March 2017
Volume 16 • Issue 3
Leadership Tri-Cities plans next class to groom future leaders BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz
Insurance
Pet insurance helps reduce the cost of veterinary bills Page 11
Real Estate & Construction
Oasis Physical Therapy to open fourth clinic in south Richland Page 23
Hospitality
Legends Casino in Toppenish expands, adds 200-room hotel page 37
She Said It “If you can provide that awesome experience for a customer who walks through the door, more likely than not, they’re going to return and most likely tell their friends.” - Deb Heintz, executive director of the Prosser Economic Development Association
Page 40
There’s a joke among Leadership TriCities alumni that theirs was “the best class ever.” And when the organization’s board members talk about incoming classes, they refer to them as “the next best class ever.” The leadership group is now accepting applications for its “next best class” and planning an open house for those interested in learning more about the program that’s graduated 478 leaders since 1994. Over the course of a year, class members attend several sessions led by community experts focusing on the various sectors and industries shaping the region, including agriculture, human needs and services, economic development, law enforcement and the justice system, education, local and state government, medical and health services, arts and culture, and the Hanford site. “Every single speaker that you hear, they are — most of the time — the most established (authority) in the community. They give you handouts of all the speakers and their numbers and email addresses,” said Holley Sowards, a member of the Class of XVIII. Sowards recalled being told how Leadership Tri-Cities would be “life changing,” and at the time thought, “how canned.” But, she’s now a believer. “It was the best thing I ever did,” she said. “It really is an amazing experience. I have connections and I have met so many people. I would have worked so many years to meet those people,” she said. Class members also participate in a class retreat to focus on team-building, attend leadership development trainings and must complete a class project that benefits an organization within the community. Past projects have included relocating a children’s museum, remodeling a domestic violence safe house and installing a serenity garden at the Tri-Cities Cancer Center in Kennewick. uLEADERSHIP, Page 4
The $8.5 million Lodge at Columbia Point is under construction at 530 Columbia Point Drive in Richland and is expected to open in May.
Richland’s new waterfront hotel aims to provide unique hospitality experience BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz
Walla Walla has the Marcus Whitman Hotel. Spokane has the Davenport. Portland boasts the Benson. Seattle has the Fairmont. The owner of The Lodge at Columbia Point in Richland hopes to add his boutique hotel to the list for the Tri-Cities. “The Tri-Cities has needed an identity boutique hotel,” said owner Tom Drumheller. The $8.5 million Lodge at Columbia Point has been nearly 10 years in the making and a labor of love for Drumheller.
Construction began in September and the opening is expected in May. Drumheller has driven from his home on the Oregon Coast to visit the hotel weekly for the past year, and while checking up on progress during a recent trip, he flipped through the photos of the hotel’s construction on his iPhone, a proud father familiar with each stage of the process. The 82-room hotel on the waterfront of Columbia Point is next door to Anthony’s, LU LU’s Craft + Bar & Kitchen and Budd’s Broiler. North-facing windows showcase riverfront views while the south-facing ones showcase the sweeping lines of Badger Mountain. uLODGE, Page 27
Bills would divert retail sales tax toward statewide tourism program BY JOHN STANG
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Washington is the only state without a statewide tourism marketing program. But that would change under two bills making their way throughout the Washington Legislature. So far the bills by Rep. Cary Condotta, R-Wenatchee, and Sen. Dean Takko, D-Longview, have easily sailed through their committee stages for eventual floor votes. The bills would create the Washington Tourism Marketing Authority, whose efforts would be paid by rerouting 0.1 percent of the retail sales taxes collected on lodging, car rentals and restaurants. The program would have an upper limit of $5 million. Kris Watkins, executive director of Visit Tri-Cities, said the proposed statewide mar-
keting effort would boost attracting tourists to the Mid-Columbia — from as close as Boise and Portland to as far away as China. “We don’t have the wherewithal to reach out to these places,” she said. Sports and wineries are prime attractions to bring out-of-staters to the Tri-Cities, she said. In 2015, the last year that data is available, Benton and Franklin counties boasted 5,900 tourism-related jobs, produced $432.9 million in tourism-related revenue, and produced $47.2 million in state and local taxes. The bills would create the marketing authority to manage the state revenue and the contracts for state tourism marketing efforts. It would be controlled by a 13-person board of four legislators and nine representatives from tourism-related businesses. Geography, business sizes, gender and ethnicity would be factors in making appointments to the board. uTOURISM, Page 40
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