November 2023 Volume 22 | Issue 11
Desire to help those with addiction leads to new book debut, spurs recovery center By Sara Schilling sara@tcjournal.biz
Nonprofits
Pit Bull Pen expanded to help more dogs but it’s already out of room Page A27
Business profile
Tri-Cities phlebotomist makes house calls for blood draw services Page A42
Real Estate & Construction
Want your own island? Here’s your chance Page B1
NOTEWORTHY “There are plenty of players out there. Reaction has been unreal.” -Christopher Johnson, owner of Desert Bluffs Poker Club
Page A11
Michele Gerber’s son, Jim, gave the best bear hugs. He was a tall, strong guy, and he’d lift his petite mother high in the air. “I’d practically fly over his shoulder,” Gerber said with a laugh. Jim has been gone nine years now, although he comes to life when Gerber tells stories about him – a handsome, gregarious, loving son and father who died at age 36 after years spent riding the roller coaster of opioid Michele Gerber addiction. Gerber was there with him through it all, fighting to help him. She’s still fighting now – to make sure others struggling in the same way find happier outcomes. Gerber is a founder of the Benton Franklin Recovery Coalition, an advocacy group that’s played a key role in the behavioral health and substance use disorder recovery facility in the works in Kennewick. And she’s written a new book, “Witness to Addiction: My Son’s Journey and How Each Person Can Fight America’s Opioid Epidemic,” that tells Jim’s story and shares the wisdom, insight and knowledge about addiction that she gained the hard way. Her goal with the book is to enlighten and empower. “The idea is to give tools and actions that every person can use,” Gerber said. “I don’t believe this can be solved by law enforcement, drug interdiction, so-called supply side. Those are things we ought to vote for and work on, but I don’t think they alone can do it. This book is to empower every person.”
A difficult loss Jim first experimented with drugs as a teen. Then after high school, he moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, and worked as a snowboard instructor and uGERBER, Page A12
Photo by Sara Schilling Ken Primus is director of World Relief Tri-Cities based in Richland. The nonprofit provides a variety of services, from greeting refugees at the airport upon arrival, to setting up apartments, helping navigate social services and assisting with employment. As the office has increased its pace and added staff, it also expanded its Richland office.
Richland-based nonprofit expands to ramp up efforts to resettle refugees By Sara Schilling sara@tcjournal.biz
Ken Primus spent 28 years in the U.S. Army, and his service took him all over the world, including to Iraq and Afghanistan. He worked in special operations and civilian affairs and that meant part of his job was going into villages, sharing tea and conversation, and trying to make connections. In some ways, that’s still his job – even though he’s back home in the Tri-Cities. Primus took on the role of director of the local branch of World Relief, a refugee resettlement agency. He’s led the Richland-based office through the uncertainty of Covid-19, a dip in refugee num-
bers and now See pages A30a surge that’s 31 for the area’s led to an oflargest socialfice expansion service nonprofits. and significant growth in staff numbers. And just like in his Army days, he aims to build connections and do good. “I know this is where God wants me to be,” Primus said. World Relief is a Christian organization – one of nine agencies around the country that works with the U.S. Department of State to resettle refugees who’ve fled their home countries because of war, genocide, natural disaster or similar trauuWORLD RELIEF, Page A31
Pasco entrepreneur takes a shot at developing his own tequila brand By Jeff Morrow
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
The sleek bottles of a sipping liquor that spilled from the mind of a Pasco man dreaming of launching a tequila business will be ready to pour into glasses next month. That’s when 6,000 bottles of Tony Maya’s double-distilled tequila will debut. Some four years in the making, Tequila de Maya is poised to step out into the spotlight of success, thanks to Maya’s efforts. The youthful looking 45-year-old is a 1996 Pasco High School grad who grew up on the east side of Pasco. He’s served on the parks and recreation boards in Pasco
and Richland, and as vice president for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He’s run for a city council seat, and he’s worked for Franklin County. Tony Maya Currently, Maya is the vice president of operations for Martinez Trucking in Pasco, where he’s been the last five years. But it’s his latest venture that may turn out to be his biggest journey: branding his own tequila. uTEQUILA DE MAYA, Page A4
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