Moses Lake port manager enjoys progress

Hayes looks ahead to building construction

MOSES LAKE - Before he started working at the Port of Moses Lake, Tom Hayes' children were more familiar with port staff than he was.

"Craig (Baldwin, port district executive manager)'s son played football with my son, and his daughters went to college with my daughter," Hayes explained. "So they knew each other; we really didn't."

For a very brief period, Hayes worked in real estate with Kent Jones, who participated in his last meeting last week as a commissioner for the port district.

"Kent's the only one I knew, actually, that would recognize me," Hayes explained.

But while working in maintenance for the Moses Lake School District, Hayes said, the school district rented its maintenance building from the port district.

Hayes joined the port as facilities manager Oct. 1, after meeting Baldwin through their sons' football games.

"I asked him one time, 'Do you have anything in your maintenance department?'" Hayes recalled.

Baldwin replied the position was opening up and being restructured, so Hayes kept his eyes open.

He moved to Moses Lake in 1989 with his wife of 23 years, Cindy, and the first of their three children. Cindy had grown up in the area until she was about 12, when she moved to Farmington, N.M., which is where Hayes was born and raised.

Before he went into maintenance, Hayes owned a bakery in Moses Lake, which closed in roughly late 2003. He had always owned his own business prior to that, he said.

As facilities manager, Hayes supervises the district's maintenance crew, maintains all buildings at Grant County International Airport and the port's industrial park, oversees all construction and repairs on and off the airfield and acts as a go-between for the port's firefighters.

Hayes enjoys the variety and challenge which come with the position.

"It's exciting because we're going into construction, building some new buildings," he said. "I like the progress."

Hayes holds degrees in business and accounting and industrial electricity, so the port position was a good fit for what he was looking for, he added.

"People are wanting to move here and start businesses, and I want to be able to be involved in that," he said. "Get them space rented or whatever they need. That's what the port's mission is."

Hayes believes the port has a "great bunch of people" and is trying to serve the community.

"As far as myself, I want to be an asset to the community," he said. "I think the changes we're making and we're headed to are good and positive, and we'll see some results."

Hayes pointed to the port's projects in rail, lake crossing, air service and construction.

"We've got pretty much all of those projects on the table right now," he said. "They're in the works."