Wall Street Journal talks Grant County

Area anticipating increased notoriety

GRANT COUNTY — They're even talking about Grant County on Wall Street.

An article which appeared in the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, about companies like Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo! Inc. looking to secure low-cost energy, noted that many companies have turned to eastern Washington.

The article, by Kevin J. Delaney and Rebecca Smith, called attention to Microsoft and Yahoo! announcing plans earlier this year to locate data centers in Quincy.

"Together, the companies will consume as much as 90 megawatts of electricity," the article states, "pushing up total electricity consumption by about 32 percent in the county of 81,000 people."

Port of Quincy commissioner and board president Curt Morris said appearing in the worldwide publication will once again bring recognition to the area, and Quincy as a whole.

"We're diligently working toward to attract other companies related to Microsoft and Yahoo!" Morris said. "We look forward to the notoriety, both for Quincy and Grant County."

"I think it's big," Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce executive director Lisa Karstetter said, noting a lot of companies are already calling the chamber. She believes the way power and fiber are covered in the article will make a lot of prospective companies looking for a way to cut costs and at least look at Grant County.

"We're already experiencing a heavier call load, and e-mail," Karstetter said, noting it will be tough to tell who's calling because of the article unless that question is specifically asked. "It will be interesting to see in the next few days what transpires. It's good for all of Grant County."

Big Bend Economic Development Council executive director Bill Riley, who is quoted in the article, said the Wall Street Journal is focused on the financial world, and people that read it have an amount of financial assets to invest.

Riley's quote in the article relates to an immediate increase in prices the instant companies like Google, which he said has been looking within the area, start talking about entering a community, so the companies remain mum until they have contracts. Google declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal about any such interest in the county.

Riley said Smith asked him what he thought attracted companies to the area, and he gave full credit to Port of Quincy commissioners, saying they brought all of the area's assets — inexpensive electricity, infrastructure, fiber optic cable, water and wastewater availability among them — to the forefront.

"I think it's going to really put the Port of Quincy not only in a national, but an international spotlight, as an industrial site that's willing to work with potential customers," Riley said.

Smith also asked Riley if every county in Washington can expect to be able to attract companies. Riley replied: Only if they can put forward the assets that Quincy has.

"Quincy has determined the competitive threshold that has to be met," Riley said.

To view the full story visit www. online.wsj.com.