Monday, July 12, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Farmer's Daughter
Quinci helped me out with some late pruning, and I gave her driving lessons around the property. Surreal to see her driving off in my pickup.
We had a great day.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Spring Cleaning in the Vineyard
Esteban, Gilbert & I (mostly them) have spent the past several weeks cleaning up the rows, getting the rocks out of the isles, smoothing rough spots, burning tumbleweeds, weeding the rows, and digging holes for 400 additional plants (target planting date April 9.) The site looks great.
I'm going to do a late pruning to better assess winter die-back, and to make sure we get through the last of frost season first.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Moses Lake Wins BMW Carbon-Fiber Factory
BMW and another German company have chosen Moses Lake as the site for a new plant to manufacture carbon fibers to use in building lightweight cars.
By Eric Pryne
Seattle Times business reporter
March 26, 2010
BMW and another German company have chosen Moses Lake as the site for a new plant to manufacture carbon fibers to use in building lightweight cars.
Gov. Chris Gregoire is scheduled to speak at a news conference April 6 in Seattle that also will feature top executives of BMW and SGL Group, which last fall established a joint venture to produce carbon fibers and fabric for the auto industry.
The news-conference notice did not reveal the subject, and an SGL spokeswoman did not return calls Friday.
But Gregoire spokeswoman Karina Shagren said the governor has courted the companies personally and, "We anticipate a positive announcement."
The joint venture also has been considering a site in Canada for the fiber plant.
Gregoire met with company officials in November, and again in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December, Shagren said. Members of the governor's staff and state Commerce Department officials have been in "constant contact" with SGL and BMW, she added.
Moses Lake City Manager Joe Gavinski said he did not know if the companies had chosen his city. "They haven't told us anything," he said.
Moses Lake has several advantages, Gavinski said, including low-cost electricity, an abundance of available land, a big airport and proximity to Interstate 90.
The number of workers the plant will employ wasn't immediately known. But any new jobs would be welcome in Grant County, where the unemployment rate was 13.6 percent in February, according to the state Department of Employment Security.
When they announced their joint venture last October, SGL, which makes carbon-based products, and BMW said a new factory in North America would make fibers that would be woven into fabrics at a new factory in Germany.
They said the construction of the plants would start in 2010, and the two factories would employ a total of 180 workers. They also said the North American plant would use hydropower, a commodity Moses Lake and Grant County enjoy in abundance thanks to Columbia River dams.
BMW's chairman said the automaker planned to use the carbon fabrics in its Megacity hybrid car, expected to reach the market in the next few years.
Panels made from carbon-fiber composites are built up from layers of such fabric and then are baked to hardness. Composites are used to make the fuselage and wings of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
State and local governments have offered the plant — code-named "Project Chinook" — incentives to locate in Moses Lake. In January the state Community Economic Revitalization Board approved a $1.5 million loan and a $500,000 grant to the Port of Moses Lake to help build a substation to provide power to the factory.
The money was contingent on the plant being built, said Matt Ojennus, the board's interim program manager.
The state also is considering subsidizing worker training, said Susan St. Germain, senior business-development manager for the state Department of Commerce.
By Eric Pryne
Seattle Times business reporter
March 26, 2010
BMW and another German company have chosen Moses Lake as the site for a new plant to manufacture carbon fibers to use in building lightweight cars.
Gov. Chris Gregoire is scheduled to speak at a news conference April 6 in Seattle that also will feature top executives of BMW and SGL Group, which last fall established a joint venture to produce carbon fibers and fabric for the auto industry.
The news-conference notice did not reveal the subject, and an SGL spokeswoman did not return calls Friday.
But Gregoire spokeswoman Karina Shagren said the governor has courted the companies personally and, "We anticipate a positive announcement."
The joint venture also has been considering a site in Canada for the fiber plant.
Gregoire met with company officials in November, and again in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December, Shagren said. Members of the governor's staff and state Commerce Department officials have been in "constant contact" with SGL and BMW, she added.
Moses Lake City Manager Joe Gavinski said he did not know if the companies had chosen his city. "They haven't told us anything," he said.
Moses Lake has several advantages, Gavinski said, including low-cost electricity, an abundance of available land, a big airport and proximity to Interstate 90.
The number of workers the plant will employ wasn't immediately known. But any new jobs would be welcome in Grant County, where the unemployment rate was 13.6 percent in February, according to the state Department of Employment Security.
When they announced their joint venture last October, SGL, which makes carbon-based products, and BMW said a new factory in North America would make fibers that would be woven into fabrics at a new factory in Germany.
They said the construction of the plants would start in 2010, and the two factories would employ a total of 180 workers. They also said the North American plant would use hydropower, a commodity Moses Lake and Grant County enjoy in abundance thanks to Columbia River dams.
BMW's chairman said the automaker planned to use the carbon fabrics in its Megacity hybrid car, expected to reach the market in the next few years.
Panels made from carbon-fiber composites are built up from layers of such fabric and then are baked to hardness. Composites are used to make the fuselage and wings of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
State and local governments have offered the plant — code-named "Project Chinook" — incentives to locate in Moses Lake. In January the state Community Economic Revitalization Board approved a $1.5 million loan and a $500,000 grant to the Port of Moses Lake to help build a substation to provide power to the factory.
The money was contingent on the plant being built, said Matt Ojennus, the board's interim program manager.
The state also is considering subsidizing worker training, said Susan St. Germain, senior business-development manager for the state Department of Commerce.
Friday, January 8, 2010
BMW Parts Supplier Coming to Moses Lake?
Friday, January 8, 2010
Grant County makes secret bid for BMW plant, is in the race for $200M auto-part factory
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Steve Wilhelm Staff Writer
Thanks in large part to its inexpensive, carbon-neutral hydropower, Grant County is in the running to win a $200 million factory to make carbon-fiber material for next-generation electric BMW cars.
The factory, expected to cover 200,000 square feet and employ 180 people, would be built later this year on land outside Moses Lake, officials said. Moses Lake is competing against another location, probably in Canada, and a decision is expected this month, perhaps as early as this week.
The factory would be built as part of a joint venture between German luxury automaker BMW Group and SGL Group, a $2.3 billion German maker of carbon-based products.
The plant would be the first to bring major automotive-related production to the state. If successful, it could attract other automotive-related plants keen to use inexpensive hydropower generated by dams controlled by the Grant County Public Utility District.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Project Chinook Could Mean 200 New Jobs
Company Considers Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — Port of Moses Lake commissioners approved a state funding application on Monday to build an electrical substation for a mystery company eyeing Grant County.
If the money is obtained, it would help a company dubbed “Project Chinook.”
The real name of “Project Chinook” hasn’t been revealed publicly.
In October Terry Brewer, executive director of the Grant County Economic Development Council (EDC), described “Project Chinook” as an international manufacturing company expected to create more than 200 new jobs.
He said it was a “well-known” company and a “clean energy project.”
The EDC was working with a site selection company representing the business.
Brewer wasn’t immediately available for additional comment late Monday.
The port’s application to the Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) involves a $500,000 grant and a $1.5 million loan, said Craig Baldwin, the port’s executive manager.
“My understanding is, they’ve made no decisions yet,” Baldwin said about Project Chinook’s location decision.
In order for the port to meet the CERB application deadline, the port went ahead and made the application, Baldwin said.
The application is pending if the project comes to town, he added.
Port Commissioner Brian McGowan made a motion to approve the resolution. It passed unanimously.
After the meeting, Baldwin said he understood the company was looking at two sites in Moses Lake and a site outside the country, possibly in Canada.
The port didn’t have any property available, but is allowed to process state grants, he explained.
Lynne Lynch/Columbia Basin Herald
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
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