February 2017
Volume 16 • Issue 2
TRIDEC’s Petersen reflects on 52-year career in Tri-Cities BY TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STAFF
Banking & Finance
Meet new director of state’s Division of Banks Page 15
Real Estate & Construction
DNR auction brings in $8.1 million Page 31
Viticulture
Wine Science Center providing fertile ground for research page 43
She Said It
“Our employers would love to give every employee paid family leave, but they can’t afford to do so.” - Holly Johnson of Washington Food Industry Association Page 23
The Tri-Cities’ longtime champion of securing federal dollars to clean up Hanford and invigorate the local economy plans to retire next month. Gary Petersen, Tri-City Development Council’s vice president of federal programs, leaves his post March 3 after 14 years with the agency. The 76-year-old Richland man came to the Tri-Cities in 1965 to join Battelle and the national laboratory, and except for a short stint at the Nevada Test Site with the Atomic Energy Gary Petersen Commission, he’s TRIDEC lived in Richland the entire time. He worked for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the International Nuclear Safety Program, visiting Chernobyl and Soviet-designed nuclear reactors in several countries, before retiring in April 2003. TRIDEC is in the process of screening applicants to replace Petersen and hopes to have his successor identified by the end of the month and on board in early March. There will be big shoes to fill as the position has been held by only two people, Petersen and the late Sam Volpentest, a longtime champion of the Tri-Cities. “The institutional knowledge can’t be replaced, nor can all of Gary’s personal stories. We didn’t think Sam could be replaced and Gary has done a fine job, so I am optimistic that whoever replaces Gary will do a great job also — different, but great just the same,” said Carl Adrian, CEO of TRIDEC. Petersen has had a unique front-seat view of the Tri-Cities’ biggest projects, so we thought it would be good to get him on the record before he retired. uPETERSEN, Page 21
The new $200 million Lamb Weston french fry processing plant under construction on Saint Street in Richland is one of the two biggest commercial construction projects cited by economic development officials as a boon to the region along with the $38.9 million AutoZone distribution plant in Pasco.
Region’s economic outlook full of ‘rainbows and unicorns’ BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz
The Tri-Cities’ economy appears to be all “rainbows and unicorns” judging from all the upbeat updates provided at TRIDEC’s recent economic outlook conference. That’s what Jeff Losey, president of the Home Builders Association of Tri-Cities, said during his report on residential construction during the Feb. 1 event. “We’re a very affordable place to live and that’s why people are coming here. We just need more land to build here,” he said. Kennewick issued 319 single-family
home permits last year, Pasco 387 and Richland 273 — these cities’ highest number in the past four years. West Richland issued 80 single-home permits. The city’s biggest challenge is land and lot availability, Losey said. Benton County recorded 216 permits and Franklin County 97. That adds up to a 25-percent increase over the previous year. Losey said the winter’s frigid temperatures have been affecting the construction industry. “Nothing is being built. Our next challenge we have is to catch back up,” he said. uECONOMIC, Page 4
Port of Benton to break ground on $2 million business incubator in Prosser BY JESSICA HOEFER
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
The Port of Benton plans to kick-start a new 21-lot development with a $2 million incubator building in Prosser designed to attract boutique businesses to complement the neighboring Vintner Village. Construction on the new building, which will include three bays for businesses, as well as an adjacent office building for a nonprofit, is expected to begin in midMay. The port’s popular Vintner Village development already is home to a number of wineries just south of Interstate 82, including Martinez & Martinez Winery and Willow Crest Winery, as well as Yellow Rose Nursery.
Tourists can enjoy walking paths and stay at a 1900s farmhouse that’s been restored as a bed and breakfast. “Tourism is huge in Prosser,” said Port of Benton Director Scott Keller. “They get thousands of (tourists). People come over from Seattle. They want to get out of the rain.” More than 50,000 people visit the area’s wineries and attend local events annually, according to the Prosser Economic Development Association, or PEDA. The 32-acre Vintner Village has been successful and the development “went like a ball of fire,” Keller said. “We ran out of land, so we bought the land to the south of it.” uINCUBATOR, Page 48
PLEASE DELIVER TO CURRENT Occupant
Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business 8919 W. Grandridge Blvd., Ste. A1 Kennewick, WA 99336
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PASCO, WA PERMIT NO. 8778