amentum, Bechtel, Central Plateau Cleanup Company, HPMC Occupational Medical Services, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, Washington River Protection Solutions, HAMTC and Central Washington Building Trades. • 3 Rivers Community Foundation wrapped up its Covid Response with $120,000 in grants to nonprofits in Benton and Franklin counties. These grants are made possible by a $40,000 donation from Battelle, which manages and operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, a match of that donation by All in WA, and donations from individual donors. Grants made possible by these donations include: $10,000 to Second Harvest to support the increased food insecurity needs during the pandemic; $10,000 to Safe Harbor Support Center to support its virtual programs addressing trauma and behavioral intervention programs, family assistance program, 24-hour shelter for teens, case management and parent education/coaching; and $10,000 to Community Action Connections to support the Second Chance Center providing microwavable hot meals to families who are unable to access other services, are living on the street or are doubled-up with other families. • Gesa Credit Union donated $15,000 to support home fire preparedness, response and recovery efforts throughout Washington. The gift includes $5,000 to the local American Red Cross chapter which serves families in Central and Southeastern Washington, as well as $2,500 each to the Red Cross Northwest Region and chapters headquartered in Spokane, Tacoma and Seattle.
uNEW HIRES • Miramar Health Center in Kennewick has announced the addition of two certified physician assistants to its team. Hiep Nguyen Hiep Nguyen earned his master of clinical health services degree and physician assistant certification from MEDEX Northwest at the University of Washington, in Seattle. Seeing firsthand the hardships of a single mom emigrating to the U.S. shaped how Nguyen views the world. He said he’s passionate about helping people overcome hard times, poverty and sickness and now
is eager to do that in the exam room. Vannina Gwilliam started her career as a radiology technologist and medical interpreter before becoming a physician assistant. She earned Vannina Gwilliam her master’s in physician assistant studies from the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah. Gwilliam, hails from La Rioja, Argentina. She enjoys helping her patients find culturally appropriate solutions to their health care concerns. • The AAA Washington Board of Trustees has named Heather Snavely to succeed Kirk Nelson as president and chief executive officer Heather Snavely of the Bellevuebased company after his retirement. Nelson served as president and CEO of AAA Washington since April 2011. Snavely will be the first woman to lead the organization that serves 1.2 million members in Washington state and north Idaho with emergency road service, leisure travel planning and personal and small-business insurance. Snavely comes to AAA Washington from PCC Community Markets in Seattle, where she has served as vice president of market-
ing. Prior to PCC Community Markets, Snavely was the senior director of global brand marketing for Brooks Running Co. in Seattle, and director of global consumer communications at Microsoft for Xbox in Redmond. • Walla Wallabased Baker Boyer Bank has announced two new hires at its Kennewick office. Mistee Verhulp joins as a family advisor, bringing Mistee Verhulp a unique skillset of legal expertise and a passion for helping clients achieve their financial goals and life dreams. She graduated from Gonzaga Law School and practiced as a licensed attorney prior to joining Baker Boyer. Karen Tomerlin joins as a trust advisor, bringing years of expertise in corporate and private law. She received her bachelor’s in political science Karen Tomerlin from Western Washington University and law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law. • Historic Downtown Prosser has hired Jude Schnellbach as its new market manager for the Prosser Farmers Market. The 2017 Prosser High School alum
B11
recently graduated from Washington State University with a degree in accounting and finance. • MMEC Architecture Jude Schnellbach and Interiors announced two new staff members at its Kennewick office. Ethan Sanders joins as an unlicensed associate architect. He is a recent Washington State Ethan Sanders University graduate and interned with MMEC over the past few summers. Brynna Jones joins as an interior designer. She is a recent Washington State Brynna Jones University graduate and previously served MMEC as a student intern beginning in 2018.
uAPPOINTMENTS • Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed James Millbauer of Kennewick to the state Building Code Council.
B12
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
PUBLIC RECORD uBANKRUPTCIES Bankruptcies are filed under the following chapter headings: Chapter 7 — Straight Bankruptcy: debtor gives up non-exempt property and debt is discharged. Chapter 11 — Allows companies and individuals to restructure debts to repay them. Chapter 12 — Allows family farmers or fishermen to restructure finances to avoid liquidation for foreclosure. Chapter 13 — Plan is devised by the individual to pay a percentage of debt based on ability to pay. All disposable income must be used to pay debts. Information provided by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Spokane.
CHAPTER 7 Maria Carolina Magana, 6217 Westport Lane, Pasco. Austine Warren Wilson & Alexandrea Grace Wilson, 919 W. Park St., Pasco. James Jerome Erler & Melissa Lynn Erler, 200802 E. Game Farm Road, #105, Kennewick. James T. Grego Jr., 1614 B W. Seventh Ave., Kennewick. Claudia S. Macias Larios, 4815 W. Clearwater Ave., #54, Kennewick, Kristine Marie Tews, 904 Winslow Ave., Richland. Zurla Arlene Lucatero, 502 S. Hugo Ave., Pasco. Melanie Coness Mason & Cherie Ashleigh H. Mason, 1519 Paterson Road, Prosser. Austin David Snyder & Ashley Marie Harvey, 318 Barth Ave., Richland. Randy T. Brown, 1702 W. 45th Place, Kennewick. Juan Palencia, 3001 W. Windy Lane, Benton City. Alfredo Uribe, 3713 West Leola St., Pasco. Gustavo Damien Nogales & Karla G. Nogales, 11931 N. Peaceful PR NW, Prosser. Alicia Angelina Garcia, 69 Jadwin Ave., #57, Richland. Michael Vincent Bush & Joylynn Ann Bush, 4611 Mallard Court, West Richland. Crystal Jordan Lopez, 3806 Charleston Lane, Pasco. Dorothy Rochelle Stockman, 213406 E. Pidcock Road, Kennewick.
CHAPTER 13 Miguel Abraham Martinez, 103 N. Zinser St., Kennewick.
uTOP PROPERTIES BENTON COUNTY 623, 625, 627, 631, 635, 643, 647, 651, 648, 644, 622, 614 Marysville Way and 2968 Cashmere Drive, Richland, 13 parcels for home sites of less an acre each. Price: $1 million. Buyer: Hayden Homes LLC. Seller: Richland 132 LLC. 455 & 235 Belmont Blvd., West Richland, 5-acre home site. Price: $1.1 million. Buyer: Belmont Meadows LLC. Seller: Aaron Sullivan. 101 Wellsian Way, Richland, 3,457-square-foot fast food restaurant. Price: $6.8 million. Buyer: FM Richland F LLC. Seller: Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. 101 Wellsian Way, Richland, 170,300-square-foot supermarket on 14 acres. Price: $753,000. Buyer: FM
Richland F LLC. Seller: Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. 491 Adair Drive, Richland, 4,393-square-foot home. Price: $765,000. Buyer: Douglas E. Newton. Seller: Matt McCormick. Land west of North Wamba Road, Prosser, 28 acres of undeveloped land. Price: $2.3 million. Buyer: North 44 West LLC. Seller: Lixsandro Arriaga Villafan. 4294, 4270, 4246, 4126, 4102, 4078, 4054, 4030, 3982 Highview St., Richland, 9 home site parcels under an acre. Price: $1.7 million. Buyer: P & R Construction LLC. Seller: Monson Development Washington LLC. 2423 Saddle Way, Richland, 4,995-square-foot home. Price: $1.2 million. Buyer: Sean & Sarah Demars. Seller: Craig D. & Rebecca K. Ritchie. 1220 Glenwood Court, Richland, 3,739-square-foot home. Price: $878,000. Buyer: Nathan R. & Angela V. Croskrey. Seller: David S. Morrison & Henrietta L. Mayuga. 411 W. Railroad Ave., Kennewick, 18,800-square-foot warehouse. Price: $1.5 million. Buyer: Railroad Ventures LLC. Seller: Columbia Industries. Property near Lake Wallula, 2,000 acres of dry ag land and rangeland, plus 252-acre home site. Price: $995,000. Buyer: Wake Family Properties LLC. Seller: Rainier Heights Holdings LLC. 1601 George Washington Way
and 118 Van Giesen St., Richland, 14,707-square-foot drug store. Price: $5.2 million. Buyer: Project Juniper Fund V LLC. Seller: Waltrust Properties Inc. 13423 Furlong Lane, Kennewick, 1-acre home site. Price: $702,000. Buyer: James & Sherry A. Lynch. Seller: Tanninen Custom Homes Inc. 75604 Reata Road, Kennewick, 4,470-square-foot home. Price: $770,000. Buyer: David & Gloria Oni. Seller: Randell W. & Cindy K. Wellenbrook. 103907 Wiser Parkway, Kennewick, 6,500-square-foot clubhouse and retail store, restroom building, 3,138-squarefoot home on 25 acres. Price: $10 million. Buyer: Columbia Sun RV Resort LLC. Seller: Badger Mountain RV Resort LLC. 2105 Pullen St., Richland, two apartment buildings, both more than 7,300 square feet. Price: $2.1 million. Buyer: 2105 Pullen Street LLC. Seller: 5D Development at Richlander Apartments LLC. 2137 Sky Meadow Ave., Richland, 2,830-square-foot home. Price: $741,000. Buyer: Patricia J. Long. Seller: Barry Long. 2319 Skyview Loop, Richland, 3,051-square-foot home. Price: $900,000. Buyer: Deepthi Rimmalapudi & Sri Ratan Boppana. Seller: David
B13
Sharp. 4253 W. 24th Ave., Kennewick, 6,492-square-foot office building. Price: $1.8 million. Buyer: Milo Reid Commercial LLC. Seller: Loren K. & Teresa A. Sharp. 977 Creer Way, West Richland, 2.2 acres for home site. Price: $1.3 million. Buyer: Van Giesen Apts. LLC. Seller: Urban Range LLC. 7025 Grandridge Blvd., Unit K-6, Kennewick, 8,435-square-foot office building. Price: $1.7 million. Buyer: IBEW 77 International Blvd. LLC. Seller: Grandridge Law Center LLC. 3508 W. 36th Loop, Kennewick, 2,732-square-foot home. Price: $1 million. Buyer: Mark A. & Lilly Anita Fischels. Seller: Stephen D. & Stephanie L. Bannworth Trustees. 1368 Westgate Way, Richland, 2,852-square-foot home. Price: $790,000. Buyer: Matthew J. Petersen. Seller: Robert Lauren & Rebecca Lynn Snow. 3803 Northlake Drive, West Richland, 3,910-square-foot home on 1.9 acres. Price: $960,000. Buyer: Peter K. & Michelle C. Stewart. Seller: Ronald O. & Karen S. Maxfield Trustees.
FRANKLIN COUNTY Property west of Highway 395 near
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B14
B14
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
Paid Advertising
Member SIPC
Help protect your family’s inheritance
T.J. WILLINGHAM
(509) 735-1497 You might contribute to your IRA for decades to help pay for your retirement. But if you don’t need all the money, you may want to leave what’s left to your children or grandchildren. However, if you want to ensure they get the most from this inheritance, you’ll need to do some planning. Here’s a little background: Up until a couple of years ago, when you left the proceeds of your IRA to your beneficiaries, they could choose to “stretch” required withdrawals over a long period, based on their life expectancies. These required withdrawals were generally taxable, so this “stretch IRA” allowed your beneficiaries to greatly reduce the annual taxes due,
while benefiting from longer taxdeferred growth potential. And the younger the beneficiary, the longer the life expectancy and the lower the withdrawals, so this technique would have been especially valuable for your grandchildren or even greatgrandchildren. Changes in laws affecting retirement accounts have significantly limited the stretch IRA strategy. Now, most non-spouse beneficiaries must withdraw all assets from the IRA within 10 years of the IRA owner’s death. The beneficiary generally does not have to take out any money during that 10-year period, but at the end of it, the entire balance must be withdrawn – and that could result in a pretty big tax bill. The stretch IRA strategy can still be used for surviving spouses, beneficiaries who are no more than 10 years younger than the deceased IRA owner, and beneficiaries who are chronically ill or disabled. Minor children of the original account owner are also eligible for a stretch IRA – but only until they reach the age of majority, at which time the 10-year rule applies. So, if you want to leave your IRA to family members who don’t meet any of the above exceptions, what can you do? One possibility is a Roth IRA conversion. You could convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA over your lifetime, so your heirs would
receive the Roth IRA. They would still be required to withdraw the assets within 10 years, but unlike with a traditional IRA, Roth IRA withdrawals are generally tax-free. These conversions are taxable, so you’ll want to consult your tax professional in addition to your financial advisor, to determine if this strategy can help you achieve your legacy goals. Another option is to purchase life insurance, which can provide a specific dollar amount to your heirs or be used to help cover additional taxes. This may be especially advantageous if you are 72 or older, in good health, and taking withdrawals – technically called required minimum distributions – from your retirement accounts, such as your traditional IRA and your 401(k). If you don’t really need the money, you can use these withdrawals to pay for some or all of the insurance premiums. Life insurance can’t replace an IRA as a means to save for retirement, though, so you should consult with your financial advisor to make sure you are working toward all your goals. In any case, if you have a sizable IRA or you don’t need the funds that you’re required to take from your retirement accounts, you may want to start thinking about what you want to do with the money. The more thorough your legacy planning, the better your chances of meeting your legacy goals.
This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.
JOY BEHEN
RYAN BRAULT
DUSTIN CLONTZ
JAY FREEMAN
SHELLEY KENNEDY
TERRY SLIGER
6115 Burden Blvd., Ste. A, Pasco
3616 W. Court St., Ste. I, Pasco
1060 Jadwin Ave., Ste. 325, Richland
16 W. Kennewick Ave., Ste. 101, Kennewick
767 Williams Blvd. Richland
1329 Aaron Dr. Richland
(509) 542-1626
(509) 545-8121
(509) 943-1441
(509) 783-2041
(509) 946-7626
(509) 943-2920
CFP®
AAMS
CFP®
www.edwardjones.com HARRY VAN DYKEN
CARSON WILLINGHAM
T.J. WILLINGHAM
TARA WISWALL
JONATHAN D. SALMON
Connell, 46 acres of undeveloped land. Price: $700,000. Buyer: Summit Point Estates LLC. Seller: Welch Farmlands LLC. 11731 Talon Court, Pasco, 0.65-acre home site. Price: $890,000. Buyer: Arielle & Jarrod W. Hays. Seller: Greg Senger Construction Inc. 3035 Rickenbacker Drive, Pasco, 6,750-square-foot storage hangar. Price: $875,000. Buyer: Great Basin Aviation Co. LLC. Seller: Bush Force Hotel LLC. 6800 Kohler Road, Pasco, 3,750-square-foot shop building on 13 acres. Price: $2.6 million. Buyer: Big Sky Developers LLC. Seller: Rodney L. & Julie K. Burns. 920 N. 20th Ave., Pasco, 16,780-square-foot commercial building. Price: $1.1 million. Buyer: Pasco 18 LLC. Seller: Ellingson Brothers LLC. Property north of Burns Road, 60 acres of ag land. Price: $5.4 million. Buyer: 7HA Pasco LLC. Seller: 7HA Family LLC. 607 N. Oregon Ave., Pasco, 3,500- and 7,500-square-foot warehouses. Price: $1.4 million. Buyer: Kidwell Family LLC. Seller: Dana Labels Inc. 12731 Glade North, Road, Eltopia, 12,380-square-foot service garage on 5 acres. Price: $900,000. Buyer: BCB Management LLC. Seller: Terteling Properties LLC. Property east of North Railroad Avenue, 206 acres of ag land. Price: $2.3 million. Buyer: Gish Family Properties LLC. Seller: R L & Mary Gish (1991 TR et al). Property south of Eltopia West Road, 156 acres of ag land. Price: $2.7 million. Buyer: Octaviano C. Torres (et al). Seller: Zilar Family LLC. 8316, 8312, 8308, 8304, 8216, 8212, 8208, 8204, 8116, 8112, 8108, 8104, 8016, 8012, 8008, 8004 Massey Drive, Pasco, 16 0.25-acre home sites. Price: $2 million. Buyer: Pro Made Construction LLC. Seller: TDKJ Residential Property LLC. 6813 Eagle Crest Drive, Pasco, 2,549-square-foot home. Price: $721,000. Buyer: Jesse D. & Jennifer L. Flajole. Seller: Casey E. Yeaton. 7192 Columbia River Road, Pasco, 3,327-square-foot home on 7.4 acres. Price: $1.5 million. Buyer: Andrew W. Osborne. Seller: Trevor & Shelly Broetje. 3405 N. Commercial Ave., 2 warehouses totaling 27,824 square feet on 2.2 acres. Price: $1.8 million. Buyer: Lixsandro Villafan. Seller: HEF Industries LLC. 2307 W. Court St., Pasco, 1,400-square-foot commercial building. Price: $940,000. Buyer: Numerica Credit Union. Seller: Sunny Hill Enterprise LLC. 1002 N. 28th Ave., Pasco, 12,000-square-foot auto dealer on 4 acres. Price: $3.8 million. Buyer: Grace Delight of Washington LLC. Seller: Moore Holding Company LLC. 3333 N. Railroad Ave., Pasco, 30,835 square feet of service repair garage, office building on 32 acres. Price: $3.7 million. Buyer: Copart of Washington Inc. Seller: Paula J. Holmes (et al).
uBUILDING PERMITS BENTON CITY
2735 Queensgate Dr. Richland
1020 N. Center Parkway, Suite F, Kennewick
1020 N. Center Parkway, Suite F, Kennewick
6855 W. Clearwater Ave., Suite C, Kennewick
1329 Aaron Dr. Richland
(509) 627-6537
(509) 735-1497
(509) 735-1497
(509) 783-2042
(509) 943-2920
Sun Pacific Energy, 1025 Jacobs Road, $15,000 for new sign. Contractor: Mustang Sign Group. James Weber, 507 Ninth St., $10,000 for commercial remodel. Contractor: owner.
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B15
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 BENTON COUNTY LIGO Caltech, 127124 N. Route 10, $1.3 million for commercial addition. Contractor: DGR Grant Construction. Remnant House, 5305 Hicks Road, $30,000 for commercial remodel. Contractor: OK Construction. US Cellular, 38121 N. Demoss Road, $100,000 for two antenna/tower. Contractor: SAC Wireless LLC. American Tower, 3551 PR 210 PR N.E., $20,000 for antenna/tower. Contractor: Legacy Telecommunications.
KENNEWICK LS Propdrop LLC, 4110 W. Clearwater Ave., $1.2 million for commercial remodel, $54,650 for plumbing, $34,700 for heat pump/HVAC. Contractors: Deacon Construction LLC, Riggle Plumbing Inc., MacDonald Miller Facilities. Circle K Stores Inc., 4410 W. 10th Ave., $57,000 for three signs. Contractor: Quality Signs. ZEB LLC, 3611 S. Zintel Way, $8,000 for sign. Contractor: Cascade Sign & Fabrication. The Condominiums at Canyon Lakes, 3710 Canyon Lakes Drive, $39,000 for commercial reroof. Contractor: A & A Roofing Services LLC. Theordore Leskovar, 3020 W. Clearwater Ave., $30,000 for sign. Contractor: Quality Signs. Hogback Columbia Center, 1659 N. Columbia Center Blvd., $16,600 for sign. Contractor: Mustang Sign Group. HAPO Community Credit Union, 7601 W. Clearwater Ave., $175,000 for tenant improvements, $5,000 for plumbing, $50,000 for heat pump/HVAC. Contractors: owner, Riggle Plumbing Inc., Apollo Sheet Metal.
Colorado Investments, 602 N. Colorado St., $120,000 for tenant improvements, $12,000 for heat pump/HVAC, $6,000 plumbing. Contractor: Stonecrest Builders, Huminsky’s Heating & Cooling, Mullins Enterprises LLC. Columbia Mall Partnership, 1321 N. Columbia Center Blvd., $285,000 for commercial remodel, $25,000 for heat pump/HVAC, $15,000 for plumbing. Contractors: Gray West Construction Inc., Apollo Sheet Metal, Riggle Plumbing. Brinkley Road LLC, 6624 W. Brinkley Road, $88,000 for tenant improvements. Contractor: owner. Ambience Investments, 2203 W. Fourth Ave., $10,000 for tenant improvements. Contractor: owner. Roundup Co., 2811 W. 10th Ave., $17,000 for commercial remodel. Contractor: Western Construction. PRPS LLC, 3911 W. 27th Ave., $5,000 for tenant improvements. Contractor: owner. CWS Holdings LLC, 8905 W. Gage Blvd., $50,000 for commercial remodel. Contractor: owner. South Hills Church, 3700 W. 27th Ave., $64,000 for commercial reroof. Contractor: A & A Roofing Services LLC. Steptoe Express LLC, 2001 N. Steptoe, $353,000 for three signs. Contractor: Quality Signs. Kennewick Irrigation District, 6600 W. Rio Grande Ave., $169,000 for commercial remodel, $8,000 for plumbing, $8,000 for heat pump/HVAC. Contractors: Radix Construction Inc., Total Energy Management, Silverline Electric/ Plumbing/HVAC. Ted Song Wong, 6825 W. Kennewick Ave., $12,600 for commercial reroof. Contractor: Tri-Cities Roofing LLC.
PASCO Ted & Amy Wong, 1315 N. 20th Ave., $6,100 for tenant improvements. Contractor: owner. Big Sky Developers, 10181 Burns Road, $91,300 for grading. Contractor: RP Development LLC. Wapiti Investments, 10315 Burns Road, $88,800 for grading. Contractor: RP Development LLC. TSK 2019 LLC, Parcel 115 180 065, $60,000 for grading. Contractor: RP Development LLC. Virk Associates LLC, 2100 E. Hillsboro Road, $68,400 for commercial addition. Contractor: NW Canopy Structures Inc. UPI Property LLC, 904 S. Oregon Ave., $53,100 for new commercial. Contractor: CRF Metal Works LLC. Mi Tierra Real Estate, 812 S. Myrtle Ave., $177,300 for pole building. Con-
B15
tractor: owner. Ellingson Brother, 920 N. 20th Ave., $20,000 for sign. Contractor: Mustang Sign Group. UCMS of Seventh-day Adventists, 4115 W. Henry St., $18,000 for sign. Contractor: Quality Signs. Goodwill Industries, 220 W. Columbia St., $18,000 for commercial remodel. Contractor: Bosch II Construction Co. Hogback Sandifur, 7505 Sandifur Parkway, $5,500 for sign. Contractor: Quality Signs. New Dream Investors, 2805 E. A St., $35,600 for sign. Contractor: Quality Signs. Pasco, Washington, 410 W. Bonneville St., $20,000 for sign. Contractor: Mustang Sign Group. EE Properties LLC, Parcel 116 351
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B16
B16
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
300, $385,000 for new commercial. Contractor: Sharpe & Preszler Construction. Tri-Cities Prep Catholic School, 9612 St. Thomas Drive, $100,000 for tenant improvement. Contractor: owner. Justin R. Henning, 3305 W. Marie St., $22,000 for sign. Contractor: Inland Sign and Lighting. Timothy A. Rowell, 4005 E. B St. No. 101, $14,000 for tenant improvement. Contractor: Ral Boy Inc. Salvation Army, 310 N. Fourth Ave., $13,500 for commercial remodel. Contractor: Cliff Thorn Construction. Juan Cardenas, 2020 E. Lewis St., $27,200 for tenant improvement. Contractor: Owner. City of Pasco, 801 N. Commercial Ave., $330,000 for new commercial. Contractor: To be determined.
RICHLAND Tim Bush Trustees, 1380 Duportail St., $8,700 for grading. Contractor: Hummel Construction and Development. Tim Bush Trustees, 38 Lawless Drive, $8,700 for grading. Contractor: Hummel Construction and Development. 1 Baron LLC, 454 Stevens Drive, $70,000 for tenant improvements. Contractor: Built Constructions & Electric. Richland Players, 608 The Parkway, $90,000 for tenant improvements. Contractor: Cliff Thorn Construction. End-Ira Inc., 244 Jackrabbit Lane, $18,000 for tenant improvements. Contractor: owner. Gesa Credit Union, 825 Goethals Drive, $13,500 for tenant improvements. Contractor: owner. Zenitram Properties, 901 Aaron Drive, $15,000 for tenant improvement.
Contractor: Hummel Construction & Development. JLW Asset Management, 2375 Jericho Road #9, $682,000 for new commercial. Contractor: JLW Asset Management LLC. JCLTG LLC, 1374 Jadwin Ave., $25,000 for tenant improvement. Contractor: ALC Home Improvements. GoCougs Properties, 604 Williams Blvd., $17,000 for commercial reroof. Contractor: A&A Roofing Services LLC. Martell Properties, 2501 Robertson Drive, $2 million for new commercial. Contractor: Premier Landscaping.
WEST RICHLAND Goodwill, 3250 Kennedy Ave., $10,000 for sign. Contractor: Quality Signs. Grace and Truth Community, 1301 Bombing Range Road, $36,000 for
commercial reroof. Contractor: Columbia Roofing Inc.
uBUSINESS LICENSES RICHLAND Veritiv Operating Company, 7016 A C Skinner Parkway, Jacksonville, Florida. Stagecraft Industries Inc., 5051 N. Lagoon Ave., Portland, Oregon. Keele Medical LLC, 1944 S. 1030 West, Orem, Utah. Danfoss Flomatic Corp., 15 Pruyns Island Drive, Glens Falls, New York. Astroturf Corporation, 2680 Abutment Road, Dalton, Georgia. Morrison Metalweld Process Corp., 3685 Stutz Drive, Ste. 102, Canfield, Ohio. Michels Utility Services Inc., 817 Main St., Brownsville, Wisconsin. Fieldturf USA, 175 N. Industrial Blvd. NE, Calhoun, Georgia. Edward Scott Barrows, 274 Swofford Road, Mossyrock. Carla Ann Gardinier, 140 Gage Blvd. KPFF Consulting Engineers, 1601 Fifth Ave., Seattle. ATI, 835 S. 192nd St., Seatac. KPFF Consulting Engineers, 2712 Torrey Pines Way. D. Hittle & Associates Inc., 7515 W. Deschutes Ave., Kennewick. The B-hive, 1388 Jadwin Ave. Chinook Construction Inc., 3280 Clark Court, West Richland. Zero DB Communications, 3715 E. Dalke Ave., Spokane. Phoenix Company, 5405 E. Cataldo Ave., Spokane Valley. Allied Plumbing and Pumps, LLC, 246 W. Manson Hwy., #124, Chelan. Thornworks LLC, 830 S. Chestnut Ave., Pasco. Riverwood Roofing, 35501 N. Milan Elk Road, Chattaroy. Cheesse Lawn Care, 503 N. Jean St., Kennewick. Rainier Asphalt Sealing LLC, 43424 SE North Bend Way, North Bend. Alba’s Escavating, 1440 Forsell Road, Grandview. Wild Bill Graphics, 1421 Alice St. D-S Hardwood Corporation, 4706 247th St. Court E, Graham. 3 Kings Contracting Group, 15001 NE 10th Ave., Vancouver. Forgotten Dogs Rescue, 1009 Winslow Ave. Brothers Foundation & Concrete, 2108 N. 14th Ave., Pasco. Arrow Fire Protection LLC, 140 Mountain Creek Drive, Cle Elum. Schuchart Corporation, 919 Fifth Ave., Seattle. Ana’s Cleaning Services, 8507 Studebaker Drive, Pasco. Dreamscape Masonry & Garden LLC, 1608 W. 41st Ave., Kennewick. CPC Equipment Inc., 511 98th Drive NE, Lake Stevens. JA Torres Construction & Development LLC, 6526 Eagle Crest Drive, Pasco. Twilight Health LLC, 303 Bradley Blvd. Orion Media Group LLC, 516 Jadwin Ave. Preferred Industrial Electric LLC, 158904 W. North River Road, Prosser. Remedy Urgent Mobile Medicine, 3130 S. Gum St., Kennewick. AV Maintenance & Repair, 931 W. Sylvester St., Pasco. Lochner, 16201 E. Indiana Ave., Spokane Valley. Engage Perfect Cleaning, 1900 S. Clodfelter Road, Kennewick.
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B17
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 Landscape and Lawn Care Unlimited Services, 3407 W. Hood Ave., Kennewick. Urban Range LLC, 1790 Fowler St. Run Proxies, 723 The Parkway. Walther Iha LLC, 2016 S. Tweedt Court, Kennewick. Geeky Girl Voice Overs, 164 Englewood Drive. Turf Pros LLC, 1090 Wandling Road, Mabton. Spokane Restaurant Equipment Inc., 1750 E. Trent Ave., Spokane. Fireside Midwifery LLC, 270 N. Manuel Lane, Zillah. Crumbl – Richland, 2665 Queensgate Drive. Better Basements, 3406 Power Line Road, Walla Walla. Obsidian Creations LLC, 4821 W. Fourth Ave., Kennewick. Precision Builders, 2313 W. Sylvester St., Pasco. NV-Wines, 1325 Aaron Drive. Grace Wine Company, 173 Middle Waitsburg Road, Walla Walla. FMI Equpment, 1947 Saint St. New Era Construction NW, 2820 N. Road 44, Pasco. Distinctive Pool & Spa LLC, 1515 Jones Road. Two Pines NW, Two Pines Creations, 4501 Mallet St., West Richland. Blue Collar Buds, 2018 Greenbrook Blvd. Hard Rock Construction & Painting, 623 N. Arbutus Ave., Pasco. Innovative Air Sealing LLC, 184 Gallant Road. Burbank. Southpaw Masonry LLC, 4278 Jasper St. Pinetree Painting LLC, 5013 W. Richardson Road, Pasco. Brii Davis Photo LLC, 1302 Winslow
Ave. Priority General Construction LLC, 921 N. 24th Ave., Pasco. Burbank Holdings LLC, 610 Melissa St. T-Rex Landscaping LLC, 1032 N. 62nd Ave., West Richland. Smart Concrete LLC, 1419 N. 16th Ave., Pasco. Northwest Rubbish Removal, 1971 Sheridan Place. Raise Marketplace, LLC, 2101 Steptoe St. L-Works LLC, 1441 N. Northlake Way, Seattle. Boxedimity LLC, 69 Bremmer St. Columbia Basin Shroomery, 10209 W. Court St., Pasco. Veritiv Operating Company, 15909 E. Marietta Ave., Spokane Valley. Eneix Rising Renovations, 10365 Road 5.6 NE, Moses Lake. Green Darner Homes, 3809 Emerald St. Kraemer Consulting LLC, 572 Satus St. The Inspection Guy, LLC, 3121 W. Hood Ave., Kennewick. Carver, Alexandrea, 211A Torbett St. Geosciences Consulting LLC, 401 Shaw St. Verum Framing LLC, 3413 S. Conway Drive, Kennewick. Sky Valley Midwifery, PLLC, 1201 Jadwin Ave. Halo Dream Designs, 1207 Marshall Ave. Roscoe’s Coffee, 2003 Logston Blvd. Mike Leitner Consulting, 1984 Greenbrook Blvd. Renovation Properties LLC, 8842 W. First Ave., Kennewick. Mean Mugs, 2537 Harris Ave. Westgate Barber Shop, 2157 Van
Giesen St. Vicinity at Horn Rapids, 2665 Kingsgate Way. Embody Massage & Wellness, 1324 Jadwin Ave. A&A Roofing Services, 2904 W. 43rd Court, Kennewick. Esthetics By Me, 909 Willard Ave. Hylis, 26579 Road U SW, Mattawa. Tango Tri-Cities By Kathy Dee, 866
B17
Rand Drive. Misstehbazile, 69 Jadwin Ave. Lenas Luxury Cleaning Services, 2516 Houston Court. Deborah Scanlan, 2173 Van Giesen St. Trinity Cleaning Services LLC, 1724 Jadwin Ave. Interiors Plus LLC, 431 Wellsian Way.
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B18
B18
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 Hope 4 Tomorrow, 3357 S. Vancouver St., Kennewick. Smart Styles, 8924 34th Ave. NE, Quil Ceda Village. Mario, Garcia-Bueno Andres, 1011 Wright St., Suite A. Wutzke Construction and Handywork, 720 S. Kellogg St., Kennewick. Zero Gapped LLC, 1806 Sagewood Loop. RG Architectural Inc., 1955 Jadwin Ave. Can Do Kids LLC, 343 Wellsian Way. EDZ Properties LLC, 5609 W. Richardson Road, Pasco. Birdsai Creative, 2406 Whitworth Ave. Jay Curry, 107 High Meadows St. Hafer House Designs, 321 Summit Loop, Eltopia. Rojas, Edgar, 3706 W. 15th Ave., Kennewick. Active Solutions Counseling LLC, 1201 Jadwin Ave. Dag Architectural Drafting & Design, 2916 Woodland Place. Nature & Photo Art, 1529 Columbia Park Trail. Confetti Designs TriCities, 4008 Kechika Lane, Pasco. The Weatherman’s Storm, 654 Cedar Ave. Elizabeth Rosella Pieros,1817 Maui Drive. Macy’s Retail Holdings, LLC, 1310 Tapteal Drive. Vieira’s Cleaning Services, 250 Gage Blvd. Arising Restoration, 611 N. Elm Ave., Pasco. Northern Lights Anesthesia PLLC, 3705 Kathren Lane, Pasco. Recandesco Designs LLC, 2109 Briarwood Court. Pro-Duct HVAC LLC, 214 E. Albany Ave., Kennewick.
Family Home Projects LLC, 81 S. 42nd Place, West Richland. All Do Painting LLC, 1216 S. 13th Lane, Pasco. Freddy’s Auto Transport, 841 NE Damson Ave., Walla Walla. Lake Liquidation LLC, 6327 Meyers St., West Richland. Tupper Communications, 34263 Hood Canal Drive NE. Simple Maid at Home Cleaning, 723 W. Clark St., Pasco.
KENNEWICK Banyan Construction Services LLC, 35 Whittington Drive, Brownsburg, Indiana. Deacon Construction LLC, 901 NE Glisan St., Portland, Oregon. Elite Countertops LLC, 1406 N. Ewell Court, Post Falls, Idaho. West Coast Netting Inc., 5075 Flightline Drive, Kingman, Arizona. Vertical Horizon Scaffold Inc., 11316 Woodside Ave. N., Ste. H, Santee, California. American Carports Inc., 200 Industrial Ave., Pioneer, Ohio. Michels Utility Services Inc., 817 Main St., Brownsville, Wisconsin. F&l Mears dba Cascade Sign & Fabrication, 108 W. Mead Ave., Yakima. Archibald’s Inc., 6902 W. Clearwater Ave. Tony’s Tacos, 3809 W. Clearwater Ave. Bosch II Construction Company Inc., 200 Aquarius Drive, Pasco. Cleartech, 6108 W. 369 PR NW, Benton City. Onsite, 107610 E. 245 PR SE. The Haskins Company Inc., 3724 E. Front Ave., Spokane. Western Construction Services
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B19
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 Inc., 2300 E. Third Loop, Ste. 110, Vancouver. Scarsella Bros. Inc., 8404 S. 196th St., Kent. Home Electrical Services LLC, 2254 Melody Lane NE, Moses Lake. Country Construction/Masonry Inc., 10267 W. 17th Place. Operation Veterans Assistance & Humanitarian Aid, 1219 N. Wenatchee Ave., Wenatchee. Cortez Fencing, 8649 Dorothy St., NE, Moses Lake. Schuchart Corporation, 919 Fifth Ave., Seattle. Ana’s Cleaning Services, 8507 Studebaker Drive, Pasco. CSI of Yakima, 111 N. Pierce Ave., Yakima. J.M. Pacific, 303 W. Northshore Drive, Moses Lake. Godinez Construction, 1729 W. Octave St., Pasco. Creggors Barbecue and Espressos, 2530 Queensgate Drive, Richland. Homesmart Elite Brokers, 253 Columbia Park Trail, Richland. Amy Lathim Photography, 6503 W. Okanogan. Bianca Flores, 720 E. Fifth Ave. Imperial Construction LLC, 6002 Kent Lane, Pasco. The WLC Group, 8350 W. Grandridge Blvd. Serenity Legacy, 2614 W. Deschutes Ave. Jessica Maidhoff, 701 N. Louisiana St. Tadeo’s Construction LLC, 3407 W. Hood Ave. Idlers Carpet, 8804 W. Clearwater Place. New Era Construction, NW 2820 N. Road. 44, Pasco. Tri Power Inc., 22304 S. Spruce St.
Eden’s Irrigation & Landscaping, 732 W. Leola St., Pasco. Ellison Earthworks LLC, 2273 Legacy Lane, Richland. Real Roofing LLC, 1713 Portland Ave., Walla Walla. Arising Restoration, 3616 W. Court St., Pasco. Mendoza’s Construction, 104 E. 11th Ave. Hard Rock Construction & Painting, 623 N. Arbutus Ave., Pasco. Innovative Air Sealing LLC, 184 Gallant Road, Burbank. Diego’s Glass, 8616 Packard Drive, Pasco. Colossus Construction LLC, 4111 Riverhill Drive, Pasco. Happy Home Solutions, 2337 S. Tacoma St. Priority General Construction LLC,
921 N. 24th Ave., Pasco. Alton Tri-Cities Massage, 4206 W. 24th Ave. Anderson & Zentz Dental, 4303 W. 24th Ave. Smart Concrete LLC, 1419 N. 16th Ave., Pasco. Neuman Electric, 2625 N. Riverside Drive, West Richland. Verum Framing LLC, 3413 S. Conway Drive. Power Up Electric, Alezra Pools, 105507 E. Tripple Vista Drive. Jilek Bookkeeping LLC, 4106 S. Keller St. Savage Diesel, 3017 W. Seventh Ave. 3 Towers Trucking LLC, 9406 S. Lexington St. Nacho Tr3ats, 9202 W. Gage Blvd. Tortilleria La Suavecita, 3902 W. Clearwater Ave.
B19
Chloe’s Faves, 607 N. Georgia St. Stadium Attire, 4007 S. Anderson St. Vargas Productions LLC, 1909 S. Garfield St. Alton Tri-Cities Massage, 4206 W. 24th Ave. Yesse’s Boutique, 1114 W. 10th Ave. Fido’s Republic, 515 N. Neel St. Brown, Renee Elisabeth, 5453 Ridgeline Drive. A&A Roofing Services, 2904 W. 43rd Court. Gravis Law PLLC, 601 W. Kennewick Ave. Vern Fonk, 7520 W. Clearwater Ave. Jilek Bookkeeping LLC, 4106 S. Keller St. Bennett’s Son Lawn Care, 720 N. Arthur St.
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B20
IS YOUR BUSINESS PROTECTED AGAINST CYBER CRIMINALS? Call now for your no-cost technology consultation.
509-581-5450 1900 Fowler St., Suite G • Richland
inlinecomputer.com
B20
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
Fordmeir Group LLC, 1610 W. 52nd Ave. Jda Construction LLC, 2112 E. Butte St., Pasco. The Landing, 512 W. Canyon Lakes Drive. Weedville LLC, 407 E. Eighth Place. TMG Association Management Services NW LLC, 30 S. Louisiana St. Mev’s Home Care, 4523 S. Tacoma Place. Apex Plany Plants, 727 S. Date St. The Management Group Inc., 30 S. Louisiana St. Envian Construction, 306 S. Quillan St. Harwas House Of Hoopla, 10251 Ridgeline Drive. Unlimited Concrete LLC, 1827 W. Fifth Ave. Forever Flawless Permanent Cosmetics, 8527 W. Sixth Ave. Paul Kentros, 2414 W. Seventh Ave.
Sandoval, Maryela, 1350 N. Louisiana St. Picnic Vibes TC, 506 S. Juniper St. Nelida’s Interpreting Services, 9114 W. Yellowstone Ave. Sabrosas Grill, 415 S. Rainier St. Warehouse H&S LLC, 5003 W. Clearwater Ave. Interiors Plus LLC, 431 Wellsian Way, Richland. September Sister, 100 S. Quay St. Hope 4 Tomorrow, 3357 S. Vancouver St. Malitany Miller, 101 N. Union St. Safety Pace LLC, 4100 W. 43rd Ave. Bombshell Sweets – Tri-Cities, 2424 W. Grand Ronde Place. Smart Styles, 8924 34th Ave., NE Quil Ceda Village. Cutthroat Barber Company, 524 W. Clark St., Pasco. MWEOR LLC, 8204 W. Clearwater
1304 E. Hillsboro St., Pasco, WA (509) 545-8420 • skoneirrigation.com
Place. Bless Up Marketing, 3311 W. Clearwater Ave. Little Fox LLC, 4801 S. Morain St. SDC, 32814 SE 110th St., Issaquah. Wutzke Construction and Handywork, 720 S. Kellogg St. Organista Capital LLC, 3324 W. 19th Ave. Uniting Families Social Services, 5213 W. 32nd Ave. Moras Delivery & Produce LLC, 1709 S. Auburn St. EDZ Properties LLC, 5609 W. Richardson Road, Pasco. Sal Fix, 213 E. Eighth Place. Emily Nicoara, 3305 W. 47th Ave. Deena Bowe, 824 Bretz Road, Richland. Burlesque Brew Coffee LLC, 5303 W. Metaline Ave. Bridges Forward, 7 W. 49th Ave.
KCA Apparel, 2141 S. Vancouver St. A&O, 530 W. 18th Ave. Rojas, Edgar, 3706 W. 15th Ave. Fastenal Company, 605 N. Gum St. Annaviga Legal Consulting Services, 120 S. Kansas St. Taste The Hive, 3319 W. Metaline Place. Oroley Transportation LLC, 1607 S. Nelson St. David Price Realty LLC, 3786 S. Lincoln St. Somnum, 5081 W. 28th Ave. J&A Flooring LLC, 320 W. Entiat Ave. Stemsurg Solutions, 3309 W. 42nd Place. Dana Brunsdon, 8264 W. Grandridge Blvd. Alexander Bigloo, 3710 W. Canyon Lakes Drive.
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B21
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 Maddog Racing LLC, 4013 S. Quincy St. Macy’s Retail Holdings, LLC, 1321 N. Columbia Center Blvd. Pft, 417 W. First Ave. Jayel Carlson, 320 N. Johnson St. Ace Graphics, 6918 W. 15th Ave. Arising Restoration, 611 N. Elm Ave., Pasco. Pro-duct HVAC LLC, 214 E. Albany Ave. Climate Pros LLC, 1627 45th St. E., Sumner. Between The Covers Coaching, 4321 W. Ninth Place. Designs By Taytay, 3101 W. John Day Ave. Man of Steel Productions, 111B N. Garfield St. Rose, Annette, 633 S. Young St. Freddy’s Auto Transport, 841 NE Damson Ave., Walla Walla. Cricket Wireless, 1321 N. Columbia Center Blvd. Tri-Cities Diamond LLC, 30 Galaxy Lane, Richland. Lake Liquidation LLC, 6327 Meyers St., West Richland. Avise Gun Works LLC, 2913 S. Huntington Court. KMJ Anesthesia PLLC, 1014 S. Belfair St. Evolution Transport LLC, 5501 W. Hildebrand Blvd. Little Dreams Handmade Creations, 506 W. Albany Ave. Serendipity Allure, 1834 S. Olson St. United Family Center, 100 N. Fruitland St. Simple Maid at Home Cleaning, 723 W. Clark St., Pasco. DNP Freight LLC, 1116 E. Seventh Ave. Wisdom Books, 6501 Crosswind Blvd. Blue Diamond Trucking LLC, 1117 E. Sixth Ave. Tsunami Catering, 212 W. Kennewick Ave. Kswapped, 1008 S. Alder Place. Xochi Handcrafted, 624 S. Garfield St.
PASCO
Maria’s Daycare, 1728 W. Henry St. Martin J Beagle, 1315 E. Hillsboro St. Encompass Chiropractic, 6916 W. Argent Road, B.
El Taco Pit, 701 N. Oregon Ave. NC Fabrication and Service LLC, 1102 E. A St. Alpha Renovations LLC, 1212 W. Ainsworth Ave. KBG Masonry LLC, 1111 N. Beech Ave. David J. Suarez Farmers Insurance Agency LLC, 1716 N. 20th Ave. Couver, 1608 W Sylvester St. E. Pilot Holdings LLC, 2608 W. Sylvester St. Boler Design, 5914 Cotswold Lane. EDZ Properties LLC, 5609 W. Richardson Road. Solo Supplies, 4907 Antioch Drive. Building Connections, 3612 Artesia Drive. G Garcia Horseshoeing Services, 6909 Selway Drive. Priority General Construction LLC, 921 N. 24th Ave., #8. Zavala Goods, 4538 Muris Lane. Headstones By Cemetery Tim, 325 W. Lewis St. 33 Realty, 6309 Buena Vista Drive, Vancouver. Cheesse Lawn Care, 503 N. Jean St., Kennewick. Sprint Spectrum LP, 4525 Road 68, G. Rico Commerical Cleaning LLC, 6212 Road 68, #1B. Verum Framing LLC, 3413 S. Conway Drive. The Queen’s Services, 9304 W. Richardson Road. Smart Concrete LLC, 1419 N. 16th Ave. Aktive Response, 8624 Zepher Court. Columbia Basin Flooring LLC, 5810 Wallowa Lane. Creatividades Consuelo, 208 N. Fourth Ave., #208. Hard Rock Construction & Painting, 623 Arbutus Ave. Jda Construction LLC, 2112 E. Butte St. Fabian Rico-Lopez, 3724 N. Rainier Ave. T-Rex Landscaping LLC, 1032 N. 62nd Ave. Unlimited Concrete LLC, 1827 W. Fifth Ave., Kennewick. Majestic Interiors LLC, 4117 W. Sylvester St. CCS Consulting LLC, 4 Carnation Court. West Coast Dispatchers LLC, 3920 Des Moines Lane. Warner Lifestyle Fitness & CPR Training LLC, 5314 Eisenhower Court. Tri-Cities Shipping, 7712 Pender Drive. New Era Construction NW, 2820 Road
44. Auri Childcare, 6112 Bayview Lane. Apex Drone Services, 1761 George Washington Way, Richland. Core Counseling and Consultation, 9825 Sandifur Parkway, D. Michels Utility Services Inc., 817 Main St. Clean Edge Pressure Washing & Window Cleaning, 11503 12th Ave. S, Tacoma. Coralitos Afh, 3605 Morehouse Place. Tara Shoemaker’s Shears, 6415 Burden Blvd. J and W General Contracting, 1217 N. Dawes St., Kennewick. Fit Coach 2 Go, 4005 S. Tacoma Court, Kennewick. Simplot Frozen Vegetables LLC, 1825 N. Commercial Ave. JST Enterprises LLC, 420 W. Shoshone St. All Do Painting LLC, 1216 S. 13th Lane. Crafted By Maria, 7904 White Bluffs Court. Kestrel Works, 1034 Fourth Ave. E, Kalispell, Montana. One Call Home Services Limited Liability Co., 71 Whisperwoods Drive, Newport. Neuman Electric, 4414 Muris Lane. Silvia E Ramirez - Via, 930 W. Nixon St. Cornwell Tools, 527 Castle Drive, Moses Lake. Innovative Air Sealing LLC, 184 Gallant Road, Burbank. Essential Mobile RV Repair LLC, 321 S. Highland Drive, Kennewick. Excalibur & Associates - WA Inc., 1014 Franklin St., Ste 102, Vancouver. Graymar Environmental Services Inc., 4005 E. B St. Tortilleria Y Carniceria Monarca, 1108 W. Sylvester St. Interiors Plus LLC, 431 Wellsian Way, Richland. Drywall Tech LLC, 601 S. Kent St., Apt. E104, Kennewick. Distinctive Cabinetry & Design Inc.,
B21
5331 W. 2400 S., Mendon, Utah. Smart Styles, 4820 Road 68. The Little Plant Shop, 7315 Courtney Drive. RDZ Trucking, 911 Pasco Kahlotus Road. Knockerball Tri-Cities LLC, 4415 Montgomery Lane. Artikl Flooring LLC, 8021 W. Agate St. Three Rivers Transport LLC, 3713 W. Park St. Ortiz Window Tinting, 2103 Summitview Ave., Yakima. FJ Electric LLC, 1312 Dazet Road, Yakima. Tumbleweed Collective, 1926 Pike Ave., Richland. ANP Innovations, 2009 W. 21st Court, Kennewick. Lopez Lawn Care, 6511 W. Kennewick Court, Kennewick. Venture Construction Company, 5660 Peachtree Industrial, Norcross, Georgia. Mendoza, Elizabeth, 8712 Gatwick Court. Valdovinos Transportation LLC, 9621 Tyee Drive. Trek Plumbing LLC, 27305 N. 251 PR NW, Benton City. Bair Curbing & Landscape LLC, 51 Richview Drive. BG Interior Construction LLC, 318 Goethals Drive, #18, Richland. Freddy’s Auto Transport, 841 NE Damson Ave., Walla Walla. United Fence Co. LLC, 4120 Melody Lane. Garcia, Adelina, 629 W. Clark St. Adan Sanche-VIA, 1534 E. Spokane St., B21. Kw2 Solutions LLC, 4203 Duroc Lane. OM Transport LLC, 7204 Courtney Court. Salon De Belleza Ely Ella, 605 W. Clark St. ½. Cristina Diaz, 1608 W. Sylvester St. A. OD Services LLC, 2002 Amy Loop.
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B22
Goal Oriented? Commission Driven? NOW HIRING! We are looking for a dynamic sales executive to join our team! The right candidate should be goal oriented, competitive, with a strong work ethic and a strong desire to learn. • Competitive Pay • Competitive Bonus Structure • Opportunity for Upward Mobility • PTO • 401(k) Retirement Plan • Medical, Dental and Vision Apply at townsquaretricities.com/job-fair
We care every day, in every way. • Errands & Shopping • Light Housekeeping • Meal Preparation
(509) 582-7800
• Friendly Companionship • Assistance in Hygiene • Respite Care for Families
www.visitingangels.com/kennewick
Townsquare Media is a radio, digital media, entertainment and digital marketing solutions company principally focused on being the premier local advertising and marketing solutions platform in small and mid-sized markets across the U.S. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.
2621 West A Street, Pasco (509) 547-9791
B22
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021
J&S Flooring Inc., 320 W. Entiat Ave., Unit A, Kennewick. Cardenas Construction, 4790 Road R NW, Quincy. Facco U.S.A. Inc., 4809 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago. Bjorn Johnson Construction LLC, 410 Expressway, Ste. B, Missoula, Montana. L&M General Construction LLC, 3512 Estrella Drive. Three River Estate Sales, 3019 Duportail St., #234, Richland. Empire Heating and Air LLC, 430 Swan Road, Sunnyside. Basin Wood Floors, 1198 W. Herman Road, Othello. Sort & Style, 2853 Mackenzie Court, Richland. Jorge Ramirez Lopez-VIA, 1907 N. 19th Ave. American Ambition Inspections LLC, 2429 Mark Court, Richland. The Cookie Bar, 1681 April Loop, Richland.
Write a letter to the editor Submit your letter at
tcjournal.biz
Skymaiden Soaps, 23005 S. Williams PR SE, Kennewick. Mauricio Lopez - VIA, 925 N. Elm Ave., #041.
WEST RICHLAND Michels Pacific Energy Inc., 2200 Laurelwood Road, Santa Clara, California. Harrington Investigations P.C., 7016 Tahoe Drive SE, Tumwater. Northwest Heating And Air Conditioning LLC, 210605 E. Perkins Road, Kennewick. Moles Painting LLP, 35703 N. Flagstone Drive, Benton City. The Whey, 5436 Fern Loop. The Crazy Taco, 6197 W. Van Giesen St. Pampas Landcare and More LLC, 1835 W. Park St., Pasco. Elite, 1730 W. 14th Ave., Kennewick. PNW Steel and Panel Construction
LLC, 3725 Hamlin Road, Malaga. Home Depot USA Inc., 2455 Paces Ferry Road SE, Atlanta, Georgia. Mendoza Pro Painting LLC, 616 S. Sycamore Ave., Pasco. Doug Does That Contracting, 2329 W. 15th Place, Kennewick. Mendoza Pro Floors, 6612 Gehrig Drive, Pasco. Silvawood Ventures LLC, 2839 W. Kennewick Ave., Kennewick. Mixer Roofing LLC, 420 Wright Ave., Richland. M K T Tile and Masonry Inc., 5241 W. Sagemoor Road, Pasco. Market Mentality, 5702 Glenbrook Loop. Mr. Asphalt & Son’s LLC, 103001 W. Old Inland Empire Highway, Prosser. At B and B Enterprises LLC, 1003 Pattyton Lane, Richland. Quintessential Jungle, 5211 Jacksnipe Court. Cd Landscaping & Construction LLC, 2011 E. Helena St., Pasco. The Beveled Angle, 6151 Teak Lane. Charli’s Transport, 526 S. 40th Ave. Pro-Cut Concrete Cutting And Breaking Inc., 509 E. First Ave., Kennewick. Michels Pipeline, Inc., 817 Main St., Brownsville. Struxure Outdoor of Washington, 9116 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley. Sagebrush Sugar LLC, 6249 Marble St.
uJUDGMENTS The state can file lawsuits against people or businesses that do not pay taxes and then get a judgment against property that person or business owns. Judgments are filed in Benton-Franklin Superior Court. The following is from the Franklin County Superior Court Clerk’s Office.
Ferbell Construction, unpaid Department
of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 3. Jimenez Agri LLC, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 3. Luis Mendoza, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 3. Panchos Heating & Cooling, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 6. Stucco & Stone Contractor, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 6. A&M Carpet & More LLC, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 10. Panchos Heating & Cooling, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 13. Great Basin Ag LLC, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 13. Jose Luis Garcia, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 13. Sunhills Lawn Mowing LLC, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 13. Eastern WA Construction, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 19. Thomasson Double T Dairy, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 24. Ricardo Soltero et al, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 24. Alex B. Najera, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 26. Rural Delivery Northwest, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 26. 3 Jays Transport LLC, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 26. Paul Charles Gravelle Jr., unpaid Depart-
uPUBLIC RECORD, Page B23
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021 ment of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 26. Thomasson Double T Dairy, unpaid Department of Labor and Industries taxes, filed May 26.
uLIQUOR LICENSES BENTON COUNTY NEW APPLICATIONS Sage Brewing Company, 910 S. Columbia Center Blvd., Kennewick. License type: beer/wine restaurant – beer wine/ Application type: new application. Klipsun, 8060 Keene Road, Suite A, West Richland. License type: Domestic winery <250,000 liters. Application type: change of location. Gravity Hill Cider, 590 Merlot Drive, Prosser. License type: Domestic winery <250,000 liters, beer/wine on premises. Application type: new application. Amendment XXI Bar & Grill, 2525 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Richland. License type: spirits/beer/wine restaurant lounge. Application type: assumption. Southern Cross Winery, 2470 Henderson Loop, Suite A, Richland. License type: Domestic winery <250,000 liters, additional location, beer/wine on premises. Application type: new application. Graze, 610 George Washington Way, Richland. License type: beer/wine restaurant – beer/wine. Application type: change of location. Sushi Mori, 1350 N. Louisiana St., Suite G, Kennewick. License type: beer/wine restaurant – beer/wine. Application type: assumption. Gifting Washington LLC, 723 The Parkway, Richland. License type: direct shipment receiver-in/out WA; beer/wine gift delivery. Application type: new appli-
cation.
APPROVED LICENSES Perfect Circle Brewing, 713 Sixth St., Suite A, Prosser. License type: microbrewery. Application type: new application. GR Distillery, 16304 N. Dallas Road, Suite A, Richland. License type: off-site spirits tasting room. Application type: new application. Poutine, Eh!, 3902 W. Clearwater Ave., Suite 120, Kennewick. License type: beer/wine resturant – beer. Application type: new application. Kitchen and Spice Market, 1440 Jadwin Ave., Richland. License type: direct shipment receiver – in/out WA. License type: new application. Lucky Food Mart, 22 Goethals Drive, Richland. License type: grocery store – beer/wine. Application type: assumption. Palencia Wine Company, 421 E. Columbia Drive, #A140 & A110, Kennewick. License type: domestic winery <250,000 liters. Application type: added/change of class/in lieu. Desert Wind Winery, 2258 Wine Country Road, Prosser. License type: domestic winery <250,000 liters. Application type: new application.
DISCONTINUED Kitchen and Spice Market, 1440 Jadwin Ave., Richland. License type: direct shipment receiver – in/out WA. License type: discontinued. Desert Wind Winery, 2258 Wine Country Road, Prosser. License type: domestic winery <250,000 liters. Application type: discontinued.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
NEW LICENSES El Cora Bar and Grill, 710 Columbia Ave., Connell. License type: direct shipment receiver-in WA only; spirits/beer/ wine restaurant lounge+; catering. Application type: new application. El Antojito Mexicano Restaurant, 1915 W. Court St., Pasco. License type: beer/ wine restaurant – beer. Application type: assumption.
APPROVED Kahlua’s Lounge Bar, 1901 N. Fourth Ave., Pasco. License type: spirits/beer/ wine restaurant lounge. Application type: change of corporate officer. Fraternal Order of Eagles #2241 SO0437, 2829 Sylvester St., Pasco. License type: private club – spirits/beer/wine. Application type: added/change of class/ in lieu.
uMARIJUANA LICENSES BENTON COUNTY APPROVED LICENSES Legacy Organics LLC, 237004 E. Legacy PR SE, Kennewick. Application type: marijuana producer tier 3. Application type: added fees. Three Rivers Cannabis LLC, 33907 S. Gerards Road, Suite A, Kennewick. Application type: marijuana producer tier 2. Application type: change of corporate officer. High Five Farms, 2 S. Missimer Road, Suite A, Prosser. Application type: marijuana producer tier 3. Application type: added fees. Sapphire Meadows, 15505 Webber Canyon Road, Suite F, Benton City. Application type: marijuana producer tier 2.
B23
Application type: added fees. Chiefin’ Cannabis, 102003 E. Badger Road, Suite A, Kennewick. Application type: marijuana producer tier 2. Application type: added fees. BLF North, 46415 E. Badger Road, Suite B, Benton City. Application type: marijuana producer tier 3. Application type: added fees.
uBUSINESS UPDATES NEW BUSINESS Elysian Estates, 3174 W. Payette Ave., Kennewick. Owners: Bert, Lori and Tyler Roberts. Adult family home with 180-degree view of the river offering a high-end luxury facility that provides personal care for seniors who are unable to do so safely for themselves. Contact: 509-396-3887; elysianestatesseniorliving.com.
MOVED Devinion Managed IT Services has moved to 1177 Jadwin Ave., Suite 101, Richland. Contact: 509-392-6200; devinion.com; Facebook @DevinionIT. Pink Pearl has moved to 627 The Parkway, Richland. Contact: 208-3205815; pinkpearlfashion.com; Facebook @ PinkPearlFashionBoutique. Graze has moved to 610 George Washington Way, Richland. Contact: 509-7137699; grazeplaces.com; Facebook. J-U-B Engineers Inc. has moved to 3611 S. Zintel Way, Kennewick. Contact: 509-783-2144; jub.com; Facebook. Excelsior Design Inc. has moved to 2920 George Washington Way, Suite 204, Richland. Contact: 509-627-4800; excelsior-design.com; Facebook.
Newly remodeled event space for people looking to host meetings and banquets. • The dining room can accommodate 130 people. • The newly remodeled 19th Hole Event Center has 130 person capacity. • Heritage room can host up to 25 guests. • Legends room can accommodate 12 people.
509-783-6131 • zintelcreek.com 314 N. Underwood, Kennewick
B24
TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS | JUNE 2021