July 2016
Volume 15 • Issue 7
Banking & Finance
Financial sectors continue to show growth Page 13
Real Estate & Construction
No shortage of commercial building projects in Mid-Columbia Page 21
Nonprofits
Not-for-profits aim to improve local lives, community page 37
she Said It “When you come outside and can be a part of changing lives, what could be better?” - Jill McCary, Strides Therapeutic Horsemanship Center page 39
Port keeps IsoRay from relocating, creates new jobs
By Jeff Morrow for TCAJoB IsoRay Medical is staying in the Tri-Cities after all. Initially spun off by scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 1998, IsoRay and its board began looking for opportunities to expand its facilities and possibly relocate away from the Tri-Cities, where it was founded. But in stepped the Port of Benton, which sold 4.2 acres of land in north Richland to keep the company local. The deal was signed in September of 2015, said Diahann Howard, Director of Economic Development and Governmental Affairs for the Port of Benton. “The land is located south of Battelle Boulevard near the Port of Benton Technology and Business campus,” Howard said. IsoRay Medical works with Cesium-131 brachytherapy seeds to develop and manufacture them for use in medical treatments of many different cancers. Initially used to treat prostate cancer, the seeds are now used to treat head, neck, colon, ocular and gynecologic cancers. More than 7,000 cancer patients have used this treatment. “I think the key thing is that our product works, and it helps people in dire need,” Clay O’Laughlin, Manager Radioisotopes and Facilities at IsoRay, said. O’Laughlin said IsoRay’s work is all conducted in the state of Washington. “The first ever Cesium-131 patient was at the University of Washington,” O’Laughlin said. “But all of our board members are in Arizona.” As a result, the city of Tucson offered IsoRay many incentives to move its facilities there. The problem was the 30 current employees of IsoRay had made their homes in the TriCities and didn’t want to move. That’s when the Port of Benton stepped in. “IsoRay is one of the earliest start-up companies at the National Lab,” Howard said. “We were competing with other states for them to stay. It’s important to keep them here.” Howard said the Port offered the land to IsoRay for a $160,000 price tag. uISORAY, Page 10
LoAnn Ayers, new United Way president and CEO, is also a proud Washington State University alumni and United Way volunteer.
Campaign launch underway—full speed ahead for new United Way president
By Audra Distifeno for TCAJoB Having just completed work on a fiveyear, $2.6 million grant for Washington State University in June, LoAnn Ayers started as president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties July 1, succeeding Beverly Weber upon her retirement. “I’ve been involved as a United Way donor forever and started on the board in 2006. I served as chair for two years, which shows how much the mission got its hooks into me. I was very honored to be considered for this position,” Ayers said. She had one week of overlap time working alongside Weber at the beginning of July. “It was great because she has lots of insider knowledge that is so helpful.” Ayers’ extensive experience at Washington State University Tri-Cities prepared her for United Way’s mission: “That everyone has a
good education, access to healthcare, lives and works in a safe environment, and is a self-sufficient, active member of our community.” “I was fortunate to wear many hats and be in many positions as WSU grew. Each enabled me to expand my network and build my professional skills,” Ayers said. “It’s wonderful because at United Way, I’ll be working with students and staff who are out in industry. That’s the wonderful thing about working in a community this size; it’s all interconnected.” “I worked for WSU in Richland since it became WSU in 1989,” Ayers said, her latest project working with students and industry in the area of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). She also helped raise funds for the WSU Foundation in past years, earned an MBA, and this year will complete her doctorate degree. uAYERS, Page 38
CCHS to break ground on Prosser senior housing project
By Jeff Morrow for TCAJoB If you’re not looking for it, you don’t see it. But Bryan Ketcham, director of Catholic Charities Housing Services (CCHS) out of the Diocese of Yakima, sees the homelessness and crowded living conditions people endure up and down the Yakima Valley. And that’s why he’s excited about the newest CCHS project: a 60-unit housing development for senior citizens in Prosser. The Prosser Senior Housing project will be an affordable, multi-family rental housing development for low-income seniors age 55 and older. To qualify, those seniors must earn 50 percent or less of the area median income. There will be 26 one-bedroom units and 34 two-bedroom units at the new complex.
All units are set to be American Disabilities Act compliant, or ADA convertible, allowing seniors as they age to stay in their units. The project is located just off of Wine Country Road near the Les Schwab Tire Store. “It’s very exciting for us,” Ketcham said. “It meets a need in the community. We’ve been working in Prosser for eight years now. This particular situation lends itself something unique to us—it allows us to address the affordable housing needs,” something Ketcham says there is a tremendous need for. “On average, we have probably 200 families on a waiting list for properties,” he said. One Grandview property had a waiting list of 500 families, Ketcham said.
uSENIORS, Page 22
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