Port of Royal Slope looking to future

Port of Royal Slope director Cathy Potter stands beside one of the newly installed hydrants on Port property, making it easier for a new business to move onto the Port's lots.<br>Matthew Weaver/Columbia Basin Herald

by Matthew Weaver<br>Herald Staff Writer
| June 29, 2005 9:00 PM

Land ready for more businesses to move in

ROYAL CITY — There's been some new developments at the Port of Royal Slope, and hopes are high for the future.

A new start-up company, Norwest Ingredients, started construction last fall and began working out of their new facility, located on Port property, earlier this year.

"They raise peppermint and spearmint, and then they extract the oils and they bring them into this facility in 50-gallon drums," said Port director Cathy Potter. In a lab upstairs, the oils are mixed and prepared for sale, she said. Norwest is the third tenant to move onto the Port property, joining Royal Ridge Fruits and Grant County Public Works.

Terry Cochran, managing partner of Norwest with brother Jeff, said the company limited its location search to the area because of the ease of commuting to work. The Cochrans' father moved to the area in 1964, and so the company decided to locate there because that's where they're from, Terry said.

"The Port property has got good water, good access," he said. "We didn't see any drawbacks with Royal Port property. It just worked out well for us as a nice commercial area."

When Norwest came to the Port seeking a lot, they asked which lots on Port property already had water available because they were ready to make a move quickly, Potter reported. The night that Royal Port commissioners accepted the company's offer, Norwest asked if they could lease that ground and start working right away.

"By the time that the actual closing papers were signed on this lot, they had their building half built," Potter recalled. "They moved in the next day, and started leveling the ground and stuff. So it showed us that it's important to have the lots ready … our lots now have water available to all of them."

The Port received a $94,000 grant from the state and a $140,847 one-percent loan to put in portable water and fire protection.

"That was our project this winter," Potter said, adding that a construction company installed water lines and fire hydrants. "We're pretty excited about that."

The Port property is about 280 acres, with 14 lots presently available for sale or lease.

"It allows us to market, saying we have lots ready to go, immediate access, we have room for growth," Potter said.

Living on the Royal Slope area, there are not a lot of the amenities available in larger Port districts or cities, like an airport or fiber optics. The local rail service is not presently being used, Potter said.

"For us to have lots ready to go and available, we think that's a big plus," she said.

Because the area is an agricultural community, and nestled between the Saddle Mountains and the Frenchman Hills, Potter said the Port wants things that will help local farmers, like food processing plants, storage facilities, canneries and freezers.

"This type of thing that the local farmer could take their product to, not have to pay the transportation costs, go ahead and put it in the cans, or freeze it or whatever, and then ship it out to wherever they are selling it," Potter explained. "We're open to anything."

The big need in the area is jobs. The unemployment rate is probably higher than most of the other locations in Grant County, with the exception of Mattawa, Potter said.

"A lot of that is because of the seasonal work," she said. "A lot of them are laid off in the wintertime, so bringing in manufacturing companies would create probably year-round jobs and lower the unemployment."

Bringing in a new company like that would also probably create more housing, more grocery stores, and the like, she added.

"Little Royal City hasn't grown a lot as far as bringing in new businesses," she said, adding that the area's youth go out of town for their entertainment. "The sad part is, we have the best farmers, we have a wonderful school district, parents get real involved … The community takes pride and likes to get involved with raising the kids. The sad part is, we work so hard at that, to get them educated, they leave and when they graduate from college, we don't have the jobs here for them. So we lose them, basically."

Regarding the future, Potter says she is excited, as she thinks a lot has changed since the Port was platted in 2001.

"To get three large companies in, I think, is a lot to do in four years," she said. "I think most of the businesses will come from our own local area. It may be one of these graduates that have gotten their education, maybe they come back and decide, 'I think because my dad produces apples, maybe I'll put in a warehouse or a fruit juicing company' or something like that. They know what's here, they have roots and they don't want to leave the area. Kids probably really want to stay here, but you have to go where the jobs are."

Potter added that the Port works for the community, and is open to ideas for bringing in new businesses or changes.