Showing posts with label Local Stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Local Stories. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Legislature Allocates Money for Grant County Skills Center in Moses Lake
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Moses Lake on Census Top 10 Growth List
Ryan Lancaster/Columbia Basin Herald
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 9:05 am
MOSES LAKE - The U.S. Census Bureau recently rated Moses Lake as one of the top growing micro areas in the U.S.
The city added 2,145 residents between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, placing it 10th among micro areas with the largest numeric increase, according to the Census Bureau.
The bureau defines a micro area as having between 10,000 to 50,000 residents. Moses Lake's current population is 20,366.
"The industrialization and the creation of a lot of new family-wage jobs here probably has a lot to do with that," said Moses Lake City Manager Joe Gavinski. He cited the area's relatively inexpensive hydropower and available land. "We've been really aggressive in our industrial growth."
In order to attract even more of that growth, Gavinski said the city has focused on making sure it's infrastructure and public services are the best they can be.
"We've made sure our water and sewer systems are in good shape and capable of handling industry as best we can, and are also doing what we can in order to create a desirable way of life here in terms of quality of life - meaning parks, good streets, fire and police protection, that sort of thing," he said.
But the region's recent growth isn't confined to Moses Lake proper, according to Jonathan Smith, executive director of the Grant County Economic Development Council.
Smith said Moses Lake's "micropolitan" area, which includes the whole of Grant County, has seen a big growth spurt since 2007, when data centers came in to Quincy and companies like REC Silicon and SGL/BMW Automotive Carbon Fibers expanded and built new facilities near Moses Lake.
New industries have brought new jobs and a resultant population increase, but Smith said they're also bringing more and more interest from other companies interested in expansion.
"When a company like Microsoft or Yahoo! does something it gets known not just throughout the region, but throughout the country and the world," he said. "That sort of puts us on the map as a focus for attention from a lot of industries looking at projects, looking at new places to grow. We're on their radar because they know where some of these significant business names have gone and so they're interested in investigating why."
That "why," as Gavinski noted, is tied to the region's reliable hydropower and attainable land, both of which are offered at prices Smith said are competitive not just in the U.S., but in the world market.
"The SGL/BMW carbon fiber facility is on 60 acres of land," he said. "If you can find a piece of land that size in another area, combined with the lower cost of electricity, the playing field of places that are available for that gets narrow really fast. That's kind of been our competitive advantage."
The SGL/BMW plant, which was completed last April near the Port of Moses Lake, is the joint venture of SGL Automotive Group and BMW, and produces a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic used in BMW's new line of lighter, more energy efficient electric cars, called the BMWi.
Company representatives were unavailable for comment Monday.
But at a September grand opening event, BMW's CEO Norbert Reithofer confirmed the decision to build the plant here was based primarily on the availability of clean, renewable hydropower and competitive energy costs.
"Making sure the new BMWi is produced using renewable energy throughout the manufacturing process is very important to the company," Reithofer said at the time. "We are thinking about sustainability not just tomorrow, but the day after."
Alongside clean, cheap energy, SGL officials credited the Moses Lake area for having favorable infrastructure conditions, speedy permitting processes and an ever-growing skilled labor force.
Smith said this last point is one the Moses Lake community still needs to work on if it's going to continue attracting new industries.
Before the first data center arrived in 2007, high tech companies simply didn't exist in the Columbia Basin, Smith explained.
"We weren't training people for that unique skill set locally because it wasn't here," he said. "Since that time those types of programs are being developed and work is being done to put those in place, but as we have new industrial growth something we need to be aware of, especially in the education community, is how do we continue to meet the needs of the new and growing industry in our area? That's something we're always working on and it's harder to do that in reverse."
The outlook for continued growth in the Moses Lake area seems all but predestined. Last year brought Pacific Coast Canola to Warden and the Vantage Data Center, Sabey and Dell to Quincy. The economic development council and other groups are currently working to bring a software testing company, a data center and two food processors to Grant County, Smith said. He added the council is also working with the Port of Moses Lake to attract aerospace firms to the county.
"There has been some interest," Smith said. "We continue to receive inquiries that come in from the Department of Commerce or directly from businesses by virtue of having heard about some of these other projects."
Along with Moses Lake's growth report, the U.S. Census Bureau also released a statement that the nation's fastest-growing metro area between 2010 and 2011 was the Tri-Cities area, including Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, which grew by about 4.3 percent from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011.
Central Washington's Franklin County, which includes Pasco, was meanwhile cited as the nation's fifth-fastest-growing county from 2010 to 2011. It grew an estimated 6.8 percent, according to the census bureau.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 9:05 am
MOSES LAKE - The U.S. Census Bureau recently rated Moses Lake as one of the top growing micro areas in the U.S.
The city added 2,145 residents between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, placing it 10th among micro areas with the largest numeric increase, according to the Census Bureau.
The bureau defines a micro area as having between 10,000 to 50,000 residents. Moses Lake's current population is 20,366.
"The industrialization and the creation of a lot of new family-wage jobs here probably has a lot to do with that," said Moses Lake City Manager Joe Gavinski. He cited the area's relatively inexpensive hydropower and available land. "We've been really aggressive in our industrial growth."
In order to attract even more of that growth, Gavinski said the city has focused on making sure it's infrastructure and public services are the best they can be.
"We've made sure our water and sewer systems are in good shape and capable of handling industry as best we can, and are also doing what we can in order to create a desirable way of life here in terms of quality of life - meaning parks, good streets, fire and police protection, that sort of thing," he said.
But the region's recent growth isn't confined to Moses Lake proper, according to Jonathan Smith, executive director of the Grant County Economic Development Council.
Smith said Moses Lake's "micropolitan" area, which includes the whole of Grant County, has seen a big growth spurt since 2007, when data centers came in to Quincy and companies like REC Silicon and SGL/BMW Automotive Carbon Fibers expanded and built new facilities near Moses Lake.
New industries have brought new jobs and a resultant population increase, but Smith said they're also bringing more and more interest from other companies interested in expansion.
"When a company like Microsoft or Yahoo! does something it gets known not just throughout the region, but throughout the country and the world," he said. "That sort of puts us on the map as a focus for attention from a lot of industries looking at projects, looking at new places to grow. We're on their radar because they know where some of these significant business names have gone and so they're interested in investigating why."
That "why," as Gavinski noted, is tied to the region's reliable hydropower and attainable land, both of which are offered at prices Smith said are competitive not just in the U.S., but in the world market.
"The SGL/BMW carbon fiber facility is on 60 acres of land," he said. "If you can find a piece of land that size in another area, combined with the lower cost of electricity, the playing field of places that are available for that gets narrow really fast. That's kind of been our competitive advantage."
The SGL/BMW plant, which was completed last April near the Port of Moses Lake, is the joint venture of SGL Automotive Group and BMW, and produces a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic used in BMW's new line of lighter, more energy efficient electric cars, called the BMWi.
Company representatives were unavailable for comment Monday.
But at a September grand opening event, BMW's CEO Norbert Reithofer confirmed the decision to build the plant here was based primarily on the availability of clean, renewable hydropower and competitive energy costs.
"Making sure the new BMWi is produced using renewable energy throughout the manufacturing process is very important to the company," Reithofer said at the time. "We are thinking about sustainability not just tomorrow, but the day after."
Alongside clean, cheap energy, SGL officials credited the Moses Lake area for having favorable infrastructure conditions, speedy permitting processes and an ever-growing skilled labor force.
Smith said this last point is one the Moses Lake community still needs to work on if it's going to continue attracting new industries.
Before the first data center arrived in 2007, high tech companies simply didn't exist in the Columbia Basin, Smith explained.
"We weren't training people for that unique skill set locally because it wasn't here," he said. "Since that time those types of programs are being developed and work is being done to put those in place, but as we have new industrial growth something we need to be aware of, especially in the education community, is how do we continue to meet the needs of the new and growing industry in our area? That's something we're always working on and it's harder to do that in reverse."
The outlook for continued growth in the Moses Lake area seems all but predestined. Last year brought Pacific Coast Canola to Warden and the Vantage Data Center, Sabey and Dell to Quincy. The economic development council and other groups are currently working to bring a software testing company, a data center and two food processors to Grant County, Smith said. He added the council is also working with the Port of Moses Lake to attract aerospace firms to the county.
"There has been some interest," Smith said. "We continue to receive inquiries that come in from the Department of Commerce or directly from businesses by virtue of having heard about some of these other projects."
Along with Moses Lake's growth report, the U.S. Census Bureau also released a statement that the nation's fastest-growing metro area between 2010 and 2011 was the Tri-Cities area, including Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, which grew by about 4.3 percent from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011.
Central Washington's Franklin County, which includes Pasco, was meanwhile cited as the nation's fifth-fastest-growing county from 2010 to 2011. It grew an estimated 6.8 percent, according to the census bureau.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Moses Lake Business Happenings
Two recent news tidbits convey a sense of the re-emerging local economy in Moses Lake:
Genie Industries builds aerial lift equipment at its two plants in Moses Lake and Redmond. In 2011 Genie added "a couple of hundred" full-time employees at the Moses location. Overall the company ramped up production by 60% in 2011 over 2010. Genie signed a 15-year lease extension with the Port of Moses Lake last year, and is busy "investing in infrasture," according to the general manager. Click here for full article.
ASPI Group is a commercial land developer with extensive holdings in the airport development zone. They have several business parks laid out already, with streets and utilities already in, and are actively recruiting new businesses. (The SGL/BMW carbon fiber plant is in one of ASPI's centers.) This week the City announced they are partnering with ASPI and the Port to install a 12-inch water main through the heart of the airport development zone, because new business will require that additional capacity. Click here for full article.
Genie Industries builds aerial lift equipment at its two plants in Moses Lake and Redmond. In 2011 Genie added "a couple of hundred" full-time employees at the Moses location. Overall the company ramped up production by 60% in 2011 over 2010. Genie signed a 15-year lease extension with the Port of Moses Lake last year, and is busy "investing in infrasture," according to the general manager. Click here for full article.
ASPI Group is a commercial land developer with extensive holdings in the airport development zone. They have several business parks laid out already, with streets and utilities already in, and are actively recruiting new businesses. (The SGL/BMW carbon fiber plant is in one of ASPI's centers.) This week the City announced they are partnering with ASPI and the Port to install a 12-inch water main through the heart of the airport development zone, because new business will require that additional capacity. Click here for full article.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Carbon Fiber From Moses Lake Plant Will Equal Current World Output
BMW/SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers has plans to produce as much carbon fiber in its Moses Lake plant as is currently produced in the entire world, according to a July 25 article in the Columbia Basin Herald.
The plant began producing carbon fiber last week. The first two production lines, employing about 80 people, will be fully operational this quarter. Those two lines will produce 3,000 metric tons of carbon fiber per year - nearly 10 percent of total world production - according to plant manager Steve Swanson.
Swanson went on to say that BMW/SGL expects to see "some huge future growth in this market." The company holds an option for 60 acres of additional land next to the existing plant. "We can put another eight carbon lines on that 60 acres, close to 30,000 tons," said Swanson. "Our intent is to match the world market. That's very close to matching the world market [of 35,000 metric tons]. I can tell you, that's our intent, to get to that point."
Where will all that carbon fiber be used? Currently the company has only acknowledged plans to use the material in BMW's future MegaCity Vehicle, the i3, and the BMW i8, "a full hybrid sports car." Both vehicles are scheduled for launch in 2013.
But the company's vision clearly encompasses much more than those two vehicles. Swanson pointed out that the use of carbon fiber in aerospace manufacturing has grown dramatically in the past two decades. "Why would we think the same doesn't happen in automotive?" he asked. "Of course it will. Carbon fiber is very strong, light, corrosion-resistant, does not show fatigue and just outlasts any type of metal."
The company recycles as much as it can and has the technology to recycle its material and put it back into parts.
"No one else has this technology," Swanson said. "BMW developed it and it's definitely a big part of our business."
Read the full article here
The plant began producing carbon fiber last week. The first two production lines, employing about 80 people, will be fully operational this quarter. Those two lines will produce 3,000 metric tons of carbon fiber per year - nearly 10 percent of total world production - according to plant manager Steve Swanson.
Swanson went on to say that BMW/SGL expects to see "some huge future growth in this market." The company holds an option for 60 acres of additional land next to the existing plant. "We can put another eight carbon lines on that 60 acres, close to 30,000 tons," said Swanson. "Our intent is to match the world market. That's very close to matching the world market [of 35,000 metric tons]. I can tell you, that's our intent, to get to that point."
Where will all that carbon fiber be used? Currently the company has only acknowledged plans to use the material in BMW's future MegaCity Vehicle, the i3, and the BMW i8, "a full hybrid sports car." Both vehicles are scheduled for launch in 2013.
But the company's vision clearly encompasses much more than those two vehicles. Swanson pointed out that the use of carbon fiber in aerospace manufacturing has grown dramatically in the past two decades. "Why would we think the same doesn't happen in automotive?" he asked. "Of course it will. Carbon fiber is very strong, light, corrosion-resistant, does not show fatigue and just outlasts any type of metal."
The company recycles as much as it can and has the technology to recycle its material and put it back into parts.
"No one else has this technology," Swanson said. "BMW developed it and it's definitely a big part of our business."
Read the full article here
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
For All You Bicyclists Out There
Trails Planning Team helps develop bike and foot paths around the Moses Lake area. Check out the article here
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Moses Lake Makes Forbes List
Forbes Magazine names Moses Lake 8th fastest-growing small town in America. Article
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Gov. Gregoire says BMW's Moses Lake factory may double in size, jobs
(Headline in Seattle Times this morning.)
SEATTLE —
A new carbon fiber plant being built in Moses Lake could become the largest facility of its kind in the world because of strong demand for the composites by German carmaker BMW AG, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Friday.
Check out the full story here.
The Governor is in Germany hobnobbing with BMW. They believe all vehicles will be made of carbon fiber in the near future.
When you read between the lines of the statements BMW has made about this project, you get the sense that:
- BMW sees carbon fiber as the material of the future,
- BMW is developing a core competency and infrastructure for carbon fiber, of which the Moses Lake plant will be a significant part, and
- BMW's vision may go beyond using this stuff just for its own vehicles; it may envision selling carbon fiber to other car makers and maybe even to other industries as well.
In other words, carbon fiber is the building material of the 21st century, and Moses Lake will be a carbon fiber capital of the world. Exciting!
SEATTLE —
A new carbon fiber plant being built in Moses Lake could become the largest facility of its kind in the world because of strong demand for the composites by German carmaker BMW AG, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Friday.
Check out the full story here.
The Governor is in Germany hobnobbing with BMW. They believe all vehicles will be made of carbon fiber in the near future.
When you read between the lines of the statements BMW has made about this project, you get the sense that:
- BMW sees carbon fiber as the material of the future,
- BMW is developing a core competency and infrastructure for carbon fiber, of which the Moses Lake plant will be a significant part, and
- BMW's vision may go beyond using this stuff just for its own vehicles; it may envision selling carbon fiber to other car makers and maybe even to other industries as well.
In other words, carbon fiber is the building material of the 21st century, and Moses Lake will be a carbon fiber capital of the world. Exciting!
Monday, July 12, 2010
BMW Plant Breaks Ground in Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — BMW’s Megacity Vehicle begins in Moses Lake with a new carbon fiber plant, a company official said Wednesday.
“What you’re seeing today, are new and innovative ideas, to make carbon fiber for a car that’s never existed,” said Kenn Sparks, a media relations manager for BMW Group. “I think you would be proud to say that, in a lot of ways, it really does begin here.”
The groundbreaking for BMW/SGL Group’s carbon fiber plant was celebrated Wednesday with more than 90 dignitaries attending.
Hiring for about 80 permanent employees begins in 2011 and should increase to 200 full-time positions.
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
Thursday, September 10, 2009
PUD Selling Dark Fiber
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This is potentially a big deal. Grant County has become a favored spot for internet data centers because of cheap available power and relatively inexpensive land. Microsoft, Yahoo & Intuit have put their data centers 30 miles away in Quincy. So far, internet companies have stayed away from Moses Lake because the PUD has inexplicably refused to sell them desireable "dark" fiber which give the companies the reliability & control they demand. The PUD has finally seen the light (pardon the pun) and conceded the obvious.
An LA-based group including some former Microsofties recently purchased a former Air Force missile control center located near Grant County International Airport and have turned it into a state-of-the-art data center facility. (The ultra-secure building, called the TITAN I Data Center, was supposedly designed to withstand a 10-megaton nuclear strike! Good luck with that.) The group expects to sign multiple tenants now that the dark fiber moratorium has been lifted.
Read the article
Monday, August 24, 2009
2009 Babe Ruth World Series
.JPG)
16-18 year olds championships held at Moses Lake's Larson Field.
Here, the host Columbia Basin River Dogs are in action vs. team from San Gabriel Valley (CA)
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Building Activity Rises in Moses Lake
GRANT COUNTY — Single-family housing permits increased by 21.5 percent from March to April in Grant County, reflecting a national trend of improvement in one area of housing permits.
Read full story>
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
90 New Water Permits Issued in Grant County
This is a big deal. Ecology has issued almost no new permits in the past decade, and all of a sudden they've issued NINETY new ones in Grant County to goose the local economy.
"Vineyards, dairies, food processing plants, data centers, housing developments, golf courses, resorts and a Grant County PUD fish hatchery are among the groups that applied for the water."
"The nearby cities of Quincy, Ephrata, Moses Lake and Warden are expected to see more businesses," said Dan Partridge, a DOE water resources program communications manager.
"A DOE economic analysis shows the new permits could add $23 million to agricultural development value and $60 million to commercial development value." - Columbia Basin Herald.
Read full story »
"Vineyards, dairies, food processing plants, data centers, housing developments, golf courses, resorts and a Grant County PUD fish hatchery are among the groups that applied for the water."
"The nearby cities of Quincy, Ephrata, Moses Lake and Warden are expected to see more businesses," said Dan Partridge, a DOE water resources program communications manager.
"A DOE economic analysis shows the new permits could add $23 million to agricultural development value and $60 million to commercial development value." - Columbia Basin Herald.
Read full story »
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sandhill Crane Festival
...at Columbia National Wildlife Refuge.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008902431_sandcraneslines.html
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